Zanzibar. The name conjures images of Arabian romance. A historically key trading post on the ‘Monsoon Route’ between India, Arabia and Africa. A fusion of cultures in a beautiful tropical setting. Spices, slaves and Sultans. I could go on.
I’m becoming tired towards this end of our time in Tanzania and initially was pretty indifferent-despite the above- about going to Zanzibar. I’m so glad the wife said that we HAD to do Zanzibar, because its unique vibe was so totally worth it. Just wish we had had more time there...
We took one of our last precious remaining leave days and decided to fly out of Moshi early Saturday morning, spend Saturday in Stone Town (on the west coast of the island), Sunday at Jambiani beach (on the East Coast) and Monday for last activities on the beach and in Stone Town before flying off at 500pm and get home about 8-9pm-ish.
After dodging a wandering goat at a traffic island in an airport shuttle and a flight on a plane populated by Russian tourists and their ridiculous hooker themed clothing and oversized baggage, we landed in Zanzibar to be met by humid tropical air, lots of palm trees and the general disorganisation of the ‘Zanzibar International Airport’. We found our transfer to the hotel relatively painlessly and arranged with the (extremely eager) driver’s mate to get a walking tour of Stone Town that afternoon.
Our hotel, the Dhow Palace Hotel, sat nestled in the cramped, narrow alley of stone buildings that characterise Stone Town’s Middle East inspired architecture. Lots of locals in Muslim coastal garb wandering about. The hotel was a bit high end, but we got resident rates, and I felt like some pampering. After some octopus fritters, we popped up on the Hotel’s rooftop balcony for a peek at the surrounds. It was nice to be in a different setting compared to landlocked Moshi.
(Stone Town waterfront)
A quick swim in the blue mosaic laced pool downstairs and then it was time to head off with our Guide into the old part of Stone Town. What to say about Stone Town...I’ll just rip this off Wikipedia:
Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, with a unique mixture of Moorish, Arab, Persian, Indian and European elements. For this reason, the town has been included in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2000.I loved wandering around Stone Town. Its cramped streets and stone buildings definitely reminded me of wandering in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Loved the mix of Indian, Arabian and African architecture, the ornate carved wooden doors, everything.
People were friendly and were bemused to hear our Swahili. Streets were paved and clean. We definitely felt like we weren’t in the Africa we lived in Moshi anymore. Even wandering without our Guide later in our trip people seemed more chilled and the street touts were way less aggressive than back in the Mosh.
Bicycles and motorbikes kept racing past us and vanishing around corners. Way less cars ie as they could not fit in the streets. Still not sure why a lot of the wooden doors had Indian derived brass spikes on them to stop elephants pushing in the doors, when no elephant could have fit down the streets! (let alone the fact there are no elephants on Zanzibar).
(no elephant is pushing his way into this house!)
We walked a twisting path past spice, fish (mmmm fresh barracuda) and vegetable markets. Found an odd reference on the streets to 1/4 of my genetic makeup:
(Lebs representin' in Zanzibar!)
We stopped off at the site of the old Slave Market, now an Anglican Cathedral. Very moving. Zanzibar was East Africa’s main slave trading port and at its height was processing 50 000 slaves a year. Slaves taken from the interior of Africa to work on plantations. Seeing the place of the old whipping post (to punish and test the strength ie the potential price of slaves), chains from the era and sitting in the stifling underground slave quarters made one reflect on man’s inhumanity to man.
(slave monument with actual chains from period)
The Cathedral was deliberately constructed on top of the slave market in an effort to purify the area. A baptismal font stands atop a well that weak slaves used to be disposed of into (to drown and flow out to sea). A symbol of life placed on top of a place of death. I was oddly moved to see a crucifix in honour of Dr Livingstone:
Livingstone was an abolitionist and loved by the African people. When he was near death he asked that his heart could be buried in Africa. When he died in 1873, Africans removed his heart, placed that under the tree where he died in Zambia and then carried his embalmed body over 1000 miles on foot from Zambia to Tanzania. What an act of love. His body now lies in Westminster Abbey.
The crucifix in the Anglican Cathedral is made from the wood of the same tree in Zambia where Livingstone's heart was buried under. I felt a bit affect seeing the crucifix, dunno why. Maybe having been to Victoria Falls in Zambia that he ‘discovered’, then being in a place off the Tanzanian mainland and seeing just how much of Africa his life touched. Would like to learn more.
After that sobering experience, we resumed wandering, going past ‘Mercury House’ a reputed birthplace of the singer Freddy Mercury and then past the old Fort. The Fort is reputedly the oldest building in Stonetown and was built in 17th century by the Arabs to repel Portuguese attacks, before being used as a jail. The Fort will be the setting of the annual
Sauti za Busara Music Festival in the next few days. Yeah, we coulda delayed and gone to the music festival but we were too laaaaazy.
(My debut standup gig at the Old Fort did not sell out...)
The wife and I said goodbye to our guide and ended up at a rooftop bar on the ‘Africa House Hotel’. A huge gaggle of scantily clad wazungu (those Russians again?!) jostling for the best spots to see the sunset. I was happy sipping my vivid blue rum/curacao cocktail.
The sunset was pretty spectacular. Watching a dhow move across the sunset’s reflection on the Indian Ocean is an image that will stay with me awhile.
The wife and I did one last walk through the dusk streets to the waterfront and back-so nice feeling safe wandering around at dusk-why is it so much more chilled here...anyway. We got back to our hotel and dined on lobster (looked suspiciously like a crayfish WHERE WERE ITS PINCERS!) and a Sea Perch with mean little fangs.
After dinner we chilled out in the hotel room...thank goodness for air conditioning. So pampered. I flipped on the TV in the room and watched some of the Denzel Washington classic ‘Training Day’...I really should brought a laptop with movies to Tanzania. Oh well.
What a nice, relaxed day. As Ethan Hawke’s character says in ‘Training Day’ it’s all about ‘smiles and cries’. Nice to be able to let our guards down today, play tourist and have some smiles.
To Be Continued
