carved wood and white sands

when planning our safari adventure we realized that, amazing though the wildlife seemed, we'd want to see more of the culture and daily life of east africa. our favorite parts of most trips are wandering the old streets and finding interesting nooks and crannies. our first thought was lamu, a town on the kenyan coast with beautiful waters and architecture influenced by both the middle east and india. it sounded perfect, until we learned about the handful of fatal shootings that had taken place in the last few months. (i pointed out that the victims had always been men, but to no avail.) in light of the violence, the tour company we booked with couldn't let us go there. they offered zanzibar as a potential replacement. i admit i didn't know much about zanzibar but, after doing some research, it seemed like it would be a perfect destination. and since we have to fly to every destination anyway, we figured why not.

and so, after a safari adventure that exceeded all our expectations, we found ourselves on yet another flight headed for the island of zanzibar. this leg of the trip started off a bit rocky when we went to get our visas. we had our paperwork in order, the prescribed photos and the exact amount of cash in (the preferred) american dollars. yet when we go to the window we were told that the price was higher, with no explanation, and were rudely shoved off when we asked to see some listing of the price. (we were told to look at the list on the wall which seemed to include every country except the US.) after some back and forth, a fruitless trip to the ATM, and a very finicky credit card machine, we finally left, visas in hand. our tour company operator (from another company, that gamewatchers - our original tour company, which was lovely - had booked for us), who had been waiting with the driver, seemed impatient and was eager to give us our paperwork and fill our his prescribed forms, which included information he didn't need and some that we ended up making up. bureaucracy!

the morning view from our floor of the hotel

our hotel was in a renovated palatial residence, much like moroccan riads, with rooms radiating out from an open-air courtyard. it was beautifully decorated, with dark wood carvings and antique victrolas and telescopes. the hotel staff, though they did have our email confirmation printed, seemed to have neglected to actually reserve a room for us. not to worry though because we were given an enormous suite on the top floor. our huge stateroom included two large bedrooms with a total of three beds, a balcony with an ocean view and maybe the largest shower i've ever seen - all covered in beautiful blue tiles. we were exhausted but happy to finally have a bed and some a/c.

simple structures and banana groves

we quickly realized that we had not anticipated zanzibar weather very well. we had packed for kenya, which we learned is always fairly temperate, and the sometimes-chilly morning jeep rides. but for some reason we failed to realize that zanzibar would be, well, hotter. and extremely humid. which of course makes perfect sense when you think about it. we did still want to dress conservatively, though, since we knew we were in a fairly conservative muslim area. (even though we later spied a few tourists who clearly did not care about dressing modestly..) our first destination, though, was the beach. so we covered up as best we could and popped into the waiting car after breakfast. much to our disappointment, last night's guide waiting in the car as well. we were rather annoyed by his patronizing questions and constant need to want to surprise us (yes, it is hot here. yes, we see the old city..) but i suppose he was nice enough. he did pull over so we could see how cloves grow. they don't call this the spice island for nothing. our views on the drive were peppered with thatched hut roofs, people on bicycles, and field after field of banana trees. i think i was reminded most of southern india and a very long bike ride..

perfect scene

eventually we made it to the beach. much earlier, we had debated which beach we should go to and when (low tide seems like never-ending shores full of seaweed and a glimmer of water the in distance). in the end it didn't much matter, since our guide balked at the early hour we requested and instead took us to a beach on the north side (no tides there) at a later hour. we were initially annoyed with this change in our plans but as it turned out kendwa was just lovely. with some effort we convinced the guide he did not need to stand around on the beach (in pants and dress shoes) with us but should instead come back in a few hours. and it was perfect.

setting out to sea

the water was crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise. the kind of place you thought only existed in google image searches and photoshopped pictures on pinterest. the sands were soft and white and we had gorgeous views of the traditional dhows heading out to sea. we even got a glimpse at the boat unfurling its distinctive sail, as a few fishermen set out just a few meters from us, wading in the warm waters. we lingered as long as we could, enjoying the perfect water, reading in the sun (on some of the many welcome beach chairs) and eating our indian snacks. (yet another advantage of the international influence here) and wandering along the shore. we could have easily stayed all day but there was more to see and our time on the island was limited.

our drive back was much of the same, except we started to see crowds gathering at mosques for friday prayers. bike abound everywhere, although none were ridden by women (typical in conservative countries, i suppose). in fact, even young girls were covered almost head to toe (save the face), something i've rarely seen even in muslim countries. we made it back to the hotel and changed back into slightly more modest apparel and headed out to explore stone town.

view from the fish stand

the old, winding streets were very inviting but we were interested in food first. fairly soon we came to an unassuming little shack with a few plastic chairs outside (so unassuming i didn't even take a photo) where we had what would be our best meal on the island, and perhaps on the whole trip. we had fresh fish, perfectly cooked and simply flavored. complemented nicely by freshly squeezed fruit juice. and the view, turquoise waters along the edge of town, was hard to beat. we continued on, wandering the old streets and admiring the beautifully carved doors and ancient stone walls.

gorgeous carved doors

we tried to follow our map, which we had marked with historic buildings and notable sights. we often found it hard to figure out where we were though, and it was much easier to wander and explore the interesting streets. we saw all kinds of doors - oversimplified guides will say rounded archways are so-called arabic doors and straight lintels indicate the indian style. while i'm always wary of such cut and dry explanations, there was certainly a variety of influences at play in the carved doors. many have carved calligraphic inscriptions in arabic while quite a few bear resemblance to indian doors, with the brass studs and square coffers. with all these elements it was a bit like wandering the streets of morocco, israel and gujarat all in one.

old carvings

in our wanderings we found some souvenirs, the best of which were certainly the carved wooden items. we stumbled across a little antique shop, with brass coffeepots and carved wooden boxes. i was drawn to a wooden carving that i found out had originally been a window shutter. after a little haggling, it was mine (still got it). we made some stops here and there, taking time to write a postcard or to watch the sun set. after the sun went down and it was officially dark enough we ventured over to forodhani gardens which, every day at dusk, becomes the setting for the night market. all manners of sea creatures are displayed on sticks - including things that look suspiciously like tentacles and giant claws. everyone seems to offer more or less the same fare (and it all looks identical under the floodlights anyway) so we made a lap and then settled on some safe-looking white fish, washed down with fresh-pressed sugar cane juice (shades of india). one wonders how all these essentially identical vendors can move these massive quantities of seafood in just a few hours. where does the rest go? the ones who likely profit most from the night market are the ubiquitous stray cats who wait for a fallen morsel and aren't shy about soliciting you for an extra nibble of fish.

after our little amuse bouche it was on to a real dinner, accompanied by fruity cocktails. the menu highlighted both fresh seafood and spice-infused curries, which seemed to encapsulate zanzibari cuisine. good food but it just couldn't compete with that perfect fish from the shack.

gingerbread galore

the next day we were up early to see the rest of stone town - or as much as we could before leaving, anyway. it's small enough but there are a lot of interesting buildings tucked away so this mostly meant seeing facades of buildings and forgoing visits inside. (seems like we may not be missing much, in some cases. though i can't truly say.) our favorite facade was the gingerbread-studded 'old dispensary', which we happened to catch as it was in shadow. still, we stopped for quite a while to admire the victorian details painted in a seafoam green.

whitewashed stone and flowering shrubs

the rest of our wanderings were to find certain buildings, like the central mosque (harder than it sounded as the streets wind all around and its exterior was almost completely nondescript) and the even-more-hidden hindu temple. after getting directions from several people and passing through two doorways that seemed to be private residences, we found ourselves surrounded by shoes in a small courtyard before a tiny little shiv shakti temple. it was rather small but it still had the bright colors and scalloped archways that made it look distinctly indian.

save for a little last-minute shopping, we spent the rest of our afternoon having an indian lunch overlooking the sea. (my top priority is always authentic indian food anywhere i think i can find it.. whether it's new york, london or zanzibar.) we had time for little else before our very-early driver appeared to shuttle us off to the airport. it was clear - since we were a full THREE HOURS early for a flight in the tiny airport - that the company was eager to be rid of us and ensure they would not have to deal with us missing our flight. paperwork, you know. our ridiculous arrival time meant lots of time sitting in an un-air conditioned room before check-in began and then moving to a larger, more crowded room with some weakly-circulating air. thus began our 28 hours of travel (and 36 hours with no shower), almost all of them sticky and cramped.

despite this somewhat graceless ending to our trip i found myself thinking how cool it is that zanzibar might just be the most remote place i've ever been. i mean, for now anyway.