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Tanzania:
Amboni Caves Expedition
By
Paul
Kisoni
 During
our New Year's holiday, I took the
opportunity of visiting the famous Amboni
Caves in the Tanga region of Northern
Tanzania. These historic limestone caves
were created by movement of the earth's
crust, penetrated by rain water containing
carbon dioxide. This acidic solution
slowly dissolved the limestone to form a
network of underground caverns, estimated
to extend over a 234 km
area.
To make
the journey, we hired a bicycle, so that
it would be easy to explore the area
surrounding Amboni village. The trip to
Amboni caves took almost one and a half
hours. In Tanga you will find that it's
easy to rent a bicycle at a cheap price,
since the townspeople use bicycles far
more than any other form of
 transport.
I rode slowly with a friend sharing, at an
hourly charge of 200Tsh (1 US$ is
800Tsh).
Tanga
town, located on Tanzania's North East
coast, is the country's chief northern
seaport, and is close to Pemba Island,
Mombassa, Pangani and Mkomazi Game
Reserve. The Amboni caves are five miles
from town center, off the main
Tanga/Mombassa road. At the entrance of
the Amboni caves, an official guide named
Kassim met our group. An experienced, very
charming guide, he has shown visitors the
Amboni caves for the past ten years.
During this particular journey, we
encountered 12 other visitors; three
Chinese, one Netherlander and the balance
were fellow Tanzanians.
Accommodation details at Tanga: The hotel
Mkonge Hotel offers AC/B.B at the cost of
US $ 90.The lowest range of prices is Four
Ways Hotel, which offers single room at
USD $ 5. There are many hotels witht
suitable conditions s from $5 US to $50
US.(List available on request) Security is
assured. People are very kind.
Temperature: 31C and the highest heat is
32C and the lowest is 23C.
Road Distances to Tanga: From Dar es
Salaam (DIA) Km 333;
From Arusha Km 423; From Moshi(KIA) Km
384. All roads are TARMAC.
(Map of the Tanga areato come)
 Before
entering the mouth of the first cave, we
were required to write our names in the
official record book, which is kept in the
tour guide's office. Kassim informed us
that its purpose was to record all
visitors entering the caves, in the event
of any party becoming lost. That
information would be vital in the event of
a search.
There
is total darkness inside the caves, thus
the visitors will not be able to see
anything after the first 50 yards from the
entrance until 15 minutes later when one's
sight become adjusted. The Amboni caves
are a vast maze of limestone and a
wonderland of 'stalactites' and
'stalagmites' with extraordinary,
fascinating crystal
formations.
One
chamber is called 'Mzimuni' or spirits
chamber. Here we found many bottles, flags
of different colors, coins, charcoal bones
and lots of foodstuff placed on one corner
of the caves. Kassim, our guide, mentioned
that these were 'gifts' that the local
villagers offered to the spirits. He
claimed that the women who had no babies
since being married, conceived shortly
after 'praying' and offering gifts at the
spirits cave. Even Europeans come here
often to pray and claim that their
problems are solved. Religious people,
individuals and groups, come here from all
over East Africa.
We were
then escorted into a big chamber, in which
some rays of light penetrated through a
hole in the cave's ceiling. Kassim told us
that if one followed the light thinking
that he would arrive at ground level, he
would be probably end up getting lost. He
said that to know and follow the darker
passages was more important. The chambers
and passages of the caves ehoc with
peculiar, often Dracula -like noises of
the bats who make their home
their.
In
our expedition, we came to another
chamber, which was also formed by physical
processes. At one point, winged bats could
be seen circling the Madonna-like statue,
while the replica of famous New York City
statue of Liberty is clearly seen at one
point.
Later
on we reached another space appropriately
named the 'Picnic Chamber. ' Here there's
a huge space for folks to play volleyball
or some similar pastime. An interesting
feature we noticed was a statue shaped
like a map of Africa. Since it was lying
on the floor, Kassim mentioned that the
statue has been dropped from the cave
above our heads several years ago. Some
passages within the interconnecting caves
are very narrow, which meant we had to
walk single file. I made sure that I was
in the middle of the queue.
On
entering another chamber Kassim informed
us that it once belonged to two local
gangsters called Osale Otango and Paulo
Hamis. Both terrorized the citizens of
Tanga region, including Europeans
colonialists and settlers. Here the
peculiar noises could even run a chill
down ones spine.
We also
visited a certain chamber, which has a
stalactite feature believed to be 75,000
years old. It is still growing today at
the average of one and a half inches per
year (see photo). We visited another
passage where rays of a light come from a
hole above. Here we saw tree roots of
approximately 300m, above which comes from
inside the chamber to may be outside
through hole above.
We were
again shown four passages, which Kassim
claimed that if followed they would lead
to Nairobi, Mombassa and Kilimanjaro. He
said the time to reach these places would
also be reduced to half, but for security
reasons the authorities have closed the
passages. We crawled the passages as if we
were climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, but we
reached a certain hole and then had to
report back for security
reasons.
After
an hour and a half in the caves we decided
it was time to head for daylight. On our
return, we used a different path. It is
like an airport's 'loading tunnel' which
goes to the airplane-like passage (cave).
When I mentioned that the ground was
extremely soft, I was told that we were
stepping on the dropping of millions of
bats. There were great bunches of them
hanging upside down in some of the
caves.
On
completion of of our expedition Kassim
gave a brief history of the caves, which
included its formation. He said it was
believed that the process began 20 million
years ago, but the Amboni caves started
taking shape 14 million years ago. The
Amboni caves can provide an ideal movie
location, a natural background for any
adventure films. For scientists it is
ideal for specialized research. For
students, it is a place to witness the
great forces of chemistry, sound and
biology. The caves are a paradise for
adventure tourists .
All
together there are six caves. Visitors are
taken on only three caves of almost 1 km,
since authorities believe that wild
animals inhabit the remaining three. The
largest of the six caves is called
'Mabavu' Powerful a name given by local
people and it is this cave, which is
believed to hold witch-granting spirits.
Whatever the local stories may be, the
Amboni caves are well worth a visit while
in Tanzania. After completing the Amboni
Cave expedition, we proceeded to Galanos
Hot Springs, situated about 3 Km on the
Mombassa road, 8 km from Tanga
Municipality.
We met
by a guide (Rasta) Jumaa who took us to
the Amboni village. We rode until we
reached the Ziggi river. Here we hired a
local youth to look after our bicycles
while we crossed the Ziggi river by canoe.
Sometimes crocodiles inhabit this river,
and we didn't even have a life jacket.
However, we made it across safely and
proceeded to visit the mineral rich
springs. There are blue and yellow
deposits in the canal, through which the
sulfur water flows. Further studies will
show whether they are more ideal for
therapeutical or recreational
purposes.
After
completing our tour we rode back to town.
Guess how many hours I spent on hired
bicycle? Only six hours at the cost of
Tsh. 4800/= or $6 US. Those interested in
visiting The Amboni Caves may contact the
writer at e-mail:
kisonipm@hotmail.com
Or Mr.
Kassim or Tegani, Tour Guides Offices,
The Amboni Culture and Guiding Promoters,
P.O. Box 1021
Tel: 255 741 211091 or 255 27 2643546
Fax: 255 27 2643546
Majestic Cinema, Mkwakwani Road,
Tanga, Tanzania, East
Africa.
Background
The
Amboni Caves are the most extensive
limestone caves in East Africa. They are
located 8 km north of Tanga City in
Tanzania off the Tanga-Mombasa road. The
caves were formed about 150 million years
ago during the Jurassic age. It covers an
area of 234 km?. According to researchers
the area was under water some 20 million
years ago. There are altogether ten caves
but only one is used for guided
tours.
History:
Amboni Limited, a company which was then
operating sisal plantations in Tanga
Region acquired the area in 1892. The
company notified the British colonial
government about the caves who in turn
declared the caves a conservation area in
1922.
It is
not known when the caves were exactly
discovered but reports indicate that
ethnic groups such as the Segeju, Sambaa,
Bondei and Digo who lived near the caves
used it for prayers.
The
cave attracts tourist as well as students
for their geography
lessons.
Details
on the cave formation
Also
read about the
Cango
Caves
in South Africa's Karoo
Country
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40 in visits to this site varies every
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