Zanzibar, Spice Island
Zanzibar
In Zanzibar, curved triangles glide across the horizon every evening, the silhouettes of sails rather than sharks, as fishermen return home for the day. Women stride into the water, wrapped in patterned kangas, to load the catch into buckets they carry on their heads.
The world calls Zanzibar the Spice Islands, thanks to the cinnamon, coriander and vanilla plantations that flourish here, plus the intersection of trade routes from the gardens and kitchens of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Our dreary dinner, therefore, was something of a mystery.
I reread the choices: Moroccan chicken, Neapolitan pasta and chicken curry. By now, I knew that each dish was the same – some unidentifiable meat in a sickly tomato sauce, created by the chef who doubled as the barman and trebled as the receptionist.
I was still gazing at the handwritten menu propped up in the sand when the dhow boats returned and the fishing procession began. Gleaming octopus with tentacles dangling, buckets of silver, slippery fish and nets bursting with full-bodied, amber fish…
The chef walked past.
“Would it be alright,” I asked carefully,” if we bought some fish for dinner…or octopus… Anything, really.”
“You like seafood?” He looked confused.
I felt confused. “Er, yes.”
His shoulders dropped and he beamed. “Thank goodness!”
That night, we ate some of the freshest and finest seafood I’d ever tasted.
We also laid the ghosts of two myths to rest: that the food here was awful and that foreigners only eat meat.
Zanzibar Skyline
This is such a beautiful piece. I’ve never been to Zanzibar but the scene was so clearly, I could almost touch it, and taste it.
Thanks Neha – what a lovely comment!
Lovely snippet of Zanzibar. I could see the whole scene as you described, although those photos are gorgeous.
Suzy, please drop by again! I love comments like that :)
Fantastic post, thanks for a really enjoyable read. I love the photos too. Zanzibar is really high on my wish list and I think you just moved it up a few places!
Above all other spices, Zanzibar is famous for cloves.
Interesting – I don’t think I tasted cloves at all!
What a lovely main picture. Makes me wanna go there. NOW!
Me too!
When I do my African adventure in 2012, Zanzibar is going to be where the journey ends, before I return to London…
A perfect choice in my opinion! Hope you have an amazing journey…
Good for you!
The freshest juiciest pineapple my daughter and I have ever eaten was on our trip to Zanzibar – it was at least ten years’ ago, but we still rate all other pineapples by that one!
It was cut freshly for us – to our amazement, because until then I ashamedly hadn’t appreciated how they grew, and with unease as it was during Ramadan.
However the pineapple farmer insisted, demanded that we ate his pineapple, and took great joy in our appreciation!
I used to eat fresh pineapple every day in Moshi on mainland Tanzania. Like you, I haven’t found anything that’s come close since!
I’m going to Zanzibar in three months – I can’t wait! I love seafood, so really looking forward to getting stuck into whatever they have to offer :)
Oh, they will have so much! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
How evocative your first paragraph is! I can relate to the food totally. Once out of Stonetown we also struggled to get good food on Zanzibar and it often involved a hungry 2 hour wait.
Yet seafood that fresh was totally worth it!