Pangani
A Quiet 19th Century Trading Town On The Pangani River With Swahili, Arab And German Era Buildings Including The Old Boma, The Customs House And The Slave Market Ruins. Known For Deserted Beaches, The Pangani River Estuary And Maziwe Island Marine Reserve, Dhow Trips And Low Key Lodges, Far From The Safari Circuit. · Pangani, Tanga
Pangani is a small Swahili port town where the Pangani river meets the Indian Ocean, about 50 km south of Tanga. In the 1800s it traded in ivory, sisal and slaves, and later the Germans built a boma here. Today it is a sleepy place of coral-stone houses with carved Zanzibari doors, a dhow harbour, the old customs house and the ruined slave market. The beaches nearby are quiet, with a handful of lodges, and Maziwe Island is a sandbar reef for snorkelling. The honest picture: this is a nice, quiet coast for people with time, and the beaches are less spectacular than Zanzibar. Visitors are few and services are thin. A traveller already in Tanga or Dar es Salaam may find it a pleasant change from the crowds. Expect heat, humidity and an unhurried pace, and a town that is better for wandering than for ticking off sights, with kite surfing for those who enjoy it, and a river that is pleasant to see from a boat at the start or end of the day. Few places on this coast feel so unhurried, or so quiet for the price.
Old Swahili port town at the mouth of the Pangani river on the Indian Ocean coast, about 50 km south-east of Tanga and 190 km north of Dar es Salaam, with a historic stone quarter and long beaches, Pangani, Tanga, Tanzania
The town is open every day, and the Old Boma and small museum keep daytime hours, often closing early; ask locally. The harbour is busiest at dawn. Boats to Maziwe leave in the morning and follow the tide. Shops may be CLOSED on Friday midday for prayers, so plan errands for the morning or late afternoon.