A grey day
Today was my only day to be a tourist in
Stonetown and it started off slowly. While I was having breakfast, thunder
started rumbling ominously and got progressively louder. By 8:00 the heavens
opened and the rain poured down for an hour and a half. As soon as it started
to slack off I decided to chance that the rain was over and headed out to have
a look around to town. It was a good idea and while the clouds stayed all day
and there was the odd rumble from them there was no more rain. The downside of
the rain was that the roads were muddy and there were puddles of dirty water
everywhere. So between having to walk through some muddiness and getting
sprayed a bit by passing cars, motorbikes and cyclists, my feet and shoes ended
up very dirty.
My friend Elinor requested photos of the famous
doors of Zanzibar so my first mission was to find some of the nicer ones. These
are of course found on the entrances to the more expensive hotels and
restaurants but there are some nice ones on the government buildings too. So
below is a small collection of some of the doors I encountered today.
Zanzibari doors
I decided to visit the Anglican cathedral that
is built on the site of the old slave market. It cost TSh5000 ($3 or R35) to go
in and apparently included a guided tour. I opted not to take the tour but just
to look around. I have read about this market so really just wanted to see what
was there. All it is though is a very run down church and a sculpture of slaves
in a pit. I hope they will use the entrance fee to do some work on the
cathedral at some stage because it is in a bad state of disrepair.
The Anglican Cathedral
Inside the cathrdral
A window
A stained glass window in need of repair
The back of the cathedral
From the cathedral I went to the market. I
could smell the fish section from about 200m from the entrance! I took a deep
breath and went in. The fish looked very fresh but the smell is so overpowering
that the thought of actually eating anything from there is quite horrible. This
time I also ventured into the meat market. Previously I have avoided this
section because I live on meat if I eat out and didn’t want to be put off by
what I smelt and saw in the market. I was much braver this time, and once again
took a deep breath before plunging in! It wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it
would be. Sure it smelt bad but all the meat counters were clean and the meat
looked fresh. It was mostly goat meat anyway so beef fillet is still on my
menu!
I love wondering around the rabbit warren of
Stonetown and after the market visit I plunged back into the maze and decided
to try and find the hotel where Jo and I stayed in 1998. After many twists and
turns I actually found it – by pure luck because I had no clue where to look
for it J So
Jo here is a picture especially for you (Sorry there is no Rashid lying in the
entrance way … I know how devastated you will be at missing that very memorable
sight LOL).
The wandering around made me hungry so I decided
it was time for some lunch and headed across to the other side of Stonetown to
the Africa House Hotel and its Sunset Bar. Along the way I had to pass my own
hotel and was quite disturbed when a guy on the side of the road just after the
Abuso Inn asked me if I had lost my hotel and told me that it was just back
there. Quite concerning since he had clearly seen me leave hours earlier and
taken note! Maybe just my South African paranoia kicking in but I certainly
don’t like it much. The view from the Sunset bar is wonderful but it has become
expensive and the food is quite ordinary. I think next time I will only go
there for the beer and the view. The food was really not even worth writing
about. Below are some photos of the hotel entrance, the views from the deck,
the elaborate hubbly bubbly room and just an ornate bit of furniture inside the
hotel.
The view from my table
The view from the edge of the deck
Hubbly bubbly room
All that glitters ....
After a little siesta to avoid the heat of the
day, I ventured out again this time to find the beautiful twin spired St Joseph
Cathedral. It eluded me though. I could see its spires from the distance but
each time I tried to go through the maze to it I came out somewhere else
completely. I have given up for the day now. It is a task for another time - maybe
on my way back from work one day.
So my day is winding down now at Mercury’s
Restaurant where I am sipping on a Safari lager, writing the blog and waiting
for the sunset. Amazing how the clouds have disappeared just in time J. Mercury’s is named after possibly
Zanzibar’s most famous son, Freddy Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar. There are
some really old photos of Freddie on the walls but mostly it is just a nice
place on the beach to chill out.
Mercury's Restaurant
The view while writing the blog
Zanzibari sunset - worth the wait!
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