Mombasa travels to the Swahili Coast and made some mention of the city, although he only stayed one night. He noted that the people of Mombasa were Shãfi'i Muslims, religious people, trustworthy and righteous. Their mosques are made of wood, expertly built. The exact founding date of the city is unknown, but it has a long history. Kenyan school history books place the founding of Mombasa as 900 A.D. It must have been already a prosperous trading town in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer Al Idrisi mentions it in 1151. The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built
Lagos–Mombasa Highway west. The eastern section of the Lagos–Mombasa Highway is also the only part of the whole network where the name 'Trans-African Highway' is in common use and is seen on a few road signs. Lagos–Mombasa Highway The Lagos–Mombasa Highway (also known as the "Mombasa-Lagos Highway") is Trans-African Highway 8 and is the principal road route between West and East Africa. It has a length of and is contiguous with the Dakar-Lagos Highway with which it will form (when complete) the longest east-west crossing of the continent for a total distance of Part of the transcontinental road network under development by