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Published: January 12th 2024
Last night, instead of bird song to lull me to sleep, it was voices and clatter in the narrow street below, coming through the slatted windows. Did not keep me from going to sleep immediately.
Our walking tour of Stone Town started at the hotel’s door, a few steps from the
Old Fort . Taib related its history: the Omanis had already established a dynamic spice trade in Zanzibar by 1503 when Vasco da Gama defeated them. For 200 years the Portuguese controlled the country until about 1699 when the Omanis reconquered Zanzibar. Power went to the strongest navy in those days; both Portugal and Oman, being small countries, suffered from not being able to hold on to what they had conquered. The Old Fort was built by Omani Arabs as a defense against future Portuguese, attacks, but was never needed. Within its anti-slavery policy, the British in 1896 began to rule the island as a protectorate. (Independence came in 1963 and the formation of Tanzania in 1964.) In 1994, The Fort was rebuilt and redesigned as the
Zanzibar Cultural Centre , which included an open-air amphitheatre and displays of art, as well as souvenir vendors. Taib recommended reading
Memoirs of an Arabian Princess, written by a woman who was born in Zanzibar in 1844.
The building covered in corrugated-steel I saw yesterday was not a strange modern edifice. It is the
Palace of Wonders , which partially collapsed twice and is now being protected from the weather while funds are sought for restoration. Nearby was
Forodhani Park, where we walked yesterday amongst the food vendors; Taib mentioned that the restoration was funded by the Aga Khan, owner of our hotel and the Serena hotel chain.
Kenyatta Street is a major thoroughfare that people, bicycles and cars share without rules. Here was the house where
Freddie Mercury was born, lead singer of Queen. I didn’t know he was from Zanzibar, although others did. His parents were Indian, and he also lived in India and England. The Queen Museum in London loaned artifacts for the small museum here.
Stone Town is known for its teak and mahogany wood doors, which are adorned with intricate carvings and many studs the size of a fist. The studs come from Indian architecture and were designed to withstand elephant attacks in war. Here they are décor. Indian-inspired doors, also called Gujarati, have carved domes, while Arabic ones are flat
on top. Most look quite new, so they are well-maintained and replaced if weathered.
As we walked along, we peered into the narrow shops, whose goods were displayed outside their entrances. Most were souvenir shops with t-shirts and far too many cloth or basket bags that said “hakuna matata”, a common expression here, appropriated by Disney for
The Lion King. Locals hurried around and past the several tours going on the same route as we were. Motorcycles demanded their space, and a few bicycles navigated through the crowds. With seeming good humour, street vendors and touts attracted our attention with “Jambo” and “Hello”.
The
Anglican Cathedral, Christ Church , was built in 1879 exactly where the historic slave market was located, and its altar was situated where the whipping post was. In 1834 the British parliament abolished slavery, and the anti-slavery supporters broadened their work to other countries. When, in 1872, a huge hurricane destroyed Zanzibar’s agricultural economy, the UCMA (
Universities’ Mission to Central Africa ) bought the land where the market had been. The British promised aid to the Omani sultanate only if it abolished slavery, which it did in 1873.
In the church is a cross made from wood from the tree
Fish market
High aromawhere
Dr Livingston ’s heart was buried when he died. His body was kept in the British embassy in Stone Town for two weeks for formal identification. Above the former underground slave chambers sits a former mission hospital. A modern sculpture, The Slaves Monument, depicts four people in a pit, bound by a real chain discovered in
Bagamoyo . The realism made me feel the suffering.
A short walk along the street dividing Stone Town and the New Town is the main open-air market. The fish section is immediately inside the entrance. Although the smell was high, I was fascinated to see the number of fish species, identified for us by Taib: White Snapper, Tuna, Elephant Tuna, Trumpet Fish, mussels, and anchovies. Rather than linger in the food section, we walked along the pathways through the fabric section, a delight to me. Having satisfied my acquisitiveness some days ago, I could delight in the bright colours and fabulous patterns with unalloyed joy.
We were making our way to the Lukmaan Restaurant, much favoured by individual tourists and locals. We each ordered what we wanted for lunch from a counter similar to a cafeteria. I quickly chose the curried chicken
and a thick flat bread. Our choices were brought to the table, mine in a small serving dish with a chicken leg and thigh in spicy curry and the bread almost covering a plate. The bread was soft and thick, great for soaking up the sauce.
The rest of the afternoon was free, and I went swimming, taking the time to enjoy the pool and a lounge chair, reading my book. Back in my room, I did a little desultory packing, knowing I have tomorrow morning for that.
Around 5:00, we clambered through a few feet of sea and up a short ladder onto a small
dhow for a sunset cruise. Confusion gave us tourists fits of giggles as the organizers fumed over the musicians being out to sea on the wrong dhow. Our boat motored out into the large natural harbour, with Taib valiantly talking about history while we chuckled and joked about organizational mistakes. After a few minutes, we seemed to ram into another dhow, but in fact this contact brought the boats together for the musicians to scramble from the wrong boat to ours.
The rest of the cruise went smoothly. The crew put
Entertainers on our dhow
Playing and singing performance up the single sail and cut the engines – quieter and no diesel smell. We were invited to have a variety of snacks and drinks (white wine for me, from South Africa). My favourites were deep fried tiny sardines and slightly chewy, peppery, cassava chips.
The musicians played a small drum and a violin, and sang traditional songs. About half-way, I watched with interest as the crew loosened the sail, repositioned the support pole, and slid the sail to the other side, tying and reknotting inch-thick woven nylon ropes. Although important in history, Zanzibar port now mainly hosts fishing boats, ferries to the mainland and small ocean-going cargo dhows that ply the east coast of Africa.
The sun was in front of us now, easier to watch as behind us the light slowly dimmed and turned pinky-orange, streaked with low purple clouds. As darkness fell, we scrambled back to shore. Dinner was at the nearby Cape Town Fish Market, a bustling modern restaurant on the beach, surrounded by patios and decks. I had fish and chips – a large piece of fish, moist and tender. After dinner we strolled back to our hotel, weaving through the night scene
of small crowds taking the air and eating snacks.
2022 November 17 Going home
Up on the rooftop, I sat with others from our group. In due time, we ordered drinks and lunch. Mine was Tanzanian coconut chicken curry – mildly spiced and tomato flavoured. The beer was a local Pilsner, made with sorghum and corn. The flavour was bright and excellent for the hot day. Some others joined us for conversation until time for their flights.
During our long wait, we sat under the steel partial-roof. Heat radiated down on us as we quietly entertained ourselves with books and cell phone apps. The heat from the direct sun is even hotter, but a cool breeze off the ocean cooled us in an unreliable fashion. From somewhere close by we could periodically hear the Muslim call to prayer. When the air had cooled a bit, about 4:30, I went for a walk along the waterfront. People strolled, sat on the concrete fixtures, or moved along on their business. The vendors were just starting to arrive for the food market later. Cats snoozed in the shade. Almost all the boats were anchored, no action. As the
Tanzanian coconut chicken curry
Delicious final lunch at the Mara Mara Hotel sun set, pink tinted by orange suffused the sky.
Taib arrived early to take us to the airport, and we were all ready. As always when Canada is mentioned, cold is mentioned. He has a friend who lives in Calgary and who tells him tall tales about how cold it gets.
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Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
All I knew of Stone Town was from a historical romance about Zanzibar and the slave trade, so it's good to have another view of it. It's hard to imagine an architecture inspired by the original need to protect against elephant attacks! (It's like realizing that castle moats had an actual defensive purpose. D'oh! I don't spend much of my life energy preparing against an attack.) Except for the lack of Spanish, I could mistake many of your street photos for scenes in Guatemala or Quito - it's interesting to see how the North and the South, broadly speaking, have broad similarities.