This post might become a "Part I" as it's only Sunday afternoon and we still have the rest of today and tomorrow on our "Mid Term Break" from HOPAC and our normal "life" activities.
Did you like all those ""'s???
Yesterday, we took the one hour drive up to Bagamoyo. We had known that it was close; but, it still seemed amazing that we could arrive anywhere so quickly in Tanzania! We checked in early at the Traveller's Lodge, a wonderful place if you ever need good lodging that's close to Dar. By 10 in the morning, we were walking down the sand and checking out some historical sites.
This is the Missionary Cross Memorial. It commemorates the missionaries that "redeemed" the slaves from the slave auctions/markets of Zanzibar in 1868. They took them across the bay and landed at Bagamoyo and started a settlement there. They are obviously doing a bit of construction work around the site.
We went to the Catholic Mission Museum. Quite an impressive display of local art and also newspaper articles and maps showing the history of Bagamoyo over the past 140 years.
One of the MANY pictures I took that showed some really neat history. I liked how this one showed the different groups of Catholic missionaries and how they "spread" the Word throughout Tanzania over the years.
The Church that has been rebuilt on the original site.
The tower where David Livingstone's body was carried by over 500 "slaves" that he had redeemed. They carried him here as a tribute before his burial.
The inside of the Catholic Church. It is still active, not just a museum, with services happening every week.
On Saturday afternoon, we took some time on the beach. A group of school girls started dancing and singing, it was quite the show and they were obviously having a great time. Our kids are on the right hand side of the picture, they started building sand castles with some of the local children.
Sunday...we went and hired a local "tour guide" and we are SOOOO thankful that we did. Otherwise, these ruins in Bagamoyo would not have meant much to us. Our tour guide, Doto, has been with the tourism board for 6 years and was an amazing fount of knowledge. This room...held 25 slaves before they were taken to auction. Then, under the Germans, it became a barracks, it was for 2 soldiers. The British took over from the Germans and it became a prison, it could hold 15 prisoners. After Tanzanian independence, it was again a prison and held 5 prisoners. It became a police station for a time and now, we walk into this small room and think of the darkness and sadness that this location has held over the years and we pray that the Light will shine into it!!!
These buildings have lasted for so many years because they are made from coral stone, taken from the sea.
We had to have a group shot, of course.
Liked the view from on top of the stairs.
An original door - leading into some of the larger rooms that served as headquarters for so many different governments over the years.
Friends.
The hanging place - where the Germans hung those that were rebellious.
One of the many graveyards that we found. We had an interesting time bringing out our old German and reading the headstones. These graves are maintained by the German Embassy.
One of the signs that we found in town. We loved the part about the "Non bacteria ice" and the "Home made banana"
With our guide, the guys were talking about taking a Dhow boat ride to Zanzibar. He was saying it would be about 5,000 tsh (maybe $3) per person for the 3 hour ride to Zanzibar....ummmm, thinking of a song that goes "A three hour tour...a three hour tour..."
Then Doto took us to the Kaole ruins. Here, another guide was showing us the well. It's fresh, cold water, not a km from the ocean. It is a well that works, even in the dry season. They put it next to the first mosque so that people could wash before they entered.
The boys in the ruins of the 13th Century Mosque built by settlers from Iran.
Definitely a place to pray. It was interesting to be on the very site where Islam first made it's entrance into East Africa. Anyone notice their ISMK t-shirts from Springfield, MO?
Some of the very many burial sites of famous Muslim leaders.
Again, these are from the 13th Century, they are made from the coral stone and have lasted all these years. Cement, what they build with today, would maybe last 100 or so years.
The burial site of a couple found at sea, wrapped in each other's arms. They were buried side by side.
In the 13th Century, this site was an actual port. Over the years, the mangroves have taken over. They "drop" their seeds, can you see all those "spikes" in the ground, and start growing. The beach line is about a km away; but, the tide will come all the way up to this spot.
This is the spot were Burton and Speke tried to make their way inland to look for Livingstone.
We also saw a 500 year old baobab tree and got to talk to the children about animism and what that means. The tour guide was telling us about locals praying to the trees and driving nails into it to give away their bad luck.
It was a fascinating trip all around, and we learned so much about the sometimes not very pretty side of these early settlements and the nations that ruled them. We are so thankful to be living today, that we are free, and that we know the Lord. It makes me all the more conscious of the darkness that surrounds us at times.
As we came back to the Traveller's Lodge for a late lunch, the children were playing at the amazing park that is on site here. (Hmmm, I'll need to take a picture of that later on for you, it's very "Swiss Family Robinson" like in it's appearance) They made friends with the children of the cook here at the Lodge. Today was one of the children's birthday and our kids were invited to his birthday party at the beach. We brought all of our kids back to the room, got them in their swim gear, and Indy took them down to the beach That gave me the time to rest, Skype with my sister, get caught up on email, and update the blog.
Thank you honey (you'll see this when you read the blog later) for a sweet time of respite and time to update our friends. Thank you Craig and Carolyn for being such great travelling partners. This is one of those locations that I'm thinking we'll be returning to. Thank you Lord for your many blessings! Thank you that we have the Light!
