08 November 2010

Shimoni - the village


After our time in Mombasa, we traveled 50 miles south to Shimoni, a port village on Kenya's coast - very near to the border with Tanzania.

Shimoni is known for its Swahili ruins and slave caves. In fact, Shimoni is a Swahil word meaning "holes' or "caves". In the 1890s it was once the center of the abolition of the slave trade in this area of Africa. Over time it has developed from a sleepy fishing village to become the main port of clearance for ocean going trade dhows arriving from as far away as the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the island of Zanzibar, and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

In certain seasons, the aromatic smell of cloves permeates the evening calls to prayer in the towns two main mosques.






We waited 45 minutes for a matatu to come along (the day we left Shimoni)

Eating a wonderful lunch with my fingers (when we first arrived at Shimoni)

Fresh Red Snapper, sukuma wiki, coconut rice, and fresh pineapple juice

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