We arrive in Insignia Lounge right on time this morning at 8:30am, and it’s a good thing we did, as there are seven excursions heading out by 9:15. Ours, the Spice Tour, is an 8:45 departure, and will last four hours. We board Bus 31 and are greeted by our guide. He introduces himself this way: “My name is Wilton, but today, you may address me as Bus 31.” Now this is a good sign. A further good sign is that he explains that he was actually born in the UK and lived there until the age of 11, at which time he came to Zanzibar. Hence his English, though heavily accented, is flawless, and he has a nice sense of humor to accompany it.
We are on the island of Unguja, which is the larger of the two islands making up the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar (Pemba is the other, which is 45 kilometers north). Wilton explains that Zanzibar is Arabic (Persian, actually, I read later) for “land of the blacks.” This is our first indication of the heavy influence that Arabs have had on the east coat of Africa from this point (Tanzania) north. Here is a Wikipedia quote on the subject: “Persian, Indian, and Arab traders used Zanzibar as a base for voyages between the Middle East, India, and Africa. Unguja, the larger island, offered a protected and defensible harbor, so although the archipelago offered few products of value, traders settled at Zanzibar City (“Stone Town“) a convenient point from which to trade with the other Swahili coast towns.”
Okay, I now confess that I supplement these recaps of our experiences with some research using, yes, Wikipedia. I am finding their articles to be thorough, well-organized and heavily documented. I’ve compared this with Encyclopedia Britannica, and, frankly, get more and better information from Wikipedia. If you find yourself interested in the history of the places we are visiting, I highly recommend researching Wikipedia as I am doing.
Zanzibar’s history is way too complicated for me to competently explain in this post, but let’s just say that this Arab influence is considerable, including the official language, one of which is Kiswahili (Swahili), the other two being Arabic and English. Swahili is a Bantu language with a lot of Arabic mixed in. It’s a very interesting language to listen to, almost lyrical. It’s the language that almost everyone speaks at home, even though English is taught in school. We read where the government is eliminating that practice, which we think is a big mistake, given the importance of tourism to the island. Say what you will, we Americans provide about 75-80% of the world’s cruise passengers, and an outsized number of other tourists. In addition to that, the world’s seaborne and airborne transportation uses English to communicate safely. Eliminating it as a course of study in Africa is an isolating step.
Sorry for the digression… Okay, we are given a vivid example of the Arab influence about twenty minutes into our tour, when we come to our first stop, the ruins of Maruhubi Palace. The Sultan of Oman had huge influence beginning in 1698, and this continued up until the 20th century. Besides trade in spices and other goods, the sultans carried on an intense slave trade until forced to abandon it late in the 19th century by the Brits.
Here is another source I found that neatly describes this place: “The Maruhubi Palace is on the coast, about 4km north of Zanzibar Town. It was built in 1882 for Sultan Barghash (sultan from 1870 to 1888) and at one time he reputedly kept 100 women here: one official wife and 99 concubines. (The sultan himself lived at the palace in Zanzibar Town.) The palace’s name comes from the original owner of the estate who sold the land to Sultan Barghash.
“The palace was built with coral stone and wood, and was reported to have been one of the most ornate on the island. Large walls were built around the palace grounds, thought to have been inspired by the park walls seen by Sultan Barghash on his visit to England in 1875. Unfortunately, the palace was destroyed by a fire in 1899. All that remains today is the great pillars which supported the upper story, and the Persian-style bath-house. The separate bathrooms for the women, and the large bath for the sultan’s own use, can still be seen.”
I confess that I had not done enough research about eastern Africa history to expect such a place, and it felt a bit weird to be being told about how this sultan’s gilded “warehouse of women” operated. Our guide is very knowledgeable about the details, even describing the toilet system (as the palace was on the shore, the architect cleverly used the tides to cleanse). I am fine when we were done.
On the same grounds is a boat building operation that takes good advantage of the flow of tourists from the palace ruins. They are happy to have visitors, but they have a sign respectfully asking for donations to the Boatmakers Association in exchange for allowing us to trek through their operation taking photos. Cathy takes care of that while Steve does indeed take many photos.
Some of the boats are there to be repaired, and, boy, are they in need of it. But they are also building fishing boats. I wish I could remember more, but we were told that these 30-foot long, 6-8 foot wide wooden boats are built with mahogany, local woods and mangrove. Mangrove trees are there in abundance and they provide curved lumber for the ribs of each boat. The boats are all built by hand using hand tools, and a boat can be completed in around six weeks. The little village was full of cats, something we did not often see in other villages.
We leave and head for the spice plantation. On the way, we see that there are small stands all along the road, especially when we come into a village. Wilton also takes this time to explain what is grown on the island. Many fruits including native oranges (which are actually green), mandarin oranges, grapes and other fruits, mostly for local consumption. Sugar is also a huge crop, but spices are the primary export, of course (more about that later).
One other thing we notice is the number of Muslims there are in this country, obviously another Arab influence. The most obvious clue was the dress of the women, who all wear headscarves and dresses. Speaking of which, we came upon a school (Bububu, Swahili for “silent person”) where every student was in uniform. The boys have on white shirts and black pants. The girls, most of who appear to be Muslim, wear white headscarves that came down to their waste and black skirts. They looked very cool, like (as Cathy described them) little tiny black nuns.
Soon we arrive at the spice plantation. They describe it as a working plantation, but I think the primary “work” done there is to provide a tourist destination. It’s a beautiful location covered with all kinds of vegetation that, upon closer examination, are actually various species from which spices are derived. Wilton continues as our guide, and is another walking encyclopedia of local knowledge, in this case spices.
I should have carried my notebook, because he showed us so many different trees, bushes, berries and other flora from which spices come that I can’t remember them all. Here are some: cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, lemongrass, coconut, cloves (a huge export), pepper, coffee and curry. Wilton is accompanied by three assistants, polite and helpful teenage boys who hand out samples of the leaves, berries and so forth to us fifteen or so tourists. Toward the end, the boys bring baskets of perfumes and soaps made out of most of the spices, and ylang ylang. After Wilton explains that this plant forms the basis for Chanel No. 5, among other perfumes, the boys give us samples of three essences, and sell four bars of soap for a very reasonable $10, an opportunity Cathy immediately takes.
After meandering through the forest on these narrow dirt paths, we have been given a thorough education and are ready for some refreshment (the shade provided by the trees was welcome, but it is still hot and humid). On our way out of the woods, however, we are treated to an amazingly athletic demonstration of how to climb a coconut palm by one of the teenage boys that have been with us. We arrive at a clearing not far from the road where the buses are parked, where we sit on two long wooden benches placed at right angles from each other. The first treat is to watch the three assistants prepare a coconut for each couple to enjoy (coconut milk is very refreshing). Then we sample pineapple, mango and orange (the green orange grown here – it is very delicious). Then we are given small samples of lemongrass, ginger and masala teas. We are all joking that Cruise Director Leslie, who has been so adamant about us guests washing hands and being careful of what we touch and eat, would be aghast at all this.
Now of course there is a shop selling spices – a thatched-roof open-air hut with a long counter filled with small envelopes of dozens of different spice preparations. Cathy has a hard time determining just which three to pick, as they are all really good bargains (3 envelopes for $10).
We hop back on the bus, and, after almost four hours in the heat and humidity, are ready to return to Zanzibar City where the ship is docked. First there is one more stop, a 15-minute exploration of the ruins of the Kidichi Persian Baths. Cathy and I and a few others pass up this opportunity for some air conditioning comfort.
We arrive back to Insignia, board, have lunch and retire to our stateroom. Dinner that evening is with Kari and Larry in the Grand Dining Room, only their second dinner meal there (they frequent either the Terrace Café or one of the two upscale restaurants Toscana or Polo Grill). They have generously provided a bottle of red wine for us to share, and we are seated at a table for four in the corner of the huge restaurant. They both jokingly ask if this corner table is for unruly guests and are we here because they are with us. Actually, it’s the best table in the house, as far as we are concerned, because the walls make it easier to hear. As always, it is a fun meal with them. They are very lively and fun people.
We have a big day coming up tomorrow, so after dinner we make a beeline for our stateroom. Insignia has left at 7:00pm for Mombasa, Kenya where we will take a long-anticipated excursion to another game reserve. We can hardly wait!
