Stone Town, Zanzibar

Our first full day in Zanzibar we had a private tour of Stone Town, the main city on the islands. (Zanzibar is actually an archipelago of many small islands, the largest is called Unguja which is where we are staying.) Our guide's name was Mohammed (95% of Zanzibar is Muslim in contrast to Tanzania's large Christian population) but he said to call him Eddie, as in Eddie Murphy. He looked nothing like Eddie Murphy, but coincidentally the porter at the hotel was wearing a yellow Arabic outfit and looked exactly like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America. He was only missing the princely lock!

A lot of the tour was devoted to the slave trade. Zanzibar was the hub on the east coast of Africa, and the slaves were sent to India and the Middle East. We saw the area of the slave markets and visited the underground holding areas which were as depressing as you would think they would be. Here is a picture of a memorial statue outside the Anglican church which was built at the site of the slave market. The alter is at the spot where the whipping post used to be.

Had an extensive tour of a museum in the House of Wonders, which was a sultans palace (Omani influence). It was called the House of Wonders because it was the biggest house in East Africa and the first with running water and electricity and an elevator. Today it houses a museum where we had a very extensive tour showcasing the history of the Swahili people. My favorite fun fact was that everyone in Zanzibar learns to read Arabic fluently because they read the Qu'aran in it. AE's fun fact is that the Swahili people build their beds ridiculously high so they have storage space underneath (because their houses are so small), which explains the beds we have been experiencing while in Zanzibar.

We also saw the Forodhani Gardens Market where we had purchased sugar cane juice the evening before (and which ae swears has further contributed to her need for Immondium). It's just an area where they cook and sell fresh seafood, but it looked even too scummy for me to try. However we saw another market which was much larger and included a fresh fish section, a fruit and vegetable section, and a live chicken section. AE also loved that experience.

Note to daddy: can't believe you ate fish from a market like this in Japan. No wonder you got sick! (says ae)

Next to the House of Wonders is the oldest building in Stone Town - an old fort originally built by the Portuguese. Shaggy (yes, good old Shaggy) was playing there on Friday night. We were disappointed to be missing him by one day. I'm sure it would have been a wild party inside the fort. Mitchell, this would be where you would work if you were Zanzibari.

On a further musical note we saw the home of Freddy Mercury, which was more exciting to ae. We also saw the smallest street which was less than a meter wide.

Stone Town is famous for the wooden doors scattered though out the town, with different shapes for Indian, Arab, and African doors. Most are made of teak or mahogany and although they are interesting you tire of them pretty quickly! Every building in Stone Town must be made out of corral and be white. Also no dogs allowed on the streets. Still quite dirty.

We retired to our hotel to wash our feet in the pool and wait for our driver to take us to Ras Nungwi at the northern end of the main island, which is where we are now finishing the joint portion of the trip.