Unveiling the History of Amboni Caves : Tanga is a large port city with Swahili roots during the sisal trade boom, many immigrants from other African countries, especially Mozambique and Kenya, settled in the Tanga region and entered the sisal trade. Sisal is grown on most cropland around Tanga, the coastal plain. After the sisal market weakened, most sisal plantations closed. Many settlers began to harvest arable land around the sisal plantations, the main part of which was overgrown with shrubs and tall grass Fallow sisal plantations cover most of the landscape The countryside is dotted with many small villages and agricultural settlements, numbering between hundreds of people and small families
The village of Arnboni is a larger settlement located between the mouths of two rivers. The cave that forms the national monument is named after this small farming community (Amboni Cave), Unveiling the History of Amboni Caves
The Amboni caves are limestone in origin. These caves are found in East Africa in the Tanga region in Tanzania. The Amboni caves are located 9 Kilometers from Tanga City. It takes about a 10-minute drive to reach the Amboni Area. The Amboni caves cover an area of about 234 square kilometers. There are a total of ten caves present in Amboni but only one is used as a tourist destination and for spiritual reasons. The cave attracts tourists as well as students for their history and geography lessons. Here are interesting facts to know about the famous Amboni Caves in Tanga.
History of Amboni Cave
The name Amboni originated from Mama Mboni. At the current locality, there had a mother called Mama Mboni who had very big land. When European colonialists came, they needed a large area of land from Mama Mboni for conducting sisal plantations. So they failed to pronounce Mama Mboni instead they pronounced Mama Amboni.
According to geologists and researchers, the caves have been there for about 150 million since the Jurassic era. In all hundred and fifty million years, for about twenty million years the caves have been underwater to mean under the Indian Ocean. Amboni caves are the biggest limestone caves in East Africa. But also they are the second largest limestone caves in the world.
The caves have been used for a long time by Tanga indigenous people among the tribes such as Zigua, Bondei, Digo, and Sambaa who have been using the caves for ages
Inside The Amboni Cave
There are about 13 stations inside Amboni cave. The cave has many wonders that one can learn through visiting this attraction. The attractions include,
Natural Made Features: These are the main attraction of the Amboni Caves. Inside the cave, there are various features or figures, according to geologists and researchers argue that those features and figures have been made by ocean water as a result of eroding weak limestone parts.
Rocky Drawing: Some rocks are drawn in various shapes of resting chairs, a ship, a crocodile, Mount Kilimanjaro, an elephant, a map of Africa, and the head of a male lion. They are the leading attraction for people coming to Amboni, as they serve for both Historical explorations and tourism.
Dancing place: There is a dancing or picnic place which is the biggest open space. In the same place, there is a small chamber that looks like DJ’s room. The place seems to be where the indigenous people used to dance to their traditional songs and beat drums.
Bats: Many bats are living in the cave. They have made a leopard-like feature but also they have made a footstep feature. Every evening at sunset they are observed flying out of the cave through the entrance. In addition to that, watching bat flights is a very interesting adventure while at Amboni.
Generally, Tanga has a lot of tourist destinations. This place has unique attractions that tourists regularly pay to visit apart from Amboni Caves. There are so many other places such as camping places, mountains to hike on, and waterfalls at Pangani River. Additionally, Tanzania is a safe country with peace and harmony in every region around the country. Tanzanians are friendly and everyone is welcome. Tanga, in particular, is the one region where everybody believes one cannot pay a visit and leave as they had planned, they usually overstay because of the hospitality of the people.
