We still had some time, so we drove south to Shimoni. There, we found a complex of caves (🎟️400 KES) where slaves were supposedly kept before being loaded onto boats and shipped to the main auction in Zanzibar. A local guide (200 KES) took us around the dank caverns to illustrate this little-discussed part of East African history.
Local oral histories tell tales of a slave trade that had Shimoni as one of its main ports dating to the 8th century, with indigenous people captured from the interior and shipped to countries in the Arabian Gulf. The only actual evidence that slaves were kept here is a set of rusty broken shackles still adhered to their walls, which the guides explain date to the 17th century. A passageway led directly to the ocean from the caves, and a separate (and since defunct) passageway connected to the Three Sisters Caves further inland.
