Tanga Tourism Guide : Everything To Know Before Visiting Tanga : Tanga one of Tanzania’s biggest cities after Dar es salaam, Mwanza, Arusha and Mbeya, is located in the north of the country and is regarded as one of the most beautiful city in East Africa for those one looking for a tranquil place to relax after their wildlife safari in Tanzania’s Northern Safari circuit. It is a relatively quiet city with a comparable population to Arusha or Moshi. It is situated on the Indian Ocean near the Kenyan border and it has beautiful beaches which can be compared to those one in Zanzibar Island and Mombasa Kenya.
EXCURSIONS IN TANGA
A bike tour is the best way to experience the city’s stunning, eclectic architecture. Take one of the large Chinese bikes for rent! The Ras Kazone Peninsula, located south of Tanga, is home to magnificent Art Deco mansions, some of which are in disrepair but many of which have been lovingly preserved as a reminder of the heyday of sisal trading in Tanga. Along the coast, residences coexist with the opulent colonial mansions of the more affluent British Empire members. Right on the main road leading to Ras Kazone, the original Bombo Hospital stands out like a castle from a fairy tale. The German-built hospital has long since deteriorated and is now a haven for many birds. Enjoy the feeling of a bygone era as you stand in the empty hallways surrounded by creeping plants.
Tanga is home to numerous examples of much older Arabic-style structures, including those with lavishly decorated mahogany balconies, meter-high walls, colored glass windows, heavy, dark doors, and interior courtyards with cats skulking through shadowy corners. When cycling in the heat, look for a mango tree’s shade. Someone will probably be there selling you cups of hot, sweet espresso and slices of delectable kashata, a type of peanut fondant.
HISTORY OF TANGA
The word “sail” is derived from the name Tanga, which refers to the area around the port, which continues to be the hub of activity in Tanga even today. Sisal, coffee, tea, and cotton rank among the port’s most significant export commodities. It was already a center for trading for the Portuguese. Between 1500 and 1700, they were in charge of the area surrounding Tanga. The settlement was then taken over by the Sultanate of Oman. Up until 1873, when slavery was outlawed by the European powers, the city served as a port for the trade of ivory and slaves. The Germans purchased the Tanzanian mainland in 1891 from the Sultan of Zanzibar. It served as the administrative hub for German colonial rule and the first settlement in German East Africa.
At the start of World War I, Tanga, a coastal city, led the way against British East Africa. Following the war, Tanganyika was governed by Great Britain, and the city expanded and made use of its agricultural potential. In the early years of independence, beginning in 1961, the port of Tanga remained a gateway for the export of sisal from the area. However, with the government’s monopoly over the agricultural sector and the decline in sisal prices on the global market, Tanga’s port started to lose money.
Despite its size, Tanga is still a pleasant city with interesting architecture, a fading charm, wide streets crowded with motorbikes and cyclists, and a sleepy, semi-colonial atmosphere.
TANGA ATTRACTIONS
Tanga Cultural
The entire coastal region, which stretches from Tanga to Pangani, exhibits a Swahili-style culture, with men wearing “Kanzu” and “Kofia” and women wearing “Baibui.” While women are weaving various kinds of colorful cloth in the evening, one can also observe men engaging in a game called “Bao.” There is a slight shift in attire and culture as one travels inland to districts like Muheza, Handeni, Korogwe, Lushoto, and Kilindi. Some locations still hold some mutually cultural ceremonies, such as those held by Wakilindi at the Taragunda Culture Site in the Kwagunda village and numerous other locations in the Zigua area, Bondei, and Wasambaa areas.
These rituals may include marriage-making ceremonies, during which a variety of drums and musical instruments are played and dancing is involved. There are many opportunities to arrange for you to enjoy a close experience with village families, hospitals, and orphanages who are interested in bettering their lives through learning from you.
Amboni Limestone Caves
The largest limestone cave system in East Africa is home to numerous spirits that have great religious significance for many local tribes. The Segeju, Sambaa, Bondei, and Digo ethnic groups who lived nearby the caves used them for prayer. Amboni Caves are located eight kilometers outside of town, and a hot spring is located four kilometers away. Beautiful stalactites and stalagmites are a natural feature of caves that you can observe. Seven distinct caves will be explored, along with seven different stone formations, Mother Marriage (Engel), the Madonna, and a white colobus monkey hanging out outside the caves.
The Galanos Hot Spring Water
Optional: have therapeutic qualities and are hot and sulfurous. You can try the coconut wine (Tanga wine) and coconut fruit juice, take a bath in the springs, and learn about many different plant species by crossing the Zigi River. A bath in the springs is thought to relieve skin conditions.
The distance from Tanga City to Galanos Hot Sulphur Springs is about 12 kilometers. The spring is still flowing, bubbling up from the ground and forming a stream as it travels toward the Zigi River. It is obvious that the spring is mineral-rich. The blue and yellow deposits in the canal where sulfur water is flowing through from the main sources are proof of this. The hot spring is situated on a coconut plantation, where you can take pleasure in sipping coconut juice and sampling the various fruits that grow there.
Toten Island
Toten Island is a part of Tanga Bay but is located off Tanga Harbour. Unwind on the beach, discover the island, go fishing, go swimming, and go snorkeling. Even though the island is currently uninhabited, executions were frequently carried out there during the German Colonial period.
Tongoni Ruins
A small fishing community called Tongoni is located 17 kilometers south of Tanga City. In the 15th century, it was a thriving and reputable trading hub. The Shirazi, who are of Persian descent, founded Islamic communities in Eastern Africa, including Kilwa and Mafia. The Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama is credited with visiting Tongoni for the first time in April 1498. The following year, he returned and stayed in Tongoni for 14 days. The Tongoni ruins include mosques, tombs, the remains of the first Shiraz’s residence, and the site of the first port prior to Tanga.
Amani Natural Reserve: Amani Botanic Garden (Eastern Usambara)
The Amani Nature Reserve (ANR) has been dubbed the “Last Paradise” because of its rare species of flora and fauna. The species composition is extremely diverse, and it has a large, intricate structure. In the ANR, tall trees (those that are over 60 meters tall) support a wide variety of plant species, including climbers, parasitic plants, bryophytes, epiphytes, and lianas.
These features make ANR a suitable location for ecotourism, allowing it to be used for activities like game viewing, admiring the natural beauty or site-seeing, hiking, camping, walking, picnics, boating, fishing, and education while maintaining healthy ecological processes and the area’s stability.
One of Africa’s largest botanical gardens is also part of the Amani Nature Reserve. The Germans established this garden in 1902, along with Tanganyika’s first tree nursery.
The 350-hectare Amani Botanical Gardens (ABG) is home to 900 different tree species, both native and exotic, that were planted there by German settlers. ANR is a center for biological diversity as a result. There are 2012 vascular plant species per ha, which is a very diverse floristic composition. As a result, a significant portion of endemic species are found in ANR.
Additionally, the ANR is home to rare birds and butterflies that are extremely uncommon elsewhere in the world. There are also uncommon varieties of amphibians, chameleons, lizards, and snakes. As a result, Amani Nature Reserve is a location worth going to if you want to see endemic species in their natural habitat.
THINGS TO DO IN TANGA
Explore the Amboni Caves.
A very small sign reading “Department of Antiquities—Amboni Caves” can be found on the left side of the road, twenty minutes north of Tanga town. The unpaved, sandy road passes through the yards of several small houses, low-lying tulip trees, scrub, and a dense copse of fig trees before coming to a dead end.
The caves are referred to as Tanga’s “jewel in the crown” and are actually the only official tourist destination. The deep, eerie limestone caves and the guide will be all to yourself. Stories abound about the extent of the system, which could be hundreds of miles or just a few, as it has never been fully explored.
Wander through the European cemetery.
You can ride in any taxi. If you’re traveling by bicycle, ride up to the Bombo Hospital, turn right, and then snoop around the sandy lanes behind the Popatlal School to find this peaceful, overgrown area.
The graveyard, which was only accessible to Europeans during colonial times, serves as a testament to the white experience in equatorial Africa by housing graves for many infants, women who passed away during childbirth, and men who died of malaria. The British soldiers who died in the horribly conducted 1914 Battle of Tanga are commemorated in one section, the majority of whom were from the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. (The Indian regiment has been completely forgotten; the graves of the German soldiers who died are in another cemetery.) Seven crew members of an American plane that crashed off the coast of Tanga in 1956 are buried here, and their whereabouts remain a great mystery.
Take an architectural bike tour.
Less than 50p will get you the best view of the town’s lovely, eclectic architecture. Rent a bulky Chinese bike from Mikey at the central market, then set out pedaling.
Fabulous Art Deco mansions can be found south of the city along the Ras Kazone Peninsula’s winding network of sand roads. Some of these homes are in disrepair, but others have been meticulously preserved as a reminder of Tanga’s sisal heyday. These are situated close to the coast, next to the grand colonial homes of the British Empire’s most powerful people. Because of the regimented civil service, lower ranks had homes that were progressively smaller and farther from the ocean.
Just off the main road leading to Ras Kazone, the original Bombo Hospital looms like a castle from a Grimm fairy tale. The German-built hospital, which served as a haven for swallows and swifts from 1889 to 1918 while it was their colony, has long since fallen into disrepair. Cite Ozymandias by Mary Shelley as you stand in the empty hallways surrounded by creepers.
Many of the older Arab-influenced buildings in the city have elaborate mahogany balconies, four-foot walls, colored glass windows, heavy, dark doors, and courtyards with deep shaded cats. When you find yourself getting too hot from all the biking, look for a mango tree’s shade; chances are, someone will be selling cups of hot, sweet espresso and slices of delectable kashata, a type of peanut fudge.
Search for smugglers in Pangani.
Pangani, once a regal port providing China and Arabia with slaves, ivory, and spices, has been enchanted by the heat and rapidly expanding vegetation, giving the impression that you have entered the scene from Sleeping Beauty. Pangani has been ignored by the outside world for the past 200 years.
With only one working engine, the ferry slowly pirouettes across the current as it crosses the town’s namesake river. There isn’t much to see or eat, but you can stroll in peace among the eerie, crumbling ruins and beneath the towering fig trees.
It’s easy to picture canoes slithering up and down the river at night ferrying contraband—cheap electronics from Dubai coming in, plundering hardwoods, and gems going out—in the town that is rumored to be a haven for smugglers. The Peponi Beach Resort and the Pangani Beach Resort are two excellent small hotels with beaches, delicious food, and camping halfway between the town and Tanga.
Take a self-guided Battle of Tanga tour.
Get a copy of An Ice-cream War by William Boyd and The Battle of Tanga, 1914, by Ross Anderson. Anderson offers a brilliant example of British military stupidity: “one of the best-known events of one of the more obscure campaigns of the First World War.” Boyd will establish the narrative’s tone.
The battle, which took place between November 2 and 5, 1914, was a disaster for the British. The numerous egregious errors—poor planning, poorly trained Indian troops, and egregious arrogance—exposed pervasive issues within the British War Office.
Sadly, those in charge decided to ignore this advice and continued to repeat Tanga’s mistakes in Europe for another four years. Known for his haughtiness, General Arthur Aitken directed the landing of four companies of soldiers from British ships at Ras Kazone’s high cliffs and dense mangrove swamps, which made for an unfavorable landing at low tide. Many of the Indian troops drowned in the mangroves after being stung by bees. With more than 800 British casualties, the tragic farce came to an end.
Aitken left behind 455 rifles, 500,000 pounds of ammunition, medical supplies, and other equipment when he withdrew, giving the underequipped Germans a huge boost. The majority of the old houses are still standing, though one is inhabited by goats. Anderson’s book will take you to the landing spots as well as important positions briefly held by the British.
