Trip 2: A little bit of spice

20 September 2011

Today we are heading to a spice farm. Zanzibar isn't called the Spice Island for nothing! After scoring saffron at such a great price, I cannot wait to see what else we can get our fingers on.

We met our cabbie, Rashid, at 9am to head on our tour of the island. We stopped by a building to get our tourist permit. Africans love their permits. You have to have a stinking permit for everything.

We stopped in front of the Livingstone house. It is the current Zanzibar Tourism Cooperative. The house was built in 1860 for Sultan Majid. Livingstone lived in this house before he headed inland for his last exploration. The house has also been used by missionaries and other explorers. Every time we passed the house, we were told it was Livingstone's house. People are very proud of the fact that Livingstone spent time on Unguja (Zanzibar actually consists of several islands - Unguja is the island where Stone Town and the vast majority of the population is).

So, we head north. About 10-15 minutes outside of town we head inland. Most of the spice farms are near a town called Koani. The drive out was uneventful and really pretty. There were tons of coconut tree farms, cows, soccer fields, and kids running around.

We pull up to the Spice farm. The main building looked like it was about to fall over. We met our guide and his assistant. These guys have a whole routine worked out. Right away we were introduced to lemon grass. He broke off a leaf and crushed it between his finger tips. It smelled so delicious. I can't wait to make some lemon grass chicken. Yummy.

Next we passed more jackfruit and a star anise tree. The star anise was so bitter I was surprised. The tour guide's assistant cut off a few pieces of the star anise and put it on our faces. Additionally, they told us all about the medicinal uses of the various spices. Apparently, if you drink a tea of any of the spices, it will cure you of pretty much anything. Guess I didn't need to go to nursing school. My job's obsolete if you drink all of the teas to fix your ailments.  I'm not knocking herbal remedies. I think they can offer great supplements (and occasionally work better). But, I seriously think diet and exercise are more effective then drinking a tea to control diabetes. Just sayin'.

A little star anise accessories

Liam has a star as well.

We also got to see cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, lipstick, coffee, vanilla, pepper vine, and a few other things. Along the way, the assistant would do fun things like show us how to use lipstick.

Applying a little lipstick.

Lipstick is also used for face paint.

At the end of the tour, we watched a guy climb a coconut tree to get a coconut. His upper body strength was ridiculous. There's no way I could shimmy my way up a coconut like he did.

During the tour, I was made two necklaces, a ring, a hat, a purse, a container to hold our spices and Liam was made a tie, a hat, a ring. All out of palms and other products on the spice farm. It was pretty impressive to say the least. To end the tour, we tasted a bunch of fruits that they grow on the farm. My favorite - jackfruit. The yellowish meat in the center is delicious.

After the spice tour, we headed back into Stone Town and stopped to look at a few dhow boats being built. I found out they are built out of mangrove wood. They also make furniture out of old dhow boats. We have been looking at having a dining room table built - but we will see. The furniture is so sturdy but heavy, I'm worried about the added wait to our household goods and schlepping it around the world.

Look towards the bow of a dhow boat during construction.

The side of a new boat right after being sealed.

Next, we went to visit the Slave Market. Zanzibar was a huge storage location during the slave trade for slaves being shipped all over Arabia and across the Indian ocean to China and India. People were snatched from their homes across mainland Africa (Think Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, etc) and treated like animals as they were lead by chains. They were squished into overcrowded places and treated horribly. When the slave trade in Zanzibar was ended in 1873, the Cathedral Church of Christ was built by Anglican missionaries.

The slave quarters where they kept 75 women and their children (for a total of probably close to 200 people). They had to use the bathroom here and the tide would wash in and clean it. Otherwise, they had to live in their own filth.

Across the hall the men had their space. The small window was the actual size of the windows. The other window has been enlarged to allow more light into the small room.

Monument built at the base of the church to honor those who were part of the trade. The chain on the statues was actual chain used during the slave trade.

Went back to our hotel and grabbed some lunch, then headed to another hotel to meet with Liam's boss. It was a pretty nice hotel. http://www.theresidence.com/zanzibar/  I really liked the way the pool looks like it would flow into the Indian Ocean. We might have to check it out on our next stay in Zanzibar. We'll see.

Along the way to meet with Liam's boss, we stopped along the road to view a few Red Colobus monkeys playing in the trees. They were minding their own business and trying to flee from the car.

Back at the hotel, we decided to go have dinner at the Silk Route. Ran into some fellow embassy peeps who were also staying at our hotel for a Swahili immersion course. Dinner was pretty tasty but we were ready for bed. It had been a pretty long day for us, especially now that we have adapted to a life of leisure.