Kenyan Dhow Sailing Journey

The east coast of Africa in Kenay still has the sailboats that were the same as those sailed in by Sinbad the Sailor. Sinbad the sailor's stories astonished people for centuries. You can still sail in the same way - in 12 tons of solid teak Dhow. Dhows such as these carried arabs to china and back again. The boatbuilding skills have been handed down from father to son. The east african sailors still ply the coastal trade routes sailed in sinbad's time. You can start a voyage from Lamu on the Indian Ocean on the East coast of Kenya. You can find a Dhow captain to take you on a voyage. You will have to bargain to get a good price, the louder and longer the better. Dhows took on goods to trade down the African coast such as grains, spices, salt. A seafaring Dhow is a joy to behold. The scent of days gone past and history surround you. The lateen sail is hoisted by ropes by hand. Leaving Lamu, steer south for Zanzibar the island at the end of the world on a smooth monsoon breeze. Everyone gives a hand to set the sails. There are no engines or motor or anything modern - not even a compass, they navigate using the skyline and the sun.

Drop in at Kipini the next village south down the coast. The Dhows unload sacks of grain. And the villagers try to sell bananas and mangoes and tamarind. nothing has changed in a thousand years. The crew needs a certain number of men to get the heavy sail up - about a dozen. The next stop is Mombasa. Try some fishing for mackerel or tuna. The galley cooks up rice and fish on a fire. It is too dangerous to sail at night because of the reefs and shoals so the Dhow will find a safe anchorage during the night. Setting out each day there are no charts on board.

Mombasa has an old port with a fort with guns at the entrance. In the 16th century the portuguese and arabs fought for control of this port. Today Mombasa is a trading center for Dhows sailing North and South. Traders sold whatever was in short supply and needed and sell whatever they had for a profit. The island of pemba, south of mombasa, still practices voodoo. This ancestor worship is taken seriously to provide cures for sick people. The voodoo priests perform rituals to propitiate the spirits and heal the sick. Possession takes place by the ancestors and the priests ask the ancestor spirits what to do about the patients' sickness. On Pemba Island you will find a few vehicles to take you around the island to something like a bullfight left behind by the culture of the portuguese. The matadors are not quite up to the standard of the European instigators but is a bizarre spectacle and the bull will not be hurt.

Taking off from pemba island you can set sail for Zanzibar and get there in 2 days with a decent breeze, unless the wind drops and you get becalmed and at the mercy of the tide. The heat is oppressive when becalmed. Zanzibar is very old and traders from india egypt china and indonesia came here to do business. Zanzibar harbour is filled with dhows and is the busiest dhow port on the east african coast. The trade is what sustains the island of zanzibar. The old port of Zanzibar has an open air food market with fresh seafoods.

• Lamu
• Kipini
• Mombasa
• Pemba
• Zanzibar - the island at the end of the world.

Kenya Resources

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