Stone Town meander. Zanzibar

My walk through Stone Stone was preceded by a short stroll
along the beach in front of the Park Hyatt Zanzibar.
Earlier in the morning there had been several people
doing their exercises here…
but they had left by the time I set foot on the sand.
Only the cleaner was still busy.

The new annex of the Park Hyatt Zanzibar
as seen from the street.
The four domed “windows” are actually paintings.

The original buildings in Stone Town are built of coral rock,
plastered over and then painted.
Where the plaster has deteriorated,
the rock shows, with this effect.
There are more than 1000 coral buildings!

Aside from the doors, which are the iconic feature of Zanzibar,
the windows too come in many shapes and sizes

Looking back towards the Park Hyatt Zanzibar from the harbour.
The day started off rather overcast and rainy,
but cleared up later in the morning.

This restaurant attracted a lot of attention from photographers.
Myself included.

Looking out from the harbour.
The large vessel on the right was a huge house boat

The town came under siege on more than one occasion.
Hence the cannons.
Zanzibar has been “home” Persians, Arabs, Indians and Europeans,
all of whom have left their stamp on the culture of the Island.

There is a lot of renovation work going on in Stone Town.
This building is currently part of that program,
and as a result we were unable to go inside.
It is the Stone Town Museum

The doors in Stone Town are very special.
They have both Arab and Indian influence.
The “hardware” on the door is part of makes them so unique.
The doors with the spikes were purportedly used to keep elephants at bay.
I did not actually count the doors,
but I have reliably informed that there are in excess of 200.

The side streets offer all sorts of interesting photo opportunities

The locals seem more at ease with having their photographs taken
on this visit.
Aside from the bicycles that visitors have to be careful of…

The scooters are also a constant “threat” to those on foot.

This square serves as a debating area.
Several groups will sit here to discuss a variety of topics.
Each group will keep to themselves and not necessarily interact with others

It seems to be the men that have sidewalk goods for sale.

And example of the famous Zanzibar doors.

The door hardware can be utilitarian,
like this handle.

Or it can be very ornate.
If the date is to be believed, this comes from 1889

The two different styles of doors that visitors will get to see.

I am so glad that I did not have to climb this rather rickety
looking scaffolding!
Height does not seem to bother the workers here.
I wonder if their is a Department of Safety for the building industry.
This form of scaffolding is not unique to Zanzibar,
as I have seen similar in Vietnam

During my stay, I was hosted by