Sun, Spices and Slaves - welcome to Zanzibar!

At the airport, after landing in

JAMBO (Hello) Zanzibar! 

A view of the Indian Ocean - a play of green!

When I first heard of Zanzibar, I could only remember it as the Spice capital, having read something in school history about this being an island nation having a flourishing spice trade. But ofcourse, I found out there is more to this island than just what I recalled.

We flew in to Zanzibar from Arusha in northern Tanzania; the flight was a small 40-seater plane run by a private airline called Flight 540.  The view from 20,000 ft. above, as we approached Zanzibar, was spectacular - clear green waters of the Indian Ocean, dotted with small land masses filled with lush green vegetation.  As the plane descended, it seemed as though we would touch down on water but magically, a land mass appeared and we landed into Zanzibar.  The moist, slightly cool breeze welcomed us as we stepped onto terra firma and made our way past the Customs officials.  

We found a taxi and headed into town.  The driver was a friendly chap and went by the name of Ronaldo. He further explained that his real name was Mohammed Naroor but took the pseudonym of Ronaldo after his favourite football player to ensure that European and American tourists find it easy to pronounce and remember his name!  His car had a sun roof and my daughters were happy opening and closing it.  The island was green, and beautiful; it reminded me instantly of Kerala and Goa. We could catch glimpses of the sea through the trees as we drove through the town.  Most of the women wore a head-dress, a shawl-like cloth that covered their heads and neck and fell down to the shoulders.  We passed through a road called Bu-Bu-Bu Road, named so after the train that used to run there in earlier times.  The area sported a Bu Bu Bu Police Station, and a school named, - yes, you guessed it right - Bu Bu Bu School!  My girls kept on rolling the name on their tongues and found it very funny!

Habib, pointing out the vanilla pods

Walking through the plantation

The Spice Girls, with their crowns!

Our first stop was at a Spice plantation - it definitely felt like we were in Kerala.  The guide there named Habib, spoke decent English and took us on a tour of the estate and pointed out various spices.  We played a Guessing game, look at the plant and identify the spice.  Our Guide was impressed by our knowledge of spices -  turmeric, ginger, pepper (called pili pili manga in Swahili), vanilla, cardamom.  He twisted  a few strands of leaves and made them into lovely objects - tapioca leaves (called cassawa, locally) became a necklace, the pineapple plant leaves transformed into glasses while he made crowns from coconut leaves.  My girls were mighty impressed and laughed gleefully when he placed mini crowns on their heads; we gave them nice titles to go with the crowns - "the Spice Girls"!     He then showed us the lipstick plant - it had a pod that gave a reddish orange colour gel when squeezed.  My younger daughter loved it!  She coloured her lips orange and enjoyed the natural lipstick. Habib also wanted to show us how to climb the coconut tree - but of course, coming from India, we were quite familiar with that as well, much to his disappointment!  We also got to see the cinnamon tree - the leaves are used as bay leaves, while the bark of the tree is the cinnamon.  Amazingly, the root smells of menthol and is used for medicinal purposes.

A view of the beach

After the tour, we headed to our hotel in the northern part of Zanzibar called Amaan Bungalows. Our room had a wonderful view of the beach.  In fact, the balcony stood on four wooden pillars erected right on the beach.  A white sandy beach, whitish water on the edge,  light green waters forming the next layer and dark green waters extending till the horizon - it was a truly spectacular sight!  I have never seen such green waters before - finally understood the meaning of turquoise!  We had a very pleasant dinner in the restaurant which was also situated right above the beach - hearing the movement of the waves and listening to the waters gently lapping against the pillars!  Ah, that was heavenly!
 

Gently moving with the sails unfurled

Enjoying a swim!

Beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean

The next day, April 15th, was my elder daughter's birthday - it dawned bright and beautiful.  Her younger sister kept wishing her every few minutes, much to her annoyance!  We made the day extra special for her by playing in the waves and then going on a Snorkeling and sunset cruise.  One of the locals introduced himself as Captain and offered to take us on the cruise.  He asked, "you from India?".  When we answered "Yes", he immediately commented heartily with a funny accent, "Mujhe kuchchu kuchchu hota hay"!  We were all amused and admired his PR skills!  So, we went along with the Captain in his dhow, plunged into the middle of the Indian Ocean wearing life jackets and snorkeling gear and  explored the colourful  fish and coral of the sea.  My younger daughter jumped in too and had a whale of a time! After a good hour of this, we got back to the boat and sailed with the sails unfurled.  It was wonderful especially when the wind caught the sails and we swayed gently.  The sunset was spectacular!  The western sky turned  red, and orange  in varying degrees until the sun submerged into the sea, leaving us all clapping and sighing at the magical and breathtaking beauty we had just witnessed.

Walking down towards the Slave Cave

Inside the dark cavern

The next day, after a morning run on the beach and a nice, hearty breakfast, we checked out of our hotel.  Ronaldo,our friendly cab driver was waiting for us - he took us to see the sights of Zanzibar. First stop was the Slave Cave.  When we got down, we were not sure if we were at the right place.  There was no one around except for a young jeans-clad boy in his late teens. The place looked deserted and we did not see any rocky caves around.  Ronaldo then introduced the boy as our guide and asked us to proceed on the Cave tour while he waited in the car.  We hesitantly followed our young guide who spoke haltingly in English. He took us down a few steps and that was when we saw the cave.  The rugged steps reached down into a dark hollow cavern; we needed to use torches to light our way down.  The story was that while slave trading was being abolished, the Arab kings continued to deal with them.  They used to house the slaves - nearly 100 or more - in the cave.  This had a secret exit that opened  close to the sea - the slaves would be made to exit from the cave through this secret opening and board onto waiting ships to carry them away.  We wanted to walk through this entrance but our guide said the path was not big enough to go now.  We would have to crouch really low in some places to make it to the other side.  After spending a few minutes inside and listening to his story, we then went out and followed him across a path with shrubs growing on either side.  After a brief time, he stopped and showed the exit of the cave from where the slaves were forced to come out.  The sea was some distance away from there, but we vividly imagined how it would have been in those days - the poor men and women chained at the hands and legs and made to slowly walk the path in the dark, their heads bowed in pain and agony, forced to leave their homes to board ships to take them to far away lands where they would live a life of bonded labour and slavery!  

Our guide, inside the Slave chamber

The narrow lanes of  the old Stone Town

The outside view of Christ Church Cathedral

After the Slave Cave tour, Ronaldo then took us to the Old Stone Town - the lanes here are extraordinarily narrow; we could only walk or ride a cycle/two wheeler. We stopped at the most visited place - the erstwhile slave market which now houses the Christ Church Cathedral in its premises.  We climbed down to the dungeons of the old building after carefully minding our heads - this led to the chamber where the slaves were detained before they were auctioned.  It was a hideous place - small and narrow with no windows.  It had a raised platform where people were forced to sit and wait their fate.  There were 2 rooms on either side - one for the men slaves and the other to keep the women and children. Small square openings in the wall acted as ventilators - the room was otherwise dark and dingy.  There were hooks laid in the walls - presumably to chain the slaves.  Seeing the place sent shivers of revulsion down our spine.  What agony those people must have endured to be treated worse than cattle!  Thanks to the relentless efforts of the missionary David Livingstone, who travelled to and stayed in Zanzibar,  slavery was finally abolished in Africa.  We then proceeded towards the citadel that was constructed to commemorate the abolition of slavery. On the way, we passed by the place where the actual slave auctions used to be conducted.  In its place, a pit has been constructed which has clay figurines of slaves - their hands tied behind their backs and chains around their necks! The sight was stomach-wrenching.

In memory of the slaves - a heart wrenching sight!

The altar of the church is supposedly built right on the spot where the whipping staff used to be!  This church has a tall spire but is still a little shorter than the Palace's tower. The story goes that the local king, while providing approval for building the church, insisted that the spire should not be taller than the tower of his palace.

Inside the House of Wonders!

We then visited the Palace which is situated a few meters from  the pier.  This has now been converted into a museum and is called the House of Wonders as it was the first building in the area to have electricity and an elevator.  It has one of the biggest door frames at the entrance.  A big sized sail boat is laid out in the middle of the front room.  We hurriedly went around the rooms, glancing at exhibits as we were running late.  Apparently, the shortest war in history took place here between the British and the Arab King and it lasted about 38 minutes; the Arab king surrendered quickly to the British forces.  A part of his palace,the stables and other neighbouring buildings were ruined in the bomb attack but the same were renovated subsequently.

The white buildings of the palace as seen from the ferry.

Prior to reaching the Palace, we walked through the narrow lanes, looking at the architectural design of the buildings.  We could find some examples of the Indian style as quite a few Indians - mostly Gujaratis- came down to Zanzibar in the 1800s. We stopped at a couple of shops to pick up T-shirts featuring Zanzibar and other knick-knacks.   After the Palace tour, we stopped at an Indian restaurant for a quick and simple lunch of  rotis, dal and sabji.  It was served hot and was very delicious.  After lunch, Ronaldo dropped us at the jetty point and we took the last ferry back to Dar-es-Salaam.  Aboard the ferry, as we started sailing slowly away from Zanzibar, we could see the white buildings of the palace clearly, as they stood silently and solemnly, looking out to the sea - a mute witness to history!  Kwaheri (Goodbye) Zanzibar!

KARIBU!

That's welcome in Swahili and that is also the very first word we heard when we flew in to Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania in East Africa.  My daughters and I travelled to DAR from Bangalore via Doha and landed into Julius Nyerere International Airport - named after their first President and Baba wa Taifa (Father of the nation).
My husband was already there and he, along with our friendly driver David, picked us from the airport. It was wonderful to see the husband after nearly a 4-week gap and ofcourse, the girls were overjoyed.  Both of them started speaking at the same time vying for their father's attention!

As we rode into town, DAR looked like any other Indian town; the vegetation is very similar to what we find in India - plenty of bougainvillea trees, neem, gulmohar, frangipani shrubs with lovely, sweet smelling white flowers.  The traffic is a lot better as compared to Bangalore - lane discipline is mostly followed. But ofcourse, we could not escape the omnipresent and omnipotent traffic jam.  While waiting at the signal, a few hawkers rushed in selling their ware - fried cashews, cool drinks, sun-glasses and such other stuff.  We also saw a few carts selling roasted corn and some more carts filled with sweet potato and tapioca.  These happen to be the staple food in Tanzania.

At the Double Tree Hotel

During low tide

We reached our hotel - Hilton's Double Tree situated in the Masaki area - a beautiful locality with broad, clean roads and a lot of green shrubbery.  You will find most of the expats living in this area.  In fact, the High Commissioners of various countries reside here in big, beautiful houses, well manicured lawns and gardens and ofcourse with high walls for security.  The girls thought there would be two prominent trees in the premises - befitting the hotel's name; but we didn't find any.  The hotel offered a wonderful view of the sea.  A walk-in bridge built over the sea and ending with a viewing platform was a great attraction; the view and the experience was wonderful especially during high tide. Small dhows sailing with their sails unfurled looked magical and serene!

The view bridge - during high tide 

The trip from the airport to the hotel cost us 50,000 TZS (Tanzanian shillings).  I was dumb struck at the astronomical price but then got to know from my husband that 1 INR fetches 32 TZS, so roughly that worked out to Rs.1500. 

Places we saw,  things we did / didn't do  in DAR

Enjoying the waves at Coco Beach!

A view of the slightly muddy waters of Coco Beach

Boats adrift adding to the charm.

1.  Coco Beach - Situated about 2 kms from our hotel, we visited the Coco beach one evening.  The breeze was lovely and we watched the waves rise and fall.  The girls enjoyed wetting their feet (and half their clothes too) in the spray while we watched the ships and schooners sail in the distance.    We took a long stroll on the beach with a pleasant breeze blowing. I ensured that we had an even longer walk than we had set out on. I was carrying my shoes in my hand, along with my daughters'; somehow dropped one of them and realised it only much later.  So, we had to walk back the entire stretch of the beach in search of the missing shoe.  My husband finally found it and earned some brownie points! (while I received a lot of brickbats from my dear ones!)

2. Makumbusho (meaning museum) - The concierge in the hotel advised us to visit the Makumbusho in the city.  We wanted to ride the auto and asked him how to call for one.  He very simply said, "Just call out, Hey Bajaji, and he will come." We thus got to know that the autos are called Bajajis - as there are several Bajaj autos plying on the roads of DAR. We hailed a Bajaji and reached the Makumbusho.  At first sight, we were wondering if we had reached the wrong place - there didn't seem to be a proper entrance and the front was packed with small restaurants.  We then approached from the side, bought the tickets at the counter and began exploring the museum.  It was a wonderful experience - the Village Museum is set in the open and has about 20-odd different models of huts and dwellings that the various tribes in Tanzania reside in - thatched huts, clay huts, round ones, conical shaped, etc.  We could enter each hut and and thus got to look at some of the utensils, equipment and weapons used by the tribes men.  The information boards hanging beside each hut gave a fair description of the people and their practices.  Many of the huts and the equipments reminded us of our own Indian villages  - we can definitely find a lot of similarity here - the weapons used, the simple lifestyles, the importance given to animals and cattle,  the peaceful coexistence of man and nature.
Another highlight of our visit was the entertainment provided by the dancers - dressed in their traditional attire, they sang and danced their traditional dance forms to the tune of drum beats.  Even though we did not understand the language, we could appreciate the rhythm and beat of the drums.  The girls enjoyed it immensely!

At one of the shops in Mwnege market

3. Mwnege Market - This is the famous wood carvers market in Dar -  a must see place.  It has several rows of shops that sell various pieces of art  and curio items made from wood - intricate work displaying the Masai tribesmen and women in their attire, holding their spears and shields; the beautifully carved and coloured giraffes, hippos and other native animals, necklaces and earrings.  We also got to see the exotically named Tinga Tinga paintings - bright, oil paintings on canvas depicting rural life.   As you

This board game is similar to the Pallankuzhi of Tamilnadu

enter the market, you will be invited by the shop owners to visit their store - calls of KARIBU (welcome) and ASANTHE (thank you) reverberate loudly.  The sellers are warm people and are willing to bargain and drop prices; they don't mind even if we start at 50% of the quoted price. In fact, one of the sellers cheerfully said "Mama, please go high.  Ask a better price."   We finally settled for a slightly higher amount - satisfactory to both of us!  We picked up quite a few pieces to give as mementos to friends back home.  One particular curio is called the kalabash, made from dried gourd - ash gourd or bottle gourd.  Intricate designs are etched on the exterior of the gourd and painted with bright colours. It looks big but is weightless. 

Airtel's building in DAR enroute to Mlimani

4. Mlimani City Shopping Mall - This is one of the biggest malls of DAR.  Anything and everything that you may need, you can get it here in the South African shop called Shoprite.  Built on a huge, sprawling area, this mall also houses some good Indian restaurants and a movie theatre. In fact, this being close to my husband's office,  he would order food from the Indian restaurants here  - even Kerala's koththu parota, and aapams were available. Hence, he did not miss Indian food much during his month long stay.  He missed his wife's cooking, though! 

The street scene at Slipway

Right at the eastern edge of the land! 

On the embankment - enjoying popcorn

5. Slipway - Situated right next to the Double Tree Hotel, this is a seafront facing shopping arcade.  We took a leisurely stroll on a Sunday evening - it was filled with the locals, enjoying their Sunday, eating at food stalls or having dinner at the restaurant by the sea.  The children's amusement park was completely full and much to my younger daughter's disappointment, we did not go in.  We mollified her with a packet of popcorn from the road-side stall.  We then walked down the slipway towards the water edge.  It was literally the Land's end - walking up a small paved pathway that directly led into the ocean! A truly wonderful experience.

6. Upanga Club - We visited this Club set up by Gujaratis in the late 1800s.  It gets its name from its location in East Upanga. A non-member can also visit this club and thus we had excellent Gujarati food.  We ate some heavenly samosas, lip-smacking kachoris, methi bhujias and other delicious stuff.  Looking at us eat, I am sure any onlooker would have thought that we had been starving for several days!  During the weekends, this place gets filled up with Indians and Tanzanians of Indian origin - eating to their hearts' content and playing Housie.  We missed the Housie session, though.

the Dala-Dala

7. Dala Dala - The city bus is called Dala Dala and is generally packed with people.  Some of them are very old mini-buses and I guess only the bravehearts board the bus.  There are T-shirts with slogans such as "I rode the DALA DALA and survived to tell the tale."  This was one thrill ride that we dared not try, especially after reading the T-shirt slogan.

8. Local food -  We found that Tanzanians love to eat beef.  Tapioca, sweet potatoes, corn are also their favourites.  We tried some of the local vegetarian dishes served in the restaurant in Double Tree and enjoyed them.  We tried this slightly sweet dish called mandazi that was served at breakfast.  It reminded me of our very own Mangalore Buns - made from flour, mixed with mashed bananas and curd and fried in oil.  Another dish that we liked was the Ugali, a cooked cake of maize flour - again, similar to our Ragi mudde / kepai kali that we prepare back home.  This was served with a vegetable gravy that was very tasty!