Zanzibar has been a major trading hub for spices for over 2000 years with Persia (Iran), India and other Arab countries. The spice farm has over 500 hectares where they grow the spices. A lot of the spice industry is controlled by the government especially cloves because of its importance to the Zanzibar economy.
Our guide's name is Abdullah who is very conscientious and gives us a tour involving more than 30 spices and several fruit trees. Most we willl never remember so we take lots of photos. We are amazed at the variety of purposes that some well known spices are used for. For example, cinnamon is used to treat high blood pressure and the roots of the plant are used as degongestant. They cut a piece of root for us to smell and the scent is identical to Vic's vapour rub. Did you know that nutmeg is a natural aphrodisiac and women take it when they are planning children? Women also use it as a form of whiskey. They make a powder, add water to it and drink it before going out dancing or meeting people to give them confidence. We also were entertained by a local who skillfully climbed up a very tall Coconut tree with only his hands and a rope wrapped around his feet for traction. He sang a song most of the time (called Hakuna Matata....no worries) and did some very skillful acrobats. He then opened up young coconuts that Di and Louise drank coconut water from and ate some of the coconut pulp. I passed on it. The tour takes about 2 hours and Di and Louise buy some soaps and spices to bring back as gifts to Canada. We arrange a guided tour of Stone Town tomorrow with Abdullah. It will help avoid the dozens of unsolicited approaches from street merchants.
After the tour our Haji drops us off near our hotel, Dhow Palace. The place is right out of a Bogart movie. It obviously has Persian influence and appealing architecture. The only problem is it is a "dry" hotel and thus dining out will be a priority. Originally built in 1559, The first owner/occupant was a Sultan whose family dynasty owned it for over 3 centuries until 1899. The original walls are 70 to 80 centimetres thick made from "coquina" which is sedimentary rock with embedded sea shells. This type of construction is very common and is what gave Zanzibar Town its more famous name Stone Town. The walls are now covered in stucco whitewash white which is a common finish in this part of the world. Remember the movie Casablanca? Anyhow the one of the last Sultans of the clan to own it in the late 1800's put Zanzibar on the map. His name was Seyyid Said Barghash. He gained fame for abolishing the slave trade in Zanzibar along with the English missionairies in 1873 and brought electricity to Zanzibar even before London England had it. However, he was also "infamous" for having 99 concubines and apparently lost count of how many children he had. We saw his portrait and the guy was butt-ugly. You got to love it! The Palace exchanged hands several times through the first half of the 20th century and eventually fell into disrepair. The current owners renovated it and re-opened it in 1993 and brought it back to its former glory. From 1995 to 2003 the Palace was only 2 storeys and 16 rooms. After that they added a 3rd floor (which we are on) and a second wing. It took them years to complete because they painstakingly finished it with identical materials used in the original construction and there are not many artisans available today who know how to work with those materials. Fortunately our rooms have AC which turned out to be a blessing because the heat here is oppressive (6 degrees south of the equator and very, very humid).
Regardless of the heat, we decide to do a walk-around of the town even though we will have a guided tour tomorrow. They're not streets as we know them...at best they are alleys. In fact, the tour guide books warn you that you will likely have to drag your luggage to your hotel because the taxis can't get them. Dhow Palace was not an exception. Lunch and a walk-around occupied us for about 2 hours and you definitely need a map because there is "zero" street signs. The only mode of transportation, other than on foot, are Honda and Vespa motorcyles/scooters and bicycles.The interior streets are pretty run down and the only source of light is straight up because of the building height and the narrow alleys. Every place is either eatery, souvenir shop or some form of retail. Many will ask you to come in and look around but a polite response, "Asante hopana" (no thanks) gets the desired effect.
Because our hotel is "dry", we book dinner at a place on the ocean called "Africa House" hotel. It is actually pretty luxurious and we book dinner on the second floor on a huge lanai for 6:30 p.m. It's back to the hotel for a quick swim in the pool in the open atrium and it is fantastic. Louise shows her "bohemian" side by going in the pool without using the shower in the Ladies room first. (Thank God she warns Di and I when we came down). I go to shower in the Gents room and I am stunned to see a full toilet "inside" the shower! No...it is not dirty....in fact very clean as they demand but you can literally relieve yourself while showering. (My brilliant wife has just informed me that it is very common in Asia and is called a "wet toilet".).
Dinner out proved to be to our liking and the crowd on the Lanai was made up of well-to-do Aussies, Persians and some lonely looking femmes fatales (i.e. cougars). It has a bar-like atmosphere with Western music. I had grilled Octopus and the girls had different versions of Red Snapper. Right behind us were 2 Arabs smoking from a Hookah pipe. Apparently one smoking session (called shisha) is equivalent to having more than 100 cigarettes. One of the guys tips the scales at least 350 lbs. and smokes for about 2 hours without moving. Hakuna Matata big boy!
Dinner out proved to be to our liking and the crowd on the Lanai was made up of well-to-do Aussies, Persians and some lonely looking femmes fatales (i.e. cougars). It has a bar-like atmosphere with Western music. I had grilled Octopus and the girls had different versions of Red Snapper. Right behind us were 2 Arabs smoking from a Hookah pipe. Apparently one smoking session (called shisha) is equivalent to having more than 100 cigarettes. One of the guys tips the scales at least 350 lbs. and smokes for about 2 hours without moving. Hakuna Matata big boy!
We were back to the Dhow Palace by 9:00 p.m. and readied ourselves for tomorrow's tour and get deep into the history of Zanzibar.
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