Zanzibar Life

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Day 1-2

I depart with Marge and Rae from our family and friends in Arusha and head by prop plane for a land known for its exotic flavor — the Island of Zanzibar.  We almost miss our flight as the tiny airport of Arusha has one open-air waiting room with no announcements about the planes departing outside on the runway and we may have missed a paper signboard carried around by staff which we had seen flashed for an earlier flight.  Fortunately, an airline representative went around and asked if there was anyone still waiting for our flight — so we were the last ones on the tarmac and up the stairs into the prop plane which was waiting for us .

Old Courthouse in British Government section in the historical part of Stone Town

Our pre-arranged taxi did not show up upon our arrival but it was a simple matter to get another one to Stone Town – at a cheaper cost.  And this was emblematic about our whole stay in Zanzibar.  People are open, friendly, non-aggressive, and willing to help, leading to a sense of peace and security for tourists and hopefully for residents as well. It is visibly very different from the Arusha area of the mainland as Zanzibar is an 80% Muslim community, of many sects and different denomination, where most women are covered from head to foot and even girls from a very young age wear white and black head scarves pinned under their chins at all times.

Local side street in Zanzibar

The taxi driver has some trouble in the narrow lanes but finds our welcoming hotel and helps us carry in our luggage.   I take a walk by myself in the nearby lanes, winding my way down narrow streets with fine iron grille work on wooden balconies and old beautiful two-story buildings.  Somehow it is all familiar to me, a little bit of a throwback to historical buildings in India, which is in part is correct as this island was occupied by Arabs with a lot of influence from India before the British arrived for its turn.  The old local architecture is considered Indo-Saracenic.  

Old Emerson Hotel
Old Dispensary Building

I end up in a peaceful garden opposite the main government hospital, with many groups of women sitting together and waiting in the cool early evening perhaps for nearby buses or just gathering to rest before dinner activities.

On my walk back, I purposefully choose the smaller lanes with only pedestrians and an occasional motorcycle, and find myself in a non-tourist neighborhood with the local people sitting on their outside stoops and children playing in the streets.  Further on, I come upon the tourist area, with both sides of the narrow street lined with shops, each one seeming to sell the same goods as the one next door.  There is a four way corner filled with only men seatted and playing chess, cards and other games with each other. I actually get lost and have to seek the help of a friendly off-work guide who walks with me to my hotel but of course to be polite I ask for his contact information in return, “for the future”.

Called the “Men’s Corner” where only guys gather for card games

Back at the hotel, the three of us head out together to the night market which turns out to be long food stalls with cooked food, mainly meat, set up every night in a nearby park by the edge of the water.  As it gets dark, people are using bright kerosene lamps for light and together with the brilliant colors, food smells, and calls from the many vendors, it is intensely chaotic which I love but which Rae finds difficult to manage and we soon leave for our hotel.  From our peaceful rooftop restaurant we see the crowded streets around us and the sea before us with very few other diners around and a relaxed atmosphere.

In the morning, we meet our guide Salima and her assistant, Aisha (not their real names), two of the few women guides whom Marge managed to find to take us around Stone Town today.  Although the sights were very interesting, the old Fort and the old slave market (Zanzibar was a major slavery trading post), what was far more significant to us was was the open discussion with our guides.  Salima had to hide her studies to be a tour guide from her family and fight tradition to remain unmarried,  Aisha told us about her decision at age 25, the oldest age at which you are still considered marriage material, to marry a man she had met at college to become his second wife which, if she had to marry, she greatly preferred to the responsibilities of being a first wife.  She has now been married for 5 months, she has her own home and hopes to have children in the future. I sense that she and her husband both come from wealthy families who can afford a son taking a second wife.

We had heard about the severe restrictions and criminalization for LGBT people in Tanzania and asked about the situation in Zanzibar and was told it was a matter of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Salima, who is 30 and unmarried, has gay friends, both men and women, who try not to stand out and keep their relationships private and no one bothers them.  

I asked about female genital cutting and although we had heard in the Arusha/Serengeti area that about 40% of girls still endured this dreadful tradition, although it is legally outlawed throughout the country, here we are told it is strictly prohibited and not done at all with male circumcism happening on the 8th day after birth in accordance with Muslim law.  Unlike what we had heard in the tribal mainland where boys had the ceremonial surgery upon reaching the difficult age of puberty.  We end our day at the local food market, where vanilla and spices are king but where piles of vegetables and fruits are also sold for local consumption.

We find a wonderful restaurant right on the water for dinner with good food and a short walk back to our hotel for rest and recuperation.

Day 3 & 4

A day of movement.  First, a skimpy boat over to Prison Island, requiring some dexterity and removal of shoes to get into the boat and over some low water to a sandbar to a rickety wooden stairway to disembark.  Not designed for the old in mind.  Once up, its main interest on the very small island is its history, first as a slave market, then for a very short time an Arab-run prison for dangerous criminals and when the British came they designed their own form of prison on it .  But when completed this British prison was actually used as a quarantine station for visitors and immigrants to prevent outbreaks of yellow fever and cholera.  Now its main interest is as the home of tortoises, some very old and some very young, as it is a major breeding station for the endangered Aldabra tortoise.   The tide had turned so our way back to our small boat was easier.  I had read a bit to decide whether it was worth the effort and I think it was, despite our difficulties and the concrete tile walkways on the small island.

Second, a car to take us to one of the many local spice plantation which are main tourist destinations on the island.  There we had a charming guide who showed us individual trees with vanilla, cinnamon bark, cloves, cardamon, turmeric and black pepper.  This was not a plantation in any sense of the word.  This was a plot of land developed to show tourists how spices are grown.  This was worthwhile as well but the main emphasis was trying to sell us expensive packets of spices at the end of the tour.  They did make for us, and all the other visitors, very unusual headgear out of the local plants to feel more indebted to them and increase sales, I expeect.

Onward to the other East side of the island where our seaside villa awaits us at Tamu Tamu Boutique Hotel.  Upon arrival and checking in we walk to the nearby long beautiful beach curving around the coast with some large hotels along the water. There are itinerant Maasai tribesmen, in traditional garb, walking along the beach trying to attract passing tourist to their friends’ shops nearby.  Or that is what I think they are doing — very friendly and low key in any case and Rae strikes up a conversation and befriends one of them.  This is definitely a different feeling from urban Stone Town. This is a tourist-dominated coast where visitors come to relax and eat.  

The next day we take a scheduled tour boat to a famous nearby private island with renown snorkeling and diving — but tourists are only allowed to disembark on its shores if staying at the single very expensive hotel located there.  The rest of us, and by that I mean dozens of boats with tourists, end up in the same small patch of pale blue water with soft sand underneath, making a crowded and chaotic scene of people jumping off and almost running into their neighbors for their brief swim.  I jumped off with snorkel gear on but was afraid of running onto the bottom of a nearby boat and quickly emerged.  I would hesitate to recommend this to others unless you can get there at the very earliest time before others arrive!

Good food, swim, massages, lovely people, and reasonably priced. Zanzibar is both different and as interestig as anticipated with turquoise oceanfront propoerties designed for tourist indulgence We had a memorable and relaxing time and leave tomorrow with good memories.