Stone Town Zanzibar Dec 15th

The fast ferry was interesting and we were happy that we chose to arrive by sea as coming into the old Stone Town Harbor was so reminiscent of the old Muttrah Cornish area.  The ferry tickets showed up at 8:30 am but instead of being for the 10:30am ferry they were for the 9:30am ferry so we had to hustle our selves by 5 minute taxi ride down to the quay.  We had sprung for the $40 first class tickets versus the $35 economy tickets.  The ferry was full and this time a good mixture of local mainland Tanzanians, Zanzabaris, Omanis and westerners.  After the ferry ride that was almost an hour late leaving we landed in Stone Town and had to queue to get a Zanzibar stamp in our passports as well as fill in an arrival form.  Zanzibar has it's own President as does the mainland.  No visa fees were charged this time though.

We had a guide walk us to the hotel as we were annoyed by being besieged by taxi drivers wanting to take us to the hotel which was an 8 minute walk.  We are traveling light - not as light as on the Camino but still just small roller bags.  We have booked at the Dhow Palace hotel which is a lovely old restored Omani home in the historical area just across the street from the Old British Club.  We had an outstanding lunch at Archipelago Zanzibar which is on the first floor of an old building right on the beach.  Lots of fishing action to watch while we ate.  We then made arrangements for a walking tour of Stone Town which was very interesting and we will try and post some pictures of the wonderful carved Zanzibar wood doors.  Our friend Dr. Richard Hann was raised here in Stone Town so we are excited to try and find the houses he lived in as a child.

Some of the men here wear the Omani disdasha and also the kummah.  However the kummah is called a khaifer here and has an extra band around it so that is sits taller on the head than the Omani style.  The ladies were the Kanga as their head covering like in the old days of Oman.  The Kanaga, in their many bright printed colors also have different "sayings" printed on them.  Our guide, Mohammed was very good at reading several to us once we had determined that they were not just the manufacturers label so to speak!
We saw the infamous slave market area, the various market places and wonderful old alleyways filled with beautifully carved doors.  Basket weaving here at just a quick look is very similar in style to what we see in Oman and Saudi. 

The weather is tropical - hot and humid.  We had a short swim after we arrived at the hotel in their lovely small courtyard pool.