Zanzibar is part of Tanzania in east Africa. Stone Town is the historic part of the capital, and it feels like a large number of old buildings had been randomly scattered and densely packed near the ocean. There are almost no streets, the haphazard layout allows only very narrow and never straight alleys. It’s easy to get lost here. The upside is that cars cannot penetrate this maze. Children play football barefoot, vendors cry out in incedibly packed markets, old people lazily drink tea on their doorsteps, and porters carry wares on ancient wooden carts.
Zanzibar was a hub of the East African slave trade, first by the Portuguese and later by the Omanis who were called in to kick the Portuguese out. Which they did, and then they made it worse until the British took over and put a stop to the slave trade. The site of the slave market is now a cathedral, but a few really horrible underground holding spaces were preserved. They deliberately mistreated the slaves to see who would be strong enough to survive the voyage by ship.
Today Zanzibar City is quaint and modern at the same time, and has a number if luxury hotels. It’s a mix of religions, muslims are the largest group but there are also churches and Hindu and Jain temples. It’s all very colorful. I am back in Africa!
