🇹🇿 Tanzania Southern Coast 1 tour

Kilwa Kisiwani

UNESCO-listed ruins of a medieval Swahili trading empire — coral-stone mosque + palace.

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Country

🇹🇿 Tanzania

Region

Southern Coast

Best time

June–October

Coordinates

-8.950, 39.510

About Kilwa Kisiwani

Kilwa Kisiwani is an island off southern Tanzania that from the 10th–16th centuries was East Africa's richest Swahili trading port, controlling the gold trade out of Great Zimbabwe. The UNESCO ruins include the Great Mosque (one of the earliest standing mosques in East Africa), the 100-room Husuni Kubwa palace, and the Portuguese-era Gereza fort. Reached by dhow from Kilwa Masoko on the mainland.

Highlights

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Great Mosque (10th-c. original, 14th-c. domes)
  • Husuni Kubwa palace ruins
  • Gereza Portuguese fort
  • Dhow crossing from Kilwa Masoko
Live forecast · Kilwa Kisiwani
29°C Clear sky · 13 km/h wind
Updated 2026-05-18T16:00
  1. 🌦 30° 23° 💧 0.7mm
  2. 🌦 30° 23° 💧 1.1mm
  3. ☀ 30° 23°
  4. 🌦 30° 24° 💧 0.1mm
  5. ☀ 30° 24°
  6. 🌤 29° 24°
  7. 🌦 29° 23° 💧 0.6mm
Weather data by Open-Meteo.com
Live wildlife observations
Recently spotted near Kilwa Kisiwani

Real observations published to GBIF by researchers, lodges, and citizen scientists — refreshed daily.

Merops albicollis
2025-01-18 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Centropus superciliosus
2025-01-18 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Pedalium murex
2025-01-18 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Chalcomitra senegalensis
2025-01-18 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Egretta dimorpha
2025-01-18 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Varanus albigularis
2025-03-05 · Tanzania, United Republic of
Source: GBIF.org — Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Best time to visit

June–October

Itineraries

Tours that visit Kilwa Kisiwani

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