every wind has its journey

25 metres long, the sail patched a thousand times, a vessel of the past: the "Swalihina" is one of East Africa's last great freight-carrying sailing vessels. Under the command of Captain Kame Fumo a crew of 15, plus Bruno, the ship's monkey, transport cargo up and down the African coastline, just like in the olden days.

Dhows, the old wooden sailboats, have been following the monsoon and crossing the seas between India, Arabia and East Africa for more than 2000 years. From November to May the "Kaskazi" blows south-westerly. Then the "Kusi" blows in the other direction. The winds carried people and goods, and also customs, ideas, arts and ways of life. This encouraged the development of an African-Arabic culture along the East African coastline, shaped by trade, the wind and Islam: Swahili.

 

The films discover what remains of the culture-forming times of sea trade in India, Arabia and Africa. They show today's life in the ports and along the coastline focussing on the Swahili coast in East Africa.The films follow the winds and the remaining dhow trade.

Swahili - the coastal culture of East Africa

Since the 11th century firstly Persian but then mainly South Arabian merchants and seafarers settled along the East African coast. They built trading posts and married African women thus developing the Islamic and maritime Swahili culture. Swahili is Arabic and means coast. WaSuaheli are coastal people and KiSwahili is their language, the lingua franca of all of East Africa. The "Swahili Coast" begins in southern Somalia and stretches over 2800 km along the coastlines of Kenya and Tanzania to northern Mozambique, where the monsoon ends.