PANGANI is 45 kilometres south of Tanga and lies near the mouth of the Pangani River. It's an old Arab town which a few centuries ago was of considerble importance in sea trade. The river is about four hundred metres wide at Pangani; a car-carrying ferry links the roads to the north and to the south.

Upstream from Pangani are coconut plantations and tropical riverine forest. This is a wonderful little trip and highly recommended. A boat costs $70 and a guide a further $10.

The cultural tours of Pangani Town are interesting. Recommended is a guided tour of the old town with a history going back to Arabs and Portuguese of the 16th Century. Pangani is one of the towns that suffered the brutality of the slave trade. In 1810 the central Boma building was constructed and was later taken over by the German and later the British administrations and used as a District office. The carved doors still remain. The town is a little shabby but numerous old buildings are still inhabited.

TANGA 8 hours. $90 per vehicle. A sleepy little town that once was a thriving port, rich from exporting sisal. With the collapse of the price of sisal in the 1970's it declined to its present state. Hopefully with the increase in sisal prices the town will find new life. Tanga Port is Tanzania's second main port but does not have container off-loading facilities. Tanga is 90 minutes drive from Ushongo.

AMBONI CAVES 2 Hours. 15 minutes north of Tanga on the Mombasa Road. The caves are a very extensive and remarkable network cut into the limestone beds of the area. The $8 per person entry fee includes a guided tour of about one hour.

SISAL ESTATE 2 Hours. Mwera Sisal Estate is owned by the British company Bigglesworth. The estate was originally established in the 1920's by a Swiss company. Sisal is from the Agave plant, a native of South America. It is also a crop that demands hundreds of hectares to be efficient. Like all plantation crops, a large supply of cheap labor is required.

A tour of the estate includes the mill and the drying section. Up to 1970 sisal was one of Tanzania's main crops. The industry collapsed under the nationalization program of the time when it was thought that politicians made efficient business men and farmers. Privatization and increased prices for sisal have since made the crop once again an important export of Tanzania.

HIPPO POOLS 35 minutes from Ushongo. A picturesque site. Hippos are always fun to watch. Crocodiles inhabit some of the dams on the sisal estate; do not go too close to the water.

SAADANI NATIONAL PARK (sah-da'-nee) This is worth a day's visit from Ushongo with the option of staying longer at one of the permanent camps or do-it-yourself camping at one of the public camp sites at $20 per person per night. Park fee is $20 per day per person.

Saadani National Park is the only coastal park in Tanzania. It has a wide variety of habitats, including coastal thickets, acacia woodland and mangrove swamps. It is one of the few parks where African elephants can be seen swimming in the Indian Ocean. Animals to be seen include lions, leopards, baboons, hartebeest, reedbuck, waterbuck, wart hog and many others. Hippos and crocodiles are upstream in the Wami River.

Vehicle hire from Ushongo is from $75 per day self-drive excluding fuel. A driver-guide is recommended at an additional $15 per day.

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