he town of Bagamoyo is the oldest town in Tanzania, founded by the end of the 18th century. It was the original capital of German East Africa and one of the most important trading ports along the East African coast. Today the town has circa 30,000 inhabitants and has recently been designated as a world heritage site.
Size and situation: 75 km north of Dar-es-Salaam on the coast of the Indian Ocean, Bagamoyo is just opposite to the island of Zanzibar.
History: Bagamoyo (“Lay down your heart”) was the original capital of German East Africa, and one of the most important trading ports on the East African coast and the penultimate stop of slave and ivory caravans traveling on foot from Lake Tanganyika on their way to Zanzibar. Once the caravans reached Bagamoyo, the slaves and ivory were shipped by dhow to Zanzibar, where they were then dispatched all over the world. Most of the major British explorers, including Burton, Speke, Livingstone, Stanley and Grant, used Bagamoyo as a staging post for their expeditions. Bagamoyo is now a centre for dhow sailboat building on the Tanzanian coast, a quiet village with a few German colonial buildings still standing.
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