Zanzibar

Zanzibar, a colony of Oman (1840), an independent nation (1963), and now a state of Tanzania (since 1961). Zanzibar is a richly diverse island with a collection of cultures and languages, and we delighted in our visit to its Swahili speaking capital city, Stone Town. Once ruled by sultans and slave traders, Zanzibar retains its aura of mystery and exotic beauty, i.e., no high rises or communication towers. We walked its hot (90 degree) streets and saw beautiful doors and teeming markets. (Yes, those are flies on the chickens.) There may be rubble on the streets but there is NO garbage.

The Anglican Church is huge. It was built in 1874 to mark the end of slavery, and the altar stands over the whipping post where slaves were tied. 60,000 slaves a year passed through this place, once the hub for the slave trade in all of East Africa. The stained glass windows include Simon of Cyrene, Augustine, and the Ethiopian Eunuch (a first for us)! The buildings of the cathedral close include a school, a wing over former slave quarters, a moving sculpture of slaves in a pit, and a cross made from wood of the tree planted where David Livingstone’s heart is buried. Mothers Union members hover over it all.