I have been looking forward to a few specific places on this trip and Zanzibar was one of them and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The layout and style of the main town has been unchanged for many decades... as the town is a world heritage site, there are restrictions on the buildings etc... and this is obvious. Many of them lie in ruin and the charm of the side alleyways are slowly crumbling away with the damp and moss which grows on its walls. The architecture is a mix of styles with many of the doorways being Indian, complete with spikes to stop the Elephants leaning against them.
Zanzibar doesn't have Elephants so this is purely decorative.
The area of Stone Town itself is a maze and you
certainly need a good sense of direction in order to keep your bearings. There seems to be a secrecy in the streets with the people looking through their windows and children quickly running through the large doorways. But the locals all were extremely friendly shouting 'Jambo' to us as we walked past - meaning Hello and asking how we were etc... it was only the tourists who didn't smile or say hi!
Chris and I had a wander around the place, did some great bartering for gifts and made it back to the hotel in one piece for Chris' appointment with the dentist... this ended up being a consultation on the lobby couch in the hotel with an appointment scheduled with a dentist visiting from Cairo on Friday.
That night, we all headed to the market for some food and the choice was something else... barracuda, shark, Zanzibar pizza etc... we ate until we were nearly bursting and it was good stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment