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Zanzibar Old Stone Town New Destination With Difference |
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Zanzibar Old Stone Town The Zanzibar Stone Town is about 150 years old covering an area of 96 hectares of residence, gardens and bazaar streets. It is physical evidence of the rich cultural heritage from Arabs, Indians and Europeans combined with the local African tradition. The Central Market (1904), the Anglican Church (built on the site of the former slave market), the old Arab fort, the Palace Museum, the House of Wonders (built in 1883 by Sultan Bargash) and the Livingstone House. A walk along the narrow lanes of the Stone Town gives you an opportunity to see some splendid artifacts like miniature samples of the famous Arab doors and chests with their studded brass decorations. The famous spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves,
black pepper, nutmeg and many others are grown here. Also to be seen and tasted
are different kinds of tropical fruits such as durian, Zanzibar apples (tufah)
drupes (coconut) rambutans (lychees) and many others, not forgetting rare plants
like the Henna, Perfume tree and Lipstick trees. The spice tour includes visits
to some historical places such as Persian Baths at Kidichi built in 1850 by the
first Sultan of Zanzibar Sayyid Said bin Sultan, for his Persian wife and
Princess Shehzad, grand daughter of the famous Fateh Ali the then Shah of
Persia. You will get the chance to visit Mangapwani Slave Caves. As you walk through the town, please remember that Stone Town is very much a real community, where real people live and work. It is not a museum piece or theme park created for tourists, and sensitivity should be shown to the local people. The Stone Town in Zanzibar town is the heart of the island. It has an intriguing maze of narrow, cobbled lanes hemmed in by Arabic buildings. The best way to see the Stone Town is, literally, to get lost. You can spend hours just wandering the alleys and squares, drinking potent coffee from pavement vendors, or buying sweetmeats from scores of tiny cafes. Remember that Zanzibar is overwhelmingly Muslim, and immodestly dressed women, or men in shorts, will get harassed and cause great offence. The island is notorious for the number of slaves who were kept here, with the dead being thrown into the sea, feeding a vicious population of sharks. In the evenings, instead of going to one of the several excellent restaurants, wander around the Jamituri Gardens, where vendors sell an exotic range of snacks by candle-light. Half the Stone Town seems to emerge on fine evenings. Perhaps the best place to watch the sun go down as dhows drift along, is the pier in front of the Gardens which houses an excellent restaurant. The Zanzibar Island, locally known as Unguja, is a scented paradise full of aroma of locally grown spices such as, cloves, vanilla, peppers, cardamoms and many more. The spices were brought to the island by the Sultan of Oman in 1698 after he banished the Portuguese traders who used the island as a transit port for repairing and refueling their ships, on the way to the long journey to the Far East. Owing to the growth slave trade in 18th and early 19th century, Zanzibar became an essential location along the Eastern African slave-trading routes. Slaves were taken from as far as Congo, travelled to Bagamoyo, then shipped to Unguja to either work in the cloves and coconut plantation in Unguja and Pemba, or to be shipped to the Middle East and former French colonies of Reunion, Mauritius, and Seychelles and Madagascar or North America. The history of the Stone Town goes beyond 19th Century when the island was the most vital trading center in the Indian Ocean. Among the historical buildings to be seen here are House of Wonders( Bait-el-Ajab), The Palace Museum, Dr. Livingstone’s House, Arab Fort, Maruhubi Ruins, Lutheran Church, slave trade market and Malindi Minaret Mosque.Anglican Cathedral ( Cathedral of the Universities Mission in Central Africa ).
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