Travel and Tourism
It took me one hour to see Kaole ruins. There are many motorcycles better known as bodaboda that will take you to kaole at $1.5 from Bagamoyo township that means a return trip will cost a tourist $3 on a motorcycle.
Walking to see the ruins highlighted the poverty and hardships that dot the township of Kaole surrounded by mud thatched houses yet a place filled with so many treasures like the ancient old history which brings in tourists from around the world daily.
Kaole is one of the oldest township after Kilwa that dates back to the 13th century, yet the history that Bagamoyo carries, the ocean treasures and tourists it brings seems not to be contributing anything to the inhabitants.
I met Musa Elias a tour guide at Kaole ruins and upon paying $1 as an entrance fee, Elias was took me several centuries back in time as he narrated how the place came to be.
Foreign tourists are charged $20 per head while East Africans pay $2.
"Kaole is the place known to have accommodated the Shirazi people from the East, who settled in East Africa while spreading Islamic religion and trading in Ivory.
This area of Kaole is also the second oldest township to be recorded in the history of East Africa after Kilwa," says Elias as he walked me through Kaole ruins.
He says this place was previously called "Pumbuji" by the Wazaramo, Wakwere and Wandigo who were the first settlers in the area.
Upon the arrival of the Shirazi people mosques and wells were built in the area and the ruins are visible to this day.
The name Kaole was labeled by the Shirazi people after their failure to understand the Wakwere and Wazaramo languages who used to witness their prayers.
Elias says the Wazaramo got amazed at the way the Shirazi people prayed where the Muezzin could climb on the rooftop of the mosque while calling out believers.
"This amazed the Wazaramo and they could tell one another to come to this place and see how the Shirazi people were conducting their prayers saying, "tuchole tukalole" in their vernacular (let's go and see) and this was how the term Kaole came into being to the Shirazi people who failed to pronounce the terms by Wazaramo and ended up pronouncing it as "Kaole"
However there is also tale of a 13-year old Shirazi girl called Mariamu who was believed to be a soothsayer and died a sudden death together with three other little girls. The three other girls who died the same day with Mariamu, "the soothsayer" were all buried beside her tomb. It was believed that the three girls were sent by God to accompany her.
Muslim pilgrims usually offer burnt offerings at the tomb of Mariamu whenever they visit saying it was one way they receive blessings and are forgiven of their sins.
Her tomb says it all with the magnificence of how it was built. It shows that despite her age, she was respected and adored in the society of her era.
The mosque at Kaole ruins is one of the oldest in the history of East Africa, being the second oldest mosque after the one found in Kilwa built in the 13th century. Beside this mosque lies the old ancient water well.
"This well has never run dry since the 13th century, that's why many people say it contains "holy water". Many people of all faiths usually collect it water whenever they visit the place believing it cleanses their sins" says Elias.
It reminded me of the biblical well where Jesus told a Samaritan woman that He had water that upon drinking will never a person thirsty again..
This well too according to the Bible has never run dry. Could there be only two wells on Earth with pure water and that has never run dry? That could be a great discovery I said to myself as I proceeded with Elias to the "grave of lovers", a couple that died on the same day on their way to Zanzibar and were buried in the same tomb.
"This tomb is called the lovers grave because these lovers were found dead along the coast while their arms clamped on each other and people decided that it was not proper if they had buried them separately," he says.
Our expedition came to an end as we approached the first oldest port which was used by the missionaries John Speke and Richard Burton when they first came to Africa while looking for Dr David Livingstone.
The old port was abandoned after failure to contain the growing of mangrove trees in the area and shifted to Bagamoyo township in the 18th century, to a port that is still in use to this day.
On the other side of Kaole ruins however, lies a water well, tombs and an old mosque whose history is yet to be recorded.
However, it seems the lack of professional archeologists to unearth facts and have every ancient discovery in our land recorded for the coming generations is to blame for the missing history.
The Kaole ruins are visited by people from all walks of life from Monday through Sunday.
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