Stone Town, Zanzibar Island
Day 32: 29 August 2002 8:30 pm
Tom and Penny join Mr Mitu’s spice tour and are given a Zanzibar history lesson.
Mr Mitu’s nephew (so he says) was our guide for the spice tour (Tsh 9500),
whisking us away to Maruhubi Palace, built by Sultan Barghash to house a
harem of 99 women plus his wife. Lucky man. The story was the stuff of
teenage boy’s dreams and would have been the basis of a good porno flick.
There were three plunge pools, where the women would be instructed to frolic
in the nude, followed by attending to he Sultan’s needs in his private bath.
The palace ruins are surrounded by mango trees brought from India over 100
years ago.
North of Stone Town, we were shown a huge assortment of fruit and plants
that produced spices or had medicinal properties. Nutmeg, vanilla, cloves,
cinnamon, cardoman, pepper, lemon grass, jack fruit, sour sop, papaya,
coffee and cocoa were presented to us with explanations of how they are
farmed and utilised. We were served a delicious lunch of spiced rice,
coconut vegetable sauce with fish, chapaties and cassava.
The only fly in the ointment was the weather. At one point, our guide told
us that the rain was coming and moments later, we could hear the rain’s
approach like stampeding horses. Quickly, golf umbrellas were produced from
the minibus to protect us from the torrent.
After a brief stop at the Persian Baths built in 1850, we stopped at
Mangapwani Beach for an hour, interrupted by another bout of torrential rain
and we got absolutely soaked. We arrived back in Stone Town, cold and
soaked to the bone, but I would thoroughly recommend Mr Mitu’s tours. Our
guide was keen to stress that Zanzibar (original meaning ‘land of black’),
views itself as a separate country from Tanzania and only home affairs,
foreign affairs and political parties are shared with mainland Tanzania
(Tanganyika). This is why a passport is required if travelling from the
mainland to visit Zanzibar.
There were quite a few interesting people on our tour – a few American aid
workers and an eccentric German couple that had travelled independently
through Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.
The German guy wore a suede hat with matching waistcoat – I could almost
imagine him twiddling his moustache at both ends when he was chatting to me.
They took photos of all the plants and fruits, telling me stories of how
they had had problems with the police in Zambia, after being caught on a
minibus that was illegally smuggling some goods. Considering that they had
been through so many dramas, I was surprised when his wife made such a scene
at being soaked during the downpour on the beach. She screeched her head
off, demanding to be taken back to their hotel immediately and chastising
her husband for bringing a towel the size of an A3 sheet of paper (poor
man). I take it all back about Germans being ultra-efficient.
Positives: If you’re in Stone Town, check out Mr Mitu’s spice tour – you
won’t be disappointed.
Negatives: The weather – received an email from back home telling us it was
32�C. This is meant to be dry season.
