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.