On a sweltering mid-morning in Mombasa, humidity levels are unforgiving, draining sustained beads of perspiration on dwellers of the port city.
Temperatures notwithstanding, Mombasa is a beehive of activity on the alleys that lead to the historic Fort Jesus in the city’s old town where fleet of yellow school buses ferrying students for educational tours drop and pick students.
The parking area adjacent to the historic tourist attraction is dotted with school buses, such that one would think Fort Jesus is exclusively an educational affair.
As the teachers and students alight and head towards the Fort’s entrance forming long queues, they find ice-cream hawkers flanking the pathway next to the entrance irresistible. Of course, with the temperatures virtually striking crescendo, perhaps nothing will be more soothing than a yummy, creamy ice-cream.
And as Anne Njeri Gathea, a teacher from Mariira Primary School in Murang’a county explains, the experience and value of the trip is immeasurable.
“We are here to promote local tourism, but again the experience is amazing. For us as teachers, we are so excited because you realise you get to learn about what you teach from textbooks in real life. As the schools reopen, we are going back wiser, and armed with more quality teaching materials than we were at the end of last term,” Njeri explains.
Her colleague Jargon Njogu says the trip which was sponsored by the parents and school’s Board of Management will help the teachers gain first-hand experience and keeps them ahead of the learners.
“It is very dangerous when learners are ahead of teachers so the parents thought it wise to sponsor us for this trip and for sure, we have learnt a lot,” explained Njogu adding besides Fort Jesus, they have visited several other sites around the Coast such as Diani beaches, Kenya Ferry and the Mombasa airport.
Educational centre
Similarly, Samuel Mwendwa Mulwa, the head teacher of Inokoni Mixed Day and Boarding School in Kilungu sub-county in Makueni county, accompanied 191 pupils from the school on an educational tour to Fort Jesus.
“The reason for coming here is because this is an educational centre. We want our pupils to come and have a feel of the history of battles that took place here. In history, these children have been learning about Fort Jesus but they have never seen it.
“So when they come here, they see some of the weapons that were used by those who took part in the war several centuries ago and they also get to see the building itself and also sample some of the items of the stone age that have been stored in the archives at the Museum within the Fort,” the Inokoni school head says.
Learning by observation, Mulwa says impacts on learners because it creates a lasting impression that lingers in the learner’s memory.
And it is such a booming business for Simon Ngunu, an icecream vendor and his colleagues who unanimously admit they have made a kill out of the August vacation.
“We have seen multitudes of visitors and the business is going on well. We have made some good sales,” he says. More than 420 years since the Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese in 1593 to serve as their military base, the Fort has lived to tell a historic tale of war and slavery.
During the East African Slave Trade era, slaves would travel to Arabia and the Persian Gulf through the port of Mombasa, many becoming labourers, guards, soldiers or concubines.
Between 1631 and 1895, it was captured and recaptured, changing hands nine times, with the Omani Arabs winning control over it in 1698. In 1895, the British transformed it into a prison and held slaves in the torture rooms and cells in the inner part of the fort.
Built by an Italian architect in the renaissance period, the Fort has a unique architectural design that resembles a structure of a human body with its head facing the Indian Ocean.
The above coupled by its age and attachment to interchange of several cultures including the Portuguese, the Omani Arabs, the British and now the Coastal people, gives it a unique edge that in 2011 it became a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.
A total of 10,000 to 50,000 both domestic and international visitors tour the site every month to sample this rich history, according to the Fort’s Principal Curator Fatma Twahir who estimates the total monthly revenue generated here at between Sh2 million and Sh10 million. Built on a huge carved coral rock foundation, Fort Jesus has withstood a total of 430 years.
Popular destinations
Other sites that have been at the centre of attraction for educational tours during the August vacation include Gede ruins in Watamu, Jumba la Mtwana in Mtwapa, the Vasco Da Gama pillar in Malindi, the Twin Tsavo National Parks in Taita Taveta, Shimoni Caves and the stunning coral plantation all in Kwale county among others.
Located north of Mombasa; just outside Malindi town, the Gede ruins date back to the 15th Century and are a popular destination to visit when on holiday on the Kenyan North Coast.
Gede ruins are the remains of a typical Swahili town built on the East African coast. It originally dates back to the 12th Century, but was rebuilt as a new town in the 15th and 16th centuries. The rebuilding was connected to emigration of many citizens of Kilwa to Mombasa, Malindi and other coastal towns.
With more people living there, the town became prosperous and reached its peak in the 15th century. This wealth can be verified in the ruins by the presence of mosques; a palace and houses, which are nestled in the Arabuko – Sokoke primeval forest. But by the first half of the 17th century, the town was abandoned.
