The magical streets of Stone Town
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
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237
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Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Stone Town,
Tanzania
Monday, August 11, 2008
Zanzibar is a center of Swahili culture, a mix of African, Arab, and Indian influences. The island, although part of Tanzania, is proud of its autonomy and puts a stamp in your passport. The sultan of Oman, who ruled most of the east coast of Africa, moved his capital here to Stone Town because of the important spice trade. So Stone Town used to be a rich capital of an empire
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.The most rewarding part of wandering the streets are the Zanzabari doors. These big, wooden doors are intricately carved with mostly floral designs. They are enormous works of art. Some are very old and decayed, while others are restored and yet others brand new. Check out the photos to see the collection of Zanzabari doors we made during our trips through Stone Town.
My personal favorite were the shutters. Bright green and blue on the whitewashed walls, they were all in an elegant state of decay and very photogenic. The alleys twist and turn in random directions, so you never seem to take the same road twice but always end up at an intersection that looks familiar. There are also some ornate balconies (Arab style), and other weird architectural twists. You never know what you'll find around the corner.
The people are also quite a sight. Stone Town is one of the more friendly places we've been in a while. Sure, the touts are persistent, but they also have a sense of humor, and a lot of people just want to talk. A group of pot-smoking Rastafarians seemed to permanently hang out on the street corner near our hotel, chatting with the customers and giving directional advice. There is a complicated set of greetings in Swahili
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. They first call out Jambo (you reply Jambo). Then usually they throw in Mambo (the reply is Powa, which means cool). Finally, they may welcome you in their shop with Karibu, to which you can reply Asante, or thank you. The Africans and Rastafarians are the most vocal, but the Indian and Arab population will usually return your greeting with a smile. Even the touts can be distracted. Once one of the touts was trying to get us to go on a boat trip. We said we didn't want to go anywhere and he asked why not? Erin said because this was such a lovely town. The tout digested this for several seconds, then smiled, agreed, and shook her hand. Walking down the street you'll pass crazy Rastafarians, more normal Africans, women wearing Purdah, Indian men, and a few colorfully dressed tribesmen. It's a great mix.For sunset we head down to the waterfront, where we sit on the sand and watch the dhows (small sailing vessels) pass by as the sun sets into the water. Locals come up to chat and/or sell us stuff. But they're watching the sunset, too.
After dark we head to the vendors by the waterfront gardens. Every night they set up various tables loaded with a colorful array of fresh seafood. Everyone will greet you, usher you over to your table, give you a description of what's available, tell you why their table is better/cheaper than everyone else, and hand you a plate
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. You make your selection and they throw it on the grill to cook. For a drink there is delicious sugar cane juice (Erin couldn't get enough of this stuff). We tried skewers of several different kinds of fish, potatoes, a delicious variety of naan and chapati. Another stand whips up Zanzabari pizza. This is beef, chili, vegetables, mayo, and cheese, mixed together with a raw egg and fried in a delicious dough. We also got the banana and chocolate variety for dessert. This is a prime location for tourist hustling, and you have to be careful about prices and change. You can eat the same thing at the same place on two different nights and pay wildly different prices. Even the bread doubled in price (wasn't expecting that). But even so it is a wonderful place to eat and pretty cheap for what's on offer.After some deliberation we decided not to go to the beach. There are so many tourists here and all the hotels are either full or quite expensive. We decided to wait to Malawi.
But Zanzibar isn't all about the beaches. Try to fit some time in for the Town as well.
~Travis
