Zanzibar

Think coconut palms, delicious seafood, a laid-back way of life and miles and miles of white sands lapped by warm translucent turquoise waters and you have Zanzibar. Of course there is much more to it than that - Zanzibar has a fascinating and turbulent history. Denise, Sallie and I began our trip in Stone Town, on the west coast, which is a labyrinth of Arabian-style alleyways packed with nineteenth century mansions, palaces and bazaars. We were lucky to have Farid (a friend of a friend) to show his us round his home town which he was so obviously passionate about. He introduced us to people and places which I’m sure we would never have found on our own. For instance, the tiny electrical shop whose owner gave us Zanzibar coffee served from deep down behind the counter, the little cafe serving a bowl of bhajia in a coconut and chilli sauce (that’s the only dish the owner has been selling for the last 20 years), to the very busy dhow port where we mingled with the fishermen and watched them at work. To the other extreme he took us to the roof top terrace of a house belonging to a very wealthy hotelier to watch the sun go down. We visited and supported (i.e. bought lots of nice goodies) the Arts and Cultural Centre which Farid owns. The centre provides training and employment for women. Stone Town is famous for it’s doors which were an important way to show the wealth and status of the person who lived there. They are elaborately carved and studded, each one telling a different story. It’s almost unthinkable to go to Zanzibar without going on one of the many Spice Tours on offer. This was a half day trip out to the farms, followed by lunch prepared using the local spices, of course, which we ate sitting on the floor of a traditional village house.
After a few days in Stone Town we moved across to the east coast to a hotel where our rooms were literally a few feet from the beach. Its remoteness meant we couldn’t help but relax. The nearby fishing village looks as though it has never changed. Men, women and children were fishing or collecting seaweed, the latter mostly for export to places like Japan and China for culinary purposes. We watched lobsters, prawns, crabs and fish being caught using traditional methods. We did our bit to support the local economy and ate very well that week! Despite tourism, Zanzibar is still a very poor place. When walking through the fishing village there wasn't a child who didn't hold out their hands and say 'pay school'. I'm sure most of them didn't even know the meaning of the words, in fact many weren't old enough for school, but they knew they were asking for money.
Other news: it was back to reality on Tuesday. Back in at the deep end at work with lots of issues to sort out. A couple of medical students, Susie and Steph, arrived from the UK whilst I was away. They are in Masindi for four weeks and stayed with us for the first few days. It seems that theft is on the increase in Masindi so we have now employed another member of staff - a daytime askari to guard the place. We are trying to see how many local people we can employ! We now have Rose, the housegirl, who lives in a separate house in our garden with her five children and husband Abdul (who is the askari at the hotel), Sam the gardner, Solomon the night-time askari and now Rasul the day-time askari. At least he can help keep the monkeys off my vegetables - there’s not much else for him to do!
Coming up ……...another trip to Fort Portal!