Zanzibar - day 1

Our cruise ship arrived in Zanzibar about 7 am and we disembarked about 8 am. It was only a short cruise down from Pemba, where we spent the previous day.

Lots of fishing boats returning to the harbour with their catch as we came in to our berth 

It was a fairly short, if not very hot, walk to the Shaba Boutique Hotel in Stone Town. Stone Town is the historic part of Zanzibar Island - called the simply because all the houses were made of stone.

We dropped our bags and headed out for an excellent 3 hr walking tour with Ali. First stop was the huge Darajani market.

The fish area

Veggies 

Meat

Fish catch coming in. The vendors have to bid at auction for the fish as it comes in then they take it to their stalls

Spices 

Dried fish and octopus area

Then we strolled the narrow maze of streets. A typical older style multi story house

General street scene

Typical old carved doors, inyroduced from India

One of the many manhole covers with a local theme

Grand old building

Street vendors 

Site of the old slave market. Now a tourist attraction but all the buildings are after the closure of the market which was just in an open area under the trees 

A quick visit to a reknowned Swahili restaurant with an explanation of the different dishes

Mango and passion fruit juices

School girls

Craft shop

Jaws corner - a locals hangout

Souvenir shop

Basket shop

Another street scene

Freddie Mercury museum in the house lived in

Lunch at Out of Afrika restaurant 

Swahili set lunch with octopus. Excellent flavours

Local lady with a well slung child

After lunch it was back to our hotel for a well earned rest before heading out again in the evening for a guided street food tour.

First stop porridge with chapati

The kitchen - ladies a bit shy

Samosas at the guides home (no photos unfortunately), but we were in a big internal courtyard which is typical for the traditional houses

Then local coffee at Jaws corner with the locals playing dominoes 

Then hot fresh bread from a 150 year old bakery

Next a local concoction called urojo - generally described as a spicy bowl with a bit of everything

A very noisy Indian wedding procession passing by

Beef satay sticks

And finally banana and Nutella crepes with a glass of sugarcane juice down at the big seafront night market. 

Home with full bellies.