Urban Zanzibar: Stone Town

The following day, it was time to say goodbye to Nungwi and hello to Stone Town.  While the rest of my group moved in separate directions, I remained for a few days to spend time exploring the city and visiting with Wendy.  It was quite an enchanting place to ramble around, with its exceptionally narrow and twisting streets, Persian-inspired architecture, and countless tasty smells wafting from the restaurants and stalls.  The ubiquitous touts hawking anything from t-shirts to tours were a little annoying; however a polite and firm “No, thank you” usually did the trick.  I quite enjoyed taking a spice tour to see how many of our exotic spices (e.g. nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, turmeric) and fruits (e.g. pineapples, breadfruit, jackfruit) are grown.   

Middle Eastern architectural influence.

A stately entrance.

I've never seen a market that wasn't colourful.

Coffee with Wendy (centre) and Sine.

I loved the ornate Zanzibari doors.

And all of their details.

The way to get around in style.

Zanzibar seems to be a fashion capital.

This is a street.  Pretty narrow!

The original meaning of the term "haywire."

Immature cloves.

Yep, it's a pineapple.

Annatto used as a natural lipstick or a colourant for tandoori curries.

 Back in Stone Town after visiting the spice plantation, I took a sombre but moving tour of the Anglican Cathedral.  The cathedral was built directly over the site of the former slave market, which operated until the late 1800s.  The altar was built over the former whipping post where, as the name suggests, the slaves were mercilessly whipped to find out which were the “strongest” and therefore most valuable for selling.  The guide explained that the position of the altar was symbolically chosen to represent the triumph of “good over evil”.  Two of the former slave chambers remain in existence; conditions for the slaves were shockingly squalid.  A powerful monument was erected outside the church to depict the brutality and inhumanity of this bygone era.

Anglican Cathedral built in the late 1800s using coral cement.

50 people were crammed into the smaller room.

75 slaves at a time were crammed into this room where nobody could stand.

Slaves were chained together next to other slaves that spoke other languages.

The morning after final sundowners and tasty cheap food on the beach, I said goodbye to Wendy and made my way back to Dar es Salaam and onwards to Lusaka.  It was a splendid holiday that I will remember forever.

Another splendid sunset.

 As I shuttled between taxis, ferries, trains, and planes on my way back to Zambia, I couldn't help but recall the lyrics of one of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs, Black Crow:

I took a ferry to a highway

Then I drove to a pontoon plane

I took a plane to a taxi

And a taxi to a train.

I've been travelling so long,

How am I ever gonna know

My home, when I see it again?

I feel like that black crow

Flying, in a blue sky.