Zanzibar, Tanzania
After a calm crossing from Aldabra, we made our landfall on the East African coast at Zanzibar. Zanzibar! Though only a small island 20 miles off the coast of old Tanganyika, its exotic name has reverberated down the centuries. It was here at this sheltered harbour that the Arabs established a base for their trade between Oman, East Africa and India. The name itself is Persian, probably from Zanji-bar “the coast of the blacks,” and long before the Portuguese arrived in the early 1500s, men of Arabia were trading ivory, gold, spices and slaves along these shores.
As we arrived, fishing dhows were coming in off the sea as they have done for a thousand years. We saw their bounty in the old market later in the day: sardines, tuna, dorado and marlin for sale alongside octopus and parrot fish. Beside aubergines, ochra, tomatoes and yams, various exotic fruits were arrayed, including ten different varieties of banana. Dried spices, mats, shoes, hair extensions, baskets, bright printed kitenge cloths, paintings, carvings and curios weird and wonderful tempted us on all sides, amid mixed smells of fish, fruit and fetid drains.
We completed a walking tour through the labyrinthine alleys of the Stone Town, where ladies in black muslim robes sidestepped tooting scooters, and schoolchildren clutching pink ice creams scampered past, all chattering in Swahili like starlings. Indian balconies, carved Arab doors, minarets, the Anglican cathedral on the site of the old slave market, and the Indian almond trees casting cool shade on the hot sandy beaches complete this chaotic kaleidoscope. It was hot and humid: we refueled with coconut drinks inside the Arab Fort before returning to the sanctuary of our ship waiting patiently out on the waters.
Meanwhile some of our number visited Jozani National Park on the other side of the island and, led by local guides through tall forest, were rewarded with close-up views of the Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey. This tour also visited local spice plantations where we had the chance to see cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla being grown and harvested.
As the day ended and we prepared to raise anchor, the fishing dhows were setting sail once more from the old port, white sails against the clear blue of the Indian Ocean.
After a calm crossing from Aldabra, we made our landfall on the East African coast at Zanzibar. Zanzibar! Though only a small island 20 miles off the coast of old Tanganyika, its exotic name has reverberated down the centuries. It was here at this sheltered harbour that the Arabs established a base for their trade between Oman, East Africa and India. The name itself is Persian, probably from Zanji-bar “the coast of the blacks,” and long before the Portuguese arrived in the early 1500s, men of Arabia were trading ivory, gold, spices and slaves along these shores.
As we arrived, fishing dhows were coming in off the sea as they have done for a thousand years. We saw their bounty in the old market later in the day: sardines, tuna, dorado and marlin for sale alongside octopus and parrot fish. Beside aubergines, ochra, tomatoes and yams, various exotic fruits were arrayed, including ten different varieties of banana. Dried spices, mats, shoes, hair extensions, baskets, bright printed kitenge cloths, paintings, carvings and curios weird and wonderful tempted us on all sides, amid mixed smells of fish, fruit and fetid drains.
We completed a walking tour through the labyrinthine alleys of the Stone Town, where ladies in black muslim robes sidestepped tooting scooters, and schoolchildren clutching pink ice creams scampered past, all chattering in Swahili like starlings. Indian balconies, carved Arab doors, minarets, the Anglican cathedral on the site of the old slave market, and the Indian almond trees casting cool shade on the hot sandy beaches complete this chaotic kaleidoscope. It was hot and humid: we refueled with coconut drinks inside the Arab Fort before returning to the sanctuary of our ship waiting patiently out on the waters.
Meanwhile some of our number visited Jozani National Park on the other side of the island and, led by local guides through tall forest, were rewarded with close-up views of the Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey. This tour also visited local spice plantations where we had the chance to see cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla being grown and harvested.
As the day ended and we prepared to raise anchor, the fishing dhows were setting sail once more from the old port, white sails against the clear blue of the Indian Ocean.
