Oh sweet slice of exotic tropical heaven. I love Zanzibar. This is not news. Anybody would love Zanzibar. This is a fascinating, fascinating place, and lovely in a way unlike any other place I've ever been. This particular part of the trip is a Big Deal to me, personally and academically. Personally: two of my favorite people, Greg and Kate Giles, live in Dar Es Salaam. When I told them I was studying Zanzibar and also that I would love to come by and see them on my world tour, they said hell yes, and invited me to a music festival in Zanzibar. One does not turn down such an invitation. They get their own blog post later. Academically: because Paul Tesar is a fantastic professor and understands that people work harder when they're excited about things, he let us pick our own sites for our last studio project, and thus I got to study Zanzibar.
A brief bit of background, for anyone who hasn't heard me yammer on about it for the last few months: Zanzibar is a small island off the coast of Tanzania, about 90 minutes by ferry from Dar. It's been part of Tanzania since 1964 (Tanganika + Zanzibar = Tanzania) but it's semi-autonomous. What makes it such a facinating place: it's a spice island, and for centuries because of its spices and safe harbor and trade winds, it has attracted all of the following: Persians, Indians, Arabs, Chinese, the British, the Dutch, and African mainlanders, to name a few. Because of the trade wind situation, people didn't just come through Zanzibar- they stayed for six months at a time, until the winds reversed and they could sail home; they all brought their cultures with them. And because of the money to be made here, many stayed permanently- the majority of these being Omani traders and Indian merchants, with a good mix of everything else.
Too late for this to be brief, but a bit more: Stone Town, the main city on the island, is a World Heritage Site due to its unique history and design. It's in danger, literally, of collaps: 80% of the buildings here are decaying or damaged, due to a lack of funds for upkeep, and problems with using a porous stone as a building block in a tropical climate. For all that, which is everywhere evident, Stone Town is really lovely. To create shade (just south of the equator, after all) people built tightly. The streets are no more than 8 or 10 feet wide. Most places you could lie down and touch the walls on both sides. The buildings are tall for such narrow streets, 4 to 6 stories, so it's like walking through a canyon. Details vary, but gorgeously carved doors are everywhere, and every single building is made of the same coral limestone and plaster. All along the streets, every kind of bench, stoop, and step is carved into the buildings and shopfronts, so people are hanging out everywhere, quite comfortably.
Despite a few mishaps I am generally pretty good at navigating, particulary if I have looked at a map ahead of time. I spent weeks and weeks documenting this place, so I should know it fairly well, at least in concept. I mean, I drew diagrams color-coded with everything from architectural origin to level of decay, for every single building in Stone Town, and mapped every single landmark and significant street. On paper. On the ground, I could not navigate my way across town for love nor money, since everything looks the same. And if you figure out a few landmarks in the daylight, forget it- once the shopfronts close, the whole streetscape changes again.
The beautiful thing? Nobody cares. The whole point of wandering Stone Town is to spend a few hours being pleasantly lost. It's not nearly as big as I imagined it, anyway, and the streets are lined with shopes and people sitting in the shade and children playing games. Walking in the shady streets, even the equatorial sun is no problem. Eventually you'll hit water, or a road for cars, or the old fort, then you re-orient and dive back in.
The labyrinth I was looking for at Knossos? Here. But one fun thing: you can hire a walking taxi if you need to. For about $1.50, they'll cheerfully guide you back to your hotel.
(to be continued!)
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