Stone Town walking tour.Zanzibar.

This is Rashid, our guide for the morning.
Very knowledgeable and more importantly,
extremely patient.
His tour was “derailed” by us on a couple of occassions
as we stopped to shop
My merry band of media mates.
From L to R
Monika, Naomi and Shanaaz

The morning started off overcast and with a few drops of rain.
The buildings seemed to reflect this…

Looking out to sea.
Interesting to see that the owners of these vessels are using
available space for advertising purposes.

The building on the left is a floating restaurant.

Urithi Wa Kimataifa
The Old Fort.
A world Heritage Site.
Built by the Omani Arabs after expelling the  Portuguese in 1699,
it was used as garrison and as a prison in the late 19th century.
It was then turned into the Zanzibar Railways terminal from 1905-1928.
It is currently used as the home of the Zanzibar Film Festival.

Hard at work.
One of the many traders that we interacted with during our walk.
I have to say that I found them less intense than some of the store owners
I have dealt with in other African countries.

A peaceful street scene…
It did not last!

One of the side-walk vendors that seem to be all over the city

There are several methods of transport in Stone Town.
This is just one of them

The doors are the most prominent tourist feature in the town
They can be of either Indian or Arabic descent,
depending on the style.
Some have an arch…

While others are rectangular

Need something fixed?
I am certain that this local handyman has the part and the expertise.

Part of the
Memory for the Slaves monument.
This moving memorial says more than words can.
It can be found in the grounds of the former slave market, the world’s
last open slave market.
The trade was stopped by decree of the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1873,
following an appeal by Dr David Livingstone in 1857

The city is proud of their manhole covers!

At the local market you can almost ANYTHING.
Meat…

A variety of spices…

And Tuna!

I found many felines skulking around,
but not many dogs.

When I visit a city, I try to support the locals.
I bought a painting from the gallery on the left,
that stocks works by Zanzibarian artists.

Some of the bright food posters.

And speaking of food…
I headed back to the Park Hyatt Zanzibar for lunch

The Snapper was for one of my colleagues,
the lamb sandwich with fries was mine.
And we ALL tried the Banana Cheesecake with toffee and cashew sauce!

I chatted to  Executive Chef Teuku about his two signature dishes,
Zanzibar “themed” Nasi Goreng and the Banana Cheesecake.
This is what he had to say: