The Residence, Kizimkazi Zanzibar

 We were grateful that on Feb 22 we were picked up at our hotel and taken one hour south to a resort in the south of Zanzibar.  We were very happy to find that we had been booked into a villa with its own swimming pool and access to a lovely beach.  We truly needed the rest!  It had been a busy few days and we were looking forward to relaxing by the pool side.

The Residence (the name of the hotel) is situated in a very quiet part of the island on the Indian Ocean.  The days stretch out before us and the heat is crushing by noon, so we took advantage of the pool and spent time reading and catching up on emails and...well...this blog as well.

We were cautioned, upon arrival, to keep our doors closed and to avoid leaving items on our patio as the monkey's tend to take these things.  

It turns out there is a thriving colony of the endangered red colobus monkey which is found only on this Island of Unguja (the largest island in Zanzibar).  It seemed that our villa was positioned on their daily foraging path and so we saw them frequently on our patio.

On our last day the monkeys simply opened our sliding door (which was on a latch) went into our living room and took a packge of dates and an apple, then went outsoide and fought over it all!

We made an attempt at the ocean, but honestly as it is quite shallow the water  is so hot it is not refreshing at all.  We stuck to our pool, enjoyed the peace and quiet and the beautiful sunsets and gathered our strength for the next leg of our journey.  After 7 days we repacked and prepared to make the trek to Botswana for our next Safari adventure.

Spice Farm

 Zanzibar has long been the source of many spices and was once on the famous spice route.  Many slaves worked the plantations to produce spices and one trader is famous for his clove plantations.  We stopped outside his grand house, which today lies in disrepair.

We were spirited off to a spice farm to see the many, many spices in production.  In truth this was a demonstration farm only, with small plantings of the various spices to show tourists how they are grown.  

We walked around the grounds and saw many different spices in their natural state...

Nutmeg

Black Pepper (and all other colours of pepper depending on how it is processed.

Vanilla Beans

Iodine Tree

Lychee Fruit

Ginger Root

It was fascinating, and we were glad to get back to our hotel after a very, very, very hot day with much walking in the heat and direct sun! An interesting torture...er...I mean tour!

The Slave Market

 One of the main stops on our walking tour was the slave market.  Stone Town was one of the major centres where slaves were imported, imprisoned and held until auctioned off.

This is a commemorative sculpture marking this location from the days of the slavery market.

The captives were held underground in tiny dungeons.  They were crammed in and many died from the heat or from suffocation!  Two of these dungeons remain and we visited them.  It was horrific, chilling and disturbing!

75 women and children were held in this tiny, tiny space!!!

We visited the cathedral which had been built on the site of the slave auction areas.  We were surprised to learn that although slavery was abolished in the mid 1860's it continued until 1909.  David Livingstone influenced policies in Britain when he returned from his work in Africa.  In recognition a cross hangs in the church made from the tree under which his heart is buried.

This font was placed to commemorate the many,many children who did not survive the ordeals of captivity.

These columns were installed upside down in error 

This was a hard visit and ended with the message that slavery continues to this day in many parts of the world, in different forms.

Stone Town, Zanzibar Feb 21

We took two commuter plans to arrive at the Zanzibar airport.  It was mayhem!  There were arriving passengers from various flights in a relatively small airpot, the temperature was iver 30°C and the signs were confusing.  Everyone was milling about in confusion, especiallybsince we had not left the country!  Once we got our bags, Paul figured out where we should go and after getting our bags xrayed(???) we were permitted to leave the airport.  

Stone Town dates back to the 1800's when it was established by Arab and Indian traders.  This included slave as well as spice traders.

The city is called Stone Town because the buildings are constructed from coral and limestone, covered in plaster.

The passageways are narrow and twist and turn, connecting to dust and busy streets.

sharpening knives an unusual way!

We marveled at the electrical "grid" servicing the town! The wires often ran adjacent to the water delivery system! 

We visited the local market

It was so hot and the soon the heat was getting to us...we tried to find a breeze near the ocean.

It was not easy to cool down! 

Stone Town is also famous for its magnificent doors.  These were installed at the time of construction and had an Arabic and/or Indian influence.  The doors are heavily adorned with brass decorations.  Some of these are spiked, installed at the time to deter attacks from elephants which were used to attack enemies at the time.  At its height, there were over 500 such doors, hand carved in Zanzibar by specially trained artisans.  Today there are only 200, many having been sold to hotels and decorators.  There is an effort now to re-institute the craft and in some places new doors could be seen in the old style.

We took a short break at a coffee house and then made our way to the slave trade museum where we learned about the slave trade and its horrors.