Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara

Recently I visited both Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. As the former is already covered in many reviews I will focus om the later. Through Elisabeth, the owner of the highly recommended Kimbilio lodge in Kilwa Masoko we got into contact with Osman, a very enthousiastic and knowledgable guide. The boat trip from Kilwa Masoko to Songo Mnara takes about 1,5 hour. You arrive at a rather primitive settlement of local fishermen and after passing through some mangrove forest on foot you reach the ruïnes of the former palace dating from 11 th century. Big baobab trees have partly taken over the buildings, but there is still quite a lot to see. The site was very quiet, our group of 3 had the place to ourselves, as was also the case when we visited Kilwa Kisiwani the next day. On the way back we did some great snorkelling. It was a great trip and the ruins were quite interesting.

For our (European) summer holiday 2022 we aimed for three African countries and the first site we visited was the ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani. Our flight had its final stop early morning in Dar es Salam, and we spent the day at our travel agent’s premises at Kawe beach.

The following morning, we started our first roundtrip with a 4x4 safari vehicle and a driver/guide. Such a vehicle (and a driver) is not necessary for this stretch, but as we had safari plans on the roundtrip it was convenient. The drive south to Kilwa Masoko is 5-6 hours including a short meal stop. It was uneventful, but African driving is potholes, road work and the locals sharing the road.

Arriving at Kilwa Masoko around 1:30 we had the rest of the day off. We stayed at Kimbilio Lodge which is right on the beach (10 m from the water), a place with our own little cabin and the view from our bed out the door was the ocean, the sandy beach, and a parasol (made of grass and wood), simply iconic. Beeing the only guests made it even more special as we got personel service all the way, but from August their "books where full" again.

The following day we headed to the site itself, Kilwa Kisiwani. Our driver/guide took us to the harbour where we registered and picked up the local guide. When entering the boat, we were told the voyage across started with a small …

From the two inscribed locations, I only saw Kilwa Kisiwani. Kilwa Kisiwani is a vast ruin of the city which has been an important political and trade center from around the 8th century AD and since the 10th century the capital of the Sultanate of Kilwa. According to legend, the sultanate was founded by the rulers of Shiraz and, although historical sources do not currently confirm this thesis, it seems to be considered true among locals - the guide told me the same.

Regardless of the origin of the founders, the continuation of Kilwa Kisiwani's history is better documented. The Sultanate of Kilwa existed until the beginning of the 16th century. Its fall occurred with the arrival of the Portuguese, who, however, quickly gave way to the Omani.

All these rulers have left magnificent buildings in Kilwa Kisiwani. I started my trip from the Husuni Kubwa Palace, the spectacular ruins of the Sultan's Palace from the 14th century, i.e. from the times of the Kilwa Sultanate. The ruins are very well preserved and give a good idea of ​​how powerful this kingdom was - the palace is really spacious and equipped with many novelties, such as the first (at least according to the guide) swimming pool in Africa. From the 14th-century well dug by the slaves of the Sultan the inhabitants of the surrounding village still draw water - I saw it with my own eyes!

Husuni Kubwa Palace is about a kilometer to the remaining …

November 12nd,2013 was my lucky day! For the first time i visited Kilwa Kisiwani

It is so excited place i have never seen in my life. It took me few minutes to reach the place from Kilwa masoko.

My first place to reach were Makutani palace, where there is a large walls then i went straight to Small Domed Mosque before going to great Mosque where sultane Al Hassan Bin Sulaiman used to pray.

From there i went to Gereza the Kilwa's fort which historically built by Portuguese. Then i went direct to Malindi Mosque also i visited Malindi graves where the Malindi People from Kenya buried over there. My last visit were to Hussuni Kubwa, the largest building in southern Sahara by the time of 13th to 14th century.

I real enjoy the place.

My favourite cultural WHS are those which give new and unexpected insights into a civilisation or a period of history. The ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani certainly did that for me by providing an entrée to the world of the Indian Ocean before the arrival of the Europeans (as well as to the impact of their arrival!). Pre-colonial Africa may still be seen as the “dark continent” in euro-centric minds but its east coast played a full part in this ocean’s multi continental trading system. At Kilwa you may get a feeling for the sophistication of what could be characterised as the “Swahili civilisation” between the 11th and 16th centuries and Kilwa was a major centre for the development of that civilization based on influences from Africa, Arabia, Persia and India.

Today this island off the Tanzanian coast contains just a sleepy village of around 800 inhabitants engaged in fishing and rudimentary agriculture. But, as you walk the quiet paths, you come across the ruins of palaces, great houses, trading courtyards, forts, mosques and tombs. Despite ups and downs in prosperity, this island was the location of a great trading city for around 700 years, reaching its peak between the 12th and early 14th centuries. Its particular “edge” over other east coast ports lay in its position at the terminus of routes into interior Africa and, in particular, to Great Zimbabwe. From here came gold which was distributed around Eurasia – indeed one period of decline was associated with the …