Tour Day 15 - Stone Town and Spice Tour

 

Pictures were added at a later date due to poor internet access at the time]

[Saturday, August 12, 2023]

Breakfast was leisurely this morning as we were to be ready for the tour of Stone Town and the Spice tour at 8:30 AM. The driver was prompt (he was actually early) and we all piled into the Toyota van for the trek. He stopped at one point to pick up our guide for the morning, Yusef, a young native of Zanzibar. We later found out that he was born in the area where we were touring the spices. Traffic was busy, so we waited in a few spots as we travelled to our first stop – Stone Town. 

Zanzibar has an active port used to distribute goods to different places. In 1883, the Sultan of Oman came to Zanzibar and had a large structure called, “The House of Wonders” built as his palace. It was the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity and the first building in East Africa to have an elevator, along with many other amazing modern features.  It has been left in disrepair over time.  In December 2020 the full frontal structure and clock tower collapsed on this UNESCO heritage site. Reconstruction of this important piece of history is in the works. 

We walked through the Old Fort which was built by the Omanis in the 1700’s. It has an amphitheatre and large courtyard which is used for artistic/music events.  As we exited, a maze of narrow streets welcomed us into Stone Town (also known as “Old Town”). It would be easy to get lost down here. Various vendors occupy space at the street level, and housing is on the second floor.   Our meandering, took us to the former home of Freddie Mercury – the late lead singer of the band Queen. Freddie was of Iranian decent – but was born in Zanzibar. 

Our guide noted that there were two types of doors in Stone Town which reveal the influence of two different nations. The doors with a curve at the top are representative of India’s influence and the square doors were as a result of Omani Arab influence. They were amazingly intricate. Each of these doors were occasionally on the same building, previously indicating which door a specific group of people should enter through.  Today, you just choose the door you wish to enter through.

Next, we made our way through what was once the slave market. Zanzibar was the East African port that serviced Europe with slaves. There was a memorial built to remember this period. We were guided into two slave chambers where slaves that were waiting to be sent to Europe would be held in for three days with no food/water (those who survived were deemed to be strong, and would be sent onward). The women and children chamber would be filled with up to 75 people, and the men’s chamber would hold up to 55. It is horrifying to imagine how these people were treated.

The Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church was built in Stone Town (the old part of Zanzibar city) in the place where the biggest slave market of Eastern Africa operated. Its altar was placed exactly where the slaves for sale were whipped. On the floor, among the benches, there are black cobblestones as a remembrance of the dungeons used for slaves in the basement.

We then walked through the market (and it was a Saturday, so the place was buzzing with activity and wafts of fresh fish could be smelled) to get to a place where our ride would come and get us to take us to the spice tour location. 

Our Spice Tour landed us in a forested located where all the spices that we would see today are grown. Zanzibar was a spice hub for many years. We experienced: lemongrass, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, tarragon, vanilla bean, peppercorn, coffee, and cinnamon. Cinnamon was extra interesting as the bark (where we get cinnamon sticks), leaves (used for flavouring stews and other cooking), and root (camphor) are all used for something. We were all given crowns at the end and were able to purchase some of these items (which we did). 

After this, we said goodbye to our guide and made our way back to the hotel where we relaxed a little by the pool before going for dinner. It was nice to have a little down time. Tomorrow is completely down time, and we are looking forward to getting up when we want. ;-)

G’night all.

Curt & Laureen