Jambo mzungus! Are you looking for the slave market?

Two days after I arrived in Dar es Salaam after 24 hours of flight from BOS-DC-Zurich-Nairobi-Dar, Tim Rosché, our project’s Country Director, Zainab Roshanali, a local logistics advisor for our project, and I hopped onto a 12-seater plane for the 15 minute flight to the island of Zanzibar.

I first visited Zanzibar in 2004 and my first email “update” about Zanzibar is included below. The island has changed dramatically in the past five years. With the influx of tourism, more hotels, more cars, more restaurants and shops have opened particularly in Unguja (Zanzibar is two islands- Unguja and Pemba). In Stonetown (the capital of Zanzibar), tourists are more common than locals in the central part of the town near the shore. What is so striking is the complete disregard some tourists (mainly all the Italians!) have for the Muslim culture there. Zanzibar is fairly conservative- most women cover their heads and keep most of their skin covered- you will also see a few women in burqas (where only their eyes are exposed); many men where traditional dress and hats; calls to prayer are heard from early morning to evening. Meanwhile, many tourists walk around in their sunburn skin, tank tops, short skirts, and bathing suits. During Ramadhan (where many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset), tourists walk around eating/smoking/drinking with little regard for the cultural observations by which their hosts are abiding.

The tourism industry has also brought about a lot of business and boosted the economy of Zanzibar. It has also exponentially increased the number of random guys on the street that will give you “guided” tours of Stonetown and surrounding areas. One morning Tim and I took a walk into the more “local” parts of Stonetown. Being the only mzungus (white people/foreigners) around (a) that early in the a.m. 10ish? and (b) in that area of town, one man came up to us at the intersection and asked with such enthusiasm, “Jambo mzungus! Are you looking for the slave market?” This statement- basically “Hey white people!” and the slave market comment just got my giggling. Where else would you be greeted that way and have it be received in a friendly way! Zanzibar was a hub for the East African slave trade and currently there is an Anglican church on the site of the former slave market- one of the “must see’s” on many tourists lists.

If you have a minute….take some time to read my email update from May 2004 and my first visit to Zanzibar…..