Around Stone Town

It was a bit rainy this morning but that worked well for us. We had known for some time that Kim’s upcoming subload flight from Male to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific was very full. The situation had deteriorated and it is now sold out. The preceding days were only marginally better and if he didn’t get on the flight on Sun 23 August, it would be a three day wait till the next flight (it operates four times a week). We used the wet weather to sort this problem out.

I managed to book him on Tiger Air from Male to Singapore, with a 6h connection onto Scoot to Hong Kong. It was a helluva detour but the price of USD200 plus bag, meals and credit card surcharge meant that it was only about USD135 more than his sunload ticket. It was a small price to pay so that he wouldn’t have to cut-sort his Maldives stay, or get stuck for three days, or just for peace-of-mind.

With that sorted, we headed out after 1000 to explore Stone Town. We visited the Old Dispensary, Museum, Beit al-Ajeib (House of Wonders, so named because it had electricity and a lift) and the fort before taking a break for lunch at a beachside cafe.

We continued with some random walks afterwards with the intention of seeing Freddie Mercury’s (Faroukh Bulsara) home, the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals. We did all three eventually with quite a few wrong meanders which meant that we saw a lot of the authentic Stone Town.

As for Freddie’s house, no one knows for sure … there are several claims. It probably doesn’t matter much as he left at age 9 for India.

In our wanderings, I managed to get my passport photos done for my Chinese visa application (to be done in Kuching under a tight deadline). The lovely old couple running the shop are the second generation born here of Goan origin. We learnt a lot from them about life in Zanzibar and especially life during the revolution. The Asians (Indians) had a bad time from the Africans during that time but Omanis had it worse. Omanis were killed in the revolution by the African freedom fighters who were also Muslims.

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: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Logs being unloaded. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Harbour where the dhows (Arab style sail boats) hang out. Oh, the mud! Not only was it mud, it was smelly mud from lots of fishy water.

: Od dispensary in Stone Town.

: Looking out from the Old Dispensary.

: Beit al Ajeib (House of Wonders).

: Old Fort of Stone Town.

: Zanzibar homes are renowned for beautiful doors.

: Wandering around Stone Town.

: Wandering around Stone Town.

: Zanzibar homes are renowned for beautiful doors.

: Wandering around Stone Town.

: This is Freddie Mercury’s old home.

We went back to the hotel for a rest before venturing out again for nice but cheap dinner at a hotel in Stone Town. Wandering back through Forodhani Gardens, we were glad that we had done everything we wanted to do in our short stay because we move to the beach tomorrow.

As in Arusha, contrary to expectations set by the guidebook, we weren’t pestered by any touts for safaris, SIM cards or anything at all!