destination: zanzibar
Spice up your
HOLIDAY
Photos © Camerapix
Zanzibar! If the name conjures up a tantalising sense of mystery, of a hidden past, of spices of the orient, of a vibrant culture set in an island just off the coast of East Africa and edged with tropical, palm-fringed beaches – then you will not be disappointed, reports Asante.
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nown as the Spice Island because of its long-standing
Zanzibar, and its smaller neighbouring island of Pemba, become
clove industry, this low-lying stretch of land – crab-
independent again.
claw shaped 37 kilometres (23 miles) off the coast of
For many years, and particularly in the 18th and 19th century,
Tanzania – has always exerted a powerful fascination as well as
Zanzibar was a centre for the iniquitous slave trade, which, at its
influence on the mainland. There is an old saying: ‘When they
peak saw as many as 30,000 slaves a year passing through the
pipe in Zanzibar, people dance on the Lakes (a reference to
island. It has been estimated that in the 100 years, which ended
lakes Victoria and Tanganyika).
in 1886 more than one million men, women and children were
Zanzibar has a long and colourful past. Traders plying the Indian Ocean in their dhows first stopped there some 3,000 years ago, and evidence of early settlers is still being unearthed. Travellers, traders, raiders and colonisers from around the
sold in the Zanzibar slave market. Some relics of the slave trade remain today as a stark reminder of this harmful trade. Zanzibar today is thus the result of many influences and cultures, and this is reflected in its way of life and in the
world have been drawn to Zanzibar throughout the centuries.
charming Stone Town, whose narrow streets are best explored
Sumerians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Indians, Chinese,
on foot. Stone Town is the only functioning historical town in
Malays, Persians, Portuguese, Arabs, Dutch and the British
East Africa, much the same today as it was 200 years ago.
have all set foot on the island’s beautiful white beaches, each
The island is also at the centre of the clove trade (Zanzibar and
leaving behind a different legacy. The island united with mainland
Pemba providing 75 per cent of the world’s crop) and the air is
Tanganyika in 1964 to become part of the independent state of
often redolent with the aroma of spices.
18 | asante | nov – jan 2012