Ngalawa

The ngalawa or ungalawa is a traditional, double-outrigger canoe of the Swahili people living in Zanzibar and the Tanzanian coast.^[1] It is usually 5–6 m long and has two outriggers, a centrally-placed mast (often inclining slightly towards the prow) and a single triangular sail. It is used for short-distance transport of goods or people, as well as a coastal fishing boat. It can be classified as a variation of another common type of Swahili canoe known as ''mtumbwi'' (uk).

Ngalawa from Chumbe Island, Tanzania

The name and the outrigger technology was adapted from the outrigger lakana of the Austronesian Malagasy people of Madagascar.^[2]

See also

• Outrigger canoe
• Trimaran