Stone Town

(Unfortunately,, I have tried to post phots to this blog four times, but habe been unsuccessful due to technical difficulties)
Zanzibar’s Stone Town has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been in existence as a trading centre since the first century, when Bantu speaking Africans began to trade with Arab mariners.It grew to be a powerful city-state in the 12th to 15th centuries, selling gold, slaves, ivory and wood. The dhow was a sturdy sailing ship, some of which were quite large, and could carry cargoes all over the Indian Ocean. With the trade came Arabic and Islam. The Portuguese conquered the island in the early 16th century, but the Omani Arabs routed them a few decades later.The island became such an important economic centre that the Sultan of Oman moved his court here in 1840. The increasing British presence in East Africa in the later 1800’s and the end of the slave trade lead to the weakening of Omani rule. The Sultanate was partitioned in 1862 and Zanzibar became a British Protectorate under the rule of the Omani sultans. This arrangement continued until Zanzibar gained independence in 1963. The Sultanate was overthrown one month later, and Zanzibar entered into a union with Tanganyika (on the mainland) to become part of the United Republic of Tanzania.Stone Town is very much a medieval city. Most buildings are 3-5 stories, and are built of coral rock and lime. In older buildings, mangrove wood (very durable and resistant to rot) was used as joists between floors. Since mangrove trunks are usually 3-3.5 meters in length room size was limited to this dimension even in the grandest houses.The entrances to many buildings are very ornately carved, and the doors usually have brass studding on them, in the South Asian fashion.The narrow streets and alleyways twist and meander according to the whim of whoever had decided to build the next building. Some of them are only 2-3meters wide. There are no sidewalks, and cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians all coexist in the same narrow roadways, not always happily. Street lighting is haphazard, but we haven’t heard of anyone having any problems at night so far.The streets are very lively, but you can’t walk a block without someone trying to sell you tourist knickknacks or mass produced clichéd tourist paintings i.e. a Masai carrying a spear, animals, etc. The same paintings are in every souvenir shop. The street folks are very friendly, though, and are very good humoured as long as you turn down their wares with a smile.