Kilwa Kisiwani

Kilwa Kisiwani is a small island in southern Tanzania, a short boat ride from the mainland town of Kilwa Masoko, that was once one of the greatest trading cities on the East African coast. The island was first occupied between the ninth and nineteenth centuries by Omani sultans and Persian merchants, and from the eleventh century the sultans of Kilwa grew wealthy controlling the gold trade with the interior. At its peak in the fourteenth century Kilwa's coinage circulated as far as Arabia and India, and the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta described it in 1331 as one of the most beautifully built and elegantly laid out cities in the world.

The ruins today, together with those on the neighbouring island of Songo Mnara, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Great Mosque of Kilwa is the largest surviving structure of the pre-Portuguese Swahili coast, with its distinctive domed and vaulted stone-and-coral construction. The Husuni Kubwa palace on the far side of the island, built in the early fourteenth century, was one of the largest stone buildings in sub-Saharan Africa at the time. The Gereza fort, later added by Omani rulers, guards the harbour entrance.

For visitors, Kilwa is a genuine off-the-beaten-track experience. The mainland base at Kilwa Masoko is a small quiet fishing town with a handful of comfortable lodges. Day trips to Kilwa Kisiwani leave by dhow or motor boat, requiring a permit from the Antiquities Department that your guide arranges. A full day on the two islands, walking through the ruins with a specialist guide and stopping for a picnic on a mangrove beach, is one of the most memorable experiences on the whole Tanzanian coast.

Beyond the ruins, the surrounding reefs offer excellent snorkelling, the mainland has long empty beaches, and dhow trips through the mangrove creeks are a relaxed way to fill a second day. Kilwa combines well with Nyerere National Park for a southern circuit that mixes wildlife, history and coast.