Upon getting off the three hour ferry ride in Stone Town, Zanzibar, you are promptly shuttled into a passport validation line, where you are checked and stamped in order to get through the city gates. It’s a cool idea, we did leave Tanzania to cross in international waters--we could have gotten off a ship from another country entirely; Kenya, for example is not far away. Mainland Tanzania is bordered by no less than eight other countries, and even Zanzibar was a separate nation until 1964.
I’m getting off track here, but this brings me to my first observation about Zanzibar: It is a different place entirely. Because of its history as a port to a major import/export economy between Africa and Persia, India, later Europe, it is shaped by many different styles and cultures. Narrow winding alleyways make up a large part of the town. Landmarks you might use to navigate consist of the crumbling building with the scaffolding, the large, ornately carved wooden door with the gold spikes, the word “squid” in green spray paint on the whitewashed wall… There are no maps to describe this labyrinth; the only way to find your way around is simply getting lost.
Walking around you’ll find stray cats sleep in the sun spots that filter through the gaps between rooftops, and at night their eyes glimmer at you from the shadows where they control the rat population. Bells and engine rumbling warn you to leap out of the way to avoid losing a toe to the traffic of bikes and motorcycles that somehow navigate through the tiny streets. Tiny shops and internet cafes will sometimes appear around a corner, but for the most part the buildings are residential. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a cathedral spire, or a fort wall above you to help tell you where you are.The architecture is a medley of Persian and Indian; occasionally you’ll catch a glimpse of the turquoise harbor through a carved archway to remind you that you’re not in Kansas anymore.
Two weeks here is not enough time. Being in home stays, we have somewhat of a head start with an inside scoop of the island through our families, and at the end of one week alone, I’m pretty comfortable here. My Swahili is not great but it’s definitely improving. Finding deals and good food is becoming easier, but being able to find them again is still always a toss up. Our classes are at the Sultan’s Palace, now a museum. It takes a fifteen-minute walk through the labyrinth, along the harbor, and through the touristy neighborhood to get there for 9am lectures. For last three days we were on “field visits.” We split into smaller groups and rotated through three Zanzibar towns: Jozani, Jambiani, and Kizimkazi, studying different nature reserves and imposed sustainability programs for these areas and their communities. The days were chock full of stimuli: red colobus monkeys, mangrove forests, seaweed farmers, pristine white beaches, coral reefs, and of course the ever popular spice tour of the so-called "spice island"… it was a lot to take in, but very exciting to see, and to spend time in my first village home stay.
Things are awesome here. In one week we’ll be heading up North to Moshi and Arusha.
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