Tanzania's Forgotten Coast City — Tanga has the country's best Swahili-era ruins at Tongoni, the active dhow harbour is still working at dawn, and the Usambara Mountains' extraordinary biodiversity and tea estates begin just 40 kilometres into the highland mist
Tanga is Tanzania's second-largest port city on the Indian Ocean — a Swahili coast city whose faded colonial architecture, active dhow harbour, and proximity to two extraordinary natural regions (the Usambara Mountains and the Pemba Channel) make it one of mainland Tanzania's most interesting and least-visited cities. The Amboni Caves (9 km north) are the largest cave system in East Africa — a 234 km limestone network with stalactites and underground rivers. The Tongoni Ruins (20 km south) are the largest concentration of Shirazi/Swahili coastal ruins in East Africa — 40+ 15th-century coral-s…
Tanga has been a Swahili trading port since at least the 14th century, connected to the Indian Ocean dhow trade network. Under Omani Arab control (17th–19th centuries), it was a centre of the slave and ivory trade. The German colonial administration made Tanga a major port and the eastern terminus of the Tanga Railway (built for access to the Kilimanjaro and Arusha highlands). The Battle of Tanga (November 1914) was one of the most embarrassing British military defeats of World War I — a force of 8,000 Indian Army troops was repulsed by 1,000 German Schutztruppe soldiers under Lt. Col. Paul v…