Zanzibar... The spice island... The island of slaves... The muslim Africa... The island of paradise beaches... We could give so many names to Zanzibar… Zanzibar for all its blends of colors and odors, mixes of people, really fascinated us!
Stonetown, its capital, is also classified as a UNESCO site. It looks like an Arab city, but has also looks of Venice. Loads of small narrow lanes intersect to form an enormous maze where the tourists like to loose themselves. The yelling merchants, the inhabitants, of African, Arab, Indian or mixed origins, the calls to the prayer, the atmosphere is really attractive. In a street corner, a Catholic church, in another one q Hindu temple or an old thermal baths building. The majority of the men wear their Muslim hat, and much of the women are veiled (in the city, just like on the remainder of the island, 99% of the population is Muslim). We can recogniz in the features of many the mixture of African and Arabic.
While entering the caital Dar Es Salaam, the children show us their middle fingers rather than their smiles. Suddenly we do not feel like many ictures... A bg contarst to the kids from Malawi!
Dar El Salaam has all the characteristics of a big coastal city in Africa: the city is over-populated, very dirty, and it stinks fish in all corners. In all local transport (taxis, boats…), we use the famous technique of accumulation: there is always room for someone, even if there isn't !!
Before embarking for Zanzibar, we spent one day driving up through Tanzania from the top of Malawi. As soon as we entered the country, we observed a clear change in the landscape and the people. The structures are more complex, the vegetation changes with the altitude (above 1000m, we observe many large tea plantation fields), and people are less smiling, appear much less innocent than their neighbors from Malawi.
Everyone speaks Swahili, the common language between Tanzania and Kenya. `Jambo', `Karibu', `Akuna Matata' are now part of our vocabulary. We walk through the fruit and fish markets, we visit small arts shops ( with some owned by the famous Massaï), and we loose ourselves in the streets. How good it feels to get lost!
Just like the island of Gorée in Senegal, Zanzibar was a turntable of slavery. On the island tens of thousands of slaves of Africa were sold and sent towards the Middle-East. We learn that unlike the slaves sent to the US, the slaves of East Africa were all castrated not to reproduce themselves, and for this reason there is no remain of any slave in the Middle-East. The visit of the slave market is hard emotionnally. We visit the underground rooms of detention, where the slaves were locked up and piled up during 3 days under wretched conditions. If they survived in good health, it meant that they were saleable. If not, they were considered useless and exchanged against almost nothing.
We leaves the buzziness of Stonetown, in dala dala, the local transport, to join the north of the island. Despite the advice of our guide, we try the local experience all the same that most of the tourists avoid… We loved it!
As mentioned above, in the dala dalas, we practice the overcrowding method: when there is no room, there is always some more! Half way, we reache the peak of attendance: 26 passengers, or 21 piled up inside like sardines and 5 hung outside the vehicle… and this does not prevent to race with the other dala dalas! Despite the screw in my back, the elbow of Delphine in my facee, my toes crushed at every passage and my head knocking against the roof, I manage to slice some passion fruits and share them with Delphine with passion… In dala dala, the experince is guaranteed!
During half a day, we could appreciate another characteristic of the island: the spice fields. Ginger, cardamome, curcuma, cinamon, turtumic, lemon grass, all is there! The spices, formerly from the East, share a good portion of the economy and form the base of the local cuisine. A delight! Our local guide, Ali T, is a good comic who likes to imitate the slang of London that we know very well. Astonishing, because Ali T never left Tanzania! See his video interview by Delphine.
After 4 intense days in Zanzibar, we settle down again in Dar Es Salam where we leave the group who will continue towards Kenya. We are sad to leave some, but we are glad to be finally free and able to finally organise our own timetable.
As the time of me writing, we are still in Dar, in the canteen of our hostel. Tomorrow, we turn the page of the second stage of our voyage, to start the third: MALI, and our volunteering project.
Arrived at the northern point, we start to understan why Zanzibar is known from the world tourist operators… White sand beaches, transparent water, huts 10 meters away from the water… Waouh! We throw ourselves directly in the water, and we forget the arguments of the morning straight away. The place makes me think of the islands of Thailand I had visited last January. Many young people of our age, tourists and buildings. The atmosphere is very laid back and party orientated. The day, we go snorkelling at the edge of a small paradisiac island. The evening, we dine on the beach, and we celebrate the FULL MOON PARTY on the beach. We cannot dream of a better place, the paradise, it is here!!!
