Travel Guide Ujiji

Ujiji is located 10 km south of Kigoma, and is part of its metropolitan area. History has remembered this town for its famous question: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume? It was here, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, that journalist Henry Morton Stanley found Dr. David Livingstone in 1871, the famous explorer who had set off in search of the source of the Nile. Previously, the British Burton and Speke had passed through Ujiji in February 1858, when they began their exploration of Lake Tanganyika. This mythical encounter, two years before Livingstone's death in Zambia, is commemorated by a monument and pseudo-museum of little interest, apart from the huge mango trees on its site in Livingstone Street.Ujiji has an ancient history: it was once the arrival point for caravans from the coast and the departure point for those returning, notably to take slaves captured or bought by the Arabs. At the end of the 19th century, the town was dominated by a powerful Arab, Rumaliza, who had settled there after being defeated in the Congo by the Belgians. But he made the strategic mistake of allying himself with the Hehes, who were in revolt against the Germans, and the latter drove him out of the town, where they established a post in 1896. The dominant Bantu ethnic group here is the Wa-Has, as in Kigoma, but the Arab influence is clearly visible. These Bantus are predominantly Muslim, and the town features several houses with Swahili architecture, typical of the Muslim ocean coast (some interiors and ornate doors). A Catholic mission was established here very early on; the beautiful school has been nationalized and a small English-speaking seminary has been rebuilt.What's most interesting here is the fishing port at the end of this street, with a dhow yard and a very pleasant beach on the north side, where you can spend a lovely afternoon.