Cyber Ethiopia

Last week we went on the Spice Tour of Zanzibar. This week the tour of Zanzibar continues. Stone Town The old stone town of Zanzibar retains its Arab roots and buildings from the different stages of its chequered history. It is now a pleasant and increasingly prosperous looking place, unlike the ‘Stinkibar’ which David Living stone dubbed it in the 1870’s. There were many earlier settlements where the early sultans of Zanzibar ruled from. The town of Zanzibar was effectively a Portuguese creation. The Portuguese arrived in 1498, then came to stay in 1504. They established their fort at Zanzibar, where the final version can still be seen. When the Portuguese were driven out by the sultans of Oman in the 1660’s, the new rulers adopted the town

of Zanzibar as their capital, and built many of their fine palaces here. The British took over, using the sultans as local puppets, and added bits of their architecture to the town. Since independence from Britain, the stone town has been preserved, and can still be seen more or less in its untouched but living state. The harbour of Zanzibar is very picturesque, with dhows mixing with cruiseships in a comfortable jumble. The big cruise ships and cargo vessels land at the more industrial end of the harbour. Walking on the waterfront is nice, the sea is green and blue, islands dot the horizon, and old mingles with new in the town. From the balcony of the Sea View restaurant you can sip Tanzanian beer, eat pretty good Indian food, and look out over the harbourfront. You have plenty of time to look at the view, the restaurant suffers from an excess of popularity (probably induced by the Lonely Planet guidebook), so the food takes forever to come. Apart from the view, you can also enjoy reading the travel advice in the menu booklet, which provides lots of commercials and some helpful hints. Another very popular restaurant is the South African franchise ‘Blues’ right on the waterfront, where good and predictable seafood can be obtained. There are plenty of other restaurants around, many of them associated with the venerable hotels of the town - the expensive Serena Hotel, Tembo Hotel, Hotel International and Spice Inn. Slave Market The most revealing and disturbing tour in Zanzibar is to the slave markets. There were many places where slaves were kept, and hidden after slavery was formally prohibited. Even many of the elaborate carved wooden doors which grace the older houses of the town have a carved row of chains down the side, indicating a house which held slaves. Perhaps the best place to experience the slave trade is the Anglican Cathedral of Christ, built on the site of the old slave market of Zanzibar. If slaves survived the harsh convoys to the coast, and the rigorous prison conditions and crossing, then many would end up at the slave market. The site was taken over by the Anglican church after the formal banning of slavery in 1873 under British pressure. Part of the grounds preserve the dungeons of the old slave market, incongruously combined with the St. Monica’s Hostel and Gallery and Gift Shop. It is quite a magnificent old stone building, with a staircase leading down to the ignominious prisons. The doorways are low, and one can only imagine how small and dark these tombs were when they were crowded with hundreds of slaves. In the prisons the narrow walkway between the flat sleeping areas was the toilet, flushed a couple of times a day by seawater, as the dungeons lay below the high tide sea level. The guide tells the horrifying tales of people piled 5 high on top of each other, as a final gruelling test of their toughness as slaves. Heavy chains in the prisons testify again to the harsh and inhuman conditions of the slaves, which included children and women as well as men. I sat in the dungeon for awhile. It was cramped, and the ventilation was poor through the narrow windows, but we had light and we were not crowded or kept trapped with our own fetid wastes. Nevertheless, the few moments I spent reflecting on the fate of the thousands who passed through or died in these dungeons was enough for my comfort. Ethiopians should remember that many of their forebears also passed through the slave markets of Zanzibar. The Maria Theresa dollars which were the currency of 19th century Ethiopia were at least partly earned through the sale of slaves, and Abyssinian women were said to be in high demand in the Zanzibar markets. Apart from the Southern Ethiopians snatched by the slave traders penetrating northward through Kenya, many slaves came through the official or tolerated slave routes from the South to the Red Sea. During the lawless period up to 1855, there was little to regulate the trade, which the Kings of Shoa managed to benefit from. Once Tewodros re-established the strong Emperor, there were periodic attempts to suppress the trade, but for the most part it continued successfully into the 20th century. Upstairs from the slave dungeons, the gift shop and gallery was doing a meager trade. An old white lady and young black boy shared the duties in the shop, the woman a painter as well. I kidded them that one of the paintings, which depicted a slave dhow sailing off, had an Arab who looked like Santa Claus, with a red outfit and a pointy cap with white trim. Across the courtyard is the cathedral, built on the site of the market, and even preserving the place of the pole upon which slaves were tied and whipped. Apparently the stronger slaves were thought to scream less, so they brought a higher price. There was an earnest, if somewhat incompetent, group of local volunteers who were pottering away on fixing the inside of the Cathedral. It was amusing, if a bit alarming, to watch the random plastering and painting which was taking place, as groups of tourists like me clambered through the scaffolding. Despite the fuss, the front of the church was worth the obstacle course. There was a cross-made by explorer missionary David Livingstone. As well, behind the altar, there are figures of various saints and holy men. On the left side they are the normal cast, but on the right there is a rather unusual set of characters from the old testament - ‘Doud’, Melchizedek, Zerubabbel, Junus and Eliakim in slightly modified Swahili, alongside the more familiar Solomon - representing the more mystical side of Christianity. The Other Markets Zanzibar is a trade centre, and there are plenty of active markets, although the old slave market has thankfully been closed down. One of the most lively and fascinating is the fish market, although it is predictably the most smelly. Apart from an amazing variety of multi coloured fish at reasonable prices, the market carries octopi, squid, crayfish and my favourite - prawns! I was amazed that you could buy respectably sized prawns for only about US$5 a kg, and giant tiger prawns for US$10/kg. Another popular item in Zanzibar is the khikois and katangi cloths. Most of the khikois are manufactured in India especially for the African market. The khikoi market is especially dominated by the Indians, but they make the concession of providing bright colors and wise sayings in Swahili printed onto the cloth. The khikoi is the two piece outfit, one for around the waist and another for over the shoulders, and the katangi which just goes around the waist. The katangis’ are locally made, and although they are more expensive (US$4 instead of $3), they are much better done, with beautiful floral prints. The market is also filled with plenty of other stalls and shops selling all the necessities and a few of the luxuries of life. One narrow street near the edge of Stone Town was the first market street where cars could drive down - although barely! The other market streets are too narrow for cars, but unfortunately not too narrow for the motorscooters and bicycles which tear through, scattering pedestrians with their last minute beeps. Stone Town also seemed to be going through a plague of capguns, which were pointed at us by little boys every two paces and went off with alarming cracks. There is also a craft market near the seafront, which features the katangi, carvings and various beadwork. I was shocked by the prices of the beadwork, which is better and cheaper in Kenya or Southern Africa. The carvings were mostly cheap versions of the fabulous Makonde sculptures of Southern Tanzania and Northern Mozambique. I am fortunate to have a good collection of much better quality Makonde sculptures (at much better prices) which I picked up in frequent visits to northern Mozambique.