Zanzibar - November 12
Zanzibar is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of the rest of Tanzania. It was controlled at various times in its history by Portugal and England. It is also the place where the shortest war in history took place. In August of 1896 the Anglo-Zanzibar War took place. The British won in under 45 minutes.
I had a very lazy morning because my tour was not until 4:15. I tidied my cabin, packed my laundry bag, had lunch, sat out on deck, walked a couple of laps around the deck, read, and knitted.
This was our first tender port. We were told the ride over would take about 15 minutes but you never know how long you might have to wait for a tender or for a tender to leave. Being one who is always early, I left for shore at 3pm. There were only about 10 on the tender. Once we got to the pier there was a little confusion as to where to meet but we were finally directed to wait in the "VIP Lounge" which had comfortable recliners and sofas and air conditioning.
The tour I chose was the Stone Town Evening Walking Tour. Stone Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. It is the oldest part of Zanzibar City and was a center for the spice trade and the slave trade in the 19th century.
We were driven to the edge of Forodhani Park where we saw people setting up for the Street Food Market that would begin at 6pm. Our guide talked about the area (while I was getting friendly with a cat) and then we started our walk through the narrow streets.
We were taken through the winding streets and shown some of the building techniques and architectural features. We went into the Hamamni Persian Baths which were built between 1870 and 1888 by the Sultan for use by the people (for a fee, of course). There was one day a week when it was open for women - the men had the rest of the week. There were changing rooms, a shaving area, toilets, and even a restaurant.
Continuing our walking tour, we went through more of the maze of streets to the Freddie Mercury Museum. He was born in Zanzibar in 1946 and lived in the house where the museum is located. After having a few minutes to look around (it is not a huge museum), we walked to the Serena Hotel where we had a snack and watched the sun set over the water.
We had to wait some time for the tender to pick us up, but I was back on board by 8. The Lido was open late tonight so I had time to get dinner. The entertainment was two different movies - one in the theater and one on the World Stage. If you didn't want to do either of those, there was something different tonight "Glamp Out Under the Stars". The Ocean Bar Band played "classic camp fire hits" and there were snacks. I dropped in for a few minutes and found that they had put a canoe in the Lido Pool and there were two people (I didn't recognize either) paddling around.
I think I will take the tender to the shuttle tomorrow and walk around a bit - there were no stops for shopping on today's tour, so I would like to look at what they have.
Since there has not been any trivia recently, here is a question for you. What do the letters in "UNESCO" stand for?
Smooth sailing until next time!
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