Walking Stone Town

After some time on the beach, I started walking through Stone Town.  In Stone Town there are streets and then there are streets.  Some are wide with cars,

Others are more like alleys.

But they’re all “streets” when you look at a map.  I have to admit a bit of negligence.  A couple of the streets are hard-core shopping areas.  In fact, one of my walking trips was specifically to go shopping, even though I had my cameras with me.  The fact is that the shop owners were so aggressive and obnoxious that I didn’t take any photographs of those narrow shopping alleys full of shoppers and goods.  I didn’t realize this until I looked at my images back in Dar.  It must have been my unconscious so repelled at the experience that it wasn’t even worth taking a photo for the blog - my apologies!

Anyway, on that first afternoon’s trip I did make some interesting images.  In Liberia, someone told me to look at the manhole covers.  So I did . . .

Another interesting thing about Stone Town are the doors.  I think if I lived there, I’d do a formal documentation of the doors because they’re incredible works of art in themselves.  Sometimes they’re solitary . . .

And sometimes they’re in pairs . . .

And they’re everywhere - hotels, shops, homes and sometimes even on run-down dilapidated buildings. 

One of the nicer things about Stone Town are the restaurants.  Zanzibar historically was a cross-roads point for many cultures and this fact is reflected in not just its buildings but in its food.  Walking down alleys and streets you’ll suddenly get whiffs of Indian or Middle Eastern cuisine that makes your mouth water.  

Now that it’s a destination for international travelers you come across other types of cuisine as well - lots of Italian places, different Asian and even a place that serves “Belgian cuisine.”  I didn’t know Belgium had its own cuisine, but I guess it does (the prices at that restaurant were such that I didn’t even think of trying to find out).  One thing I can say is that I didn’t see any Golden Arches (or crowns or Colonel Sanders images) anywhere in Stone Town.  Food there is real food.

As I mentioned above, I very quickly decided I wanted to avoid the main commercial strips, so I started wandering around, knowing that I couldn’t really get lost in such a small area.  

At one point I walked by a small alley and heard women signing.  I could tell it was live and decided to turn down the alley and find out.  Well, at the end of the block I found a wedding, and the women in the crowd were singing to the newly-married couple.

People were running down the alley and then climbing the fence to see the festivities.  It was a nice reminder that Stone Town is not just a tourist trap, but a real place where real people live.  

With that, I decided it was time to head back to Forodhani Gardens to meet up with a friend and watch the sun set.