Stonetown

Fortunately, the hotel Zenji comes with air conditioning units in each room. The room I had shared a toilet and shower with another room, and when I left my cool enclave to go to the bathroom, it was again like hitting a wall. I'm sure, if you lived here, it would become okay. But, for we northerners, it is too hot. Through the night, there was a lot of street noise, but that's the price you pay for a downtown hotel. The bed was comfortable, and the staff helpful. And the breakfast in the rooftop restaurant was very good.

We were met at the hotel by Dousa, who was to be our guide for a walking tour of Stonetown. Stonetown is the oldest part of Zanzibar City, and began as a trading post and port settled by Persians and Arabs in the 13th Century. However, things got more permanent,and the riches began to pile up with eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the Oman came and established a trade in gold, ivory, and slaves. The Portuguese came in the 18th Century, and tried to take over, unsuccessfully. It was only in the late 19th Century that the Oman lost control to the British, who established a protectorate.








Control went back and forth between various rulers, with the Oman staying in power until WW2, when the Brits regained it. Finally, in 1963, the Zanzibaris revolted and won independence, The following year, they united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. Slave were traded through the port until 1873.

Much of the architecture of the place is a mix of Omani and European architecture, with the main ceremonial buildings showing both influences. But the balconies, the doorways are old and beautiful. Electricity was obviously an afterthought, and is chaotic.

We saw several places of importance to them: the house where Livingstone was laid in state before being transported back to England; Freddie Mercury's house; the old Fort.

Then through to the slave market area. This was quite moving. There is now an Anglican Church on the area where the slave market used to be, with the location of the whipping post referenced in White marble with red stone around it. Livingstone is remembered here as well, because he began a crusade to abolish slavery in the 1830's. One of the pictures is of the Slave Memorial, done in the last twenty years, but is very poignant: it points out that the traders kept slaves in bunches where each man or woman was from a different tribe, so they could not talk to each other.








We also saw one of the slave chambers, again quite chilling.

After this we needed a break, so the bus took us to a spice plantation, called the "Big Boy with Tata" plantation. We learned that there are very few spices native to Zanzibar (cardamon is one). But the climate and soil are good for growing them, so they were introduced by the sultans. After the Revolution, every family was given a small number of acres of land. Some of these people banded together to develop a spice industry on their collective land; this arrangement continues today. We saw the growing of pepper (a vine; all peppers come from one plant), cloves, cardamon, cinnamon (they use all parts of the tree—leaves, bark and roots), turmeric, vanilla, ginger, cacao, nutmeg; also lemon grass, coconut, jackfruit.

And we ate there. When we arrived, there was a lunch of herbed rice, with a tomato-based dish for it, as well as fried fish, and a soup. We were asked to take off our shoes (this area is 99% Muslim), and sit on the floor.Many of us don't bend that well any more, but we managed. And, after the tour, we had a sampling of fruits. As one would expect, they taste fantastic. Sweet pineapple and watermelon, lovely bananas, jackfruit, oranges (which are green on the outside, orange on the inside), coconut, breadfruit. It was lovely.








And after that, we were on our way to the beach! It had been hot, so we were all looking forward to some sea winds. The bus we were on was air-conditioned, so not too bad, since the temperature outside was over 30. As usual, after a stretch of paved road getting out of town, we were on a dirt road, bumpy as usual. We pulled up to a gate, honked, and were met by a Maasai in his robes, who opened the gate to a pretty messy place. We were prepared for the worst, and this wasn't it, so we held our breath. As we went over a slight rise, we looked ahed, and there was the resort itself, with a breezeway in the centre looking out to an azure sea with some breaking waves. You could hear the wave of relief.

Check in was smooth, and my room (actually like a chalet) is pretty far from the main lodge, but I look out to the ocean, and the doors open wide to catch the breezes. No air conditioning, but we cope. And supper that night was tasty and abundant, so we are happy folks.





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Location:Stonetown, Zanzibar City