There are a
few important moments in everybody’s calender and these will differ according
to your religion, occupation, weather, solstice and the list just goes on. In
East Africa they have the trade winds and it’s always a big celebration when
the wind changes direction.
The two main winds are: Kaskazi (north-easterly
wind) that blows December to mid-March, in the past this wind took traders
south along the coast, blowing from the northeast to the southwest for
approximately 4 months. It took fishermen to their fishing grounds and just as
they were starting to overfish the area the wind would change direction and
they would go to new fishing grounds.
The second wind: Kusi (southerly
wind) that blows April to mid-September. This wind allowed traders and
fishermen to head up north along the coast. A mainly southerly wind blowing for
approximately 6 months would take fishermen to very rich fishing grounds and
the fishermen spend weeks preparing their boats and nets for the Kusi
I was very fortunate
to be in Bagamoyo to experience the change from Kaskazi to Kusi. It was an
amazing experience and the celebrations went on for days. To put the cherry on
the cake for me, it was full moon and I managed to capture the image on the
top.
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