Zanzibar Day One

Sahid - one of the friendly reception staff at Mtoni Marine. We  were not booked there but the night we arrived at our intended establishment there were no rooms! We were about to be rehoused who knows where - a bit scary on a dark night - when like an angel the manager appeared and to make amends she sorted us out next door at what she declared to be be " a fine five star establishment" and it was rather nice!

After the rugby what shall we do to feel good again? A tour to Stonetown! Central Market  with our guide Moosha

Oranges but no apples ...papaya, 26 varieties of  bananas, pineapples, watermelon to name just a few of the fruit for sale

Being suitably briefed on the market by Moosha

We felt rather under dressed and under coloured amongst our fellow shoppers!

A surreptitious but good photo of the fish auction. Having bid and won, the happy merchant then finds a little stall to sell his auctioned catch

Voila!

A view of the fish market with porticoes

Like girls everywhere these ladies are off into a cosmetic shop because "we're worth it"!

Something about markets the world over - narrow alleyways and streets.

In the glow of the market until  Gay dsicovered that she had been diddled by the spice merchant so off she marched to demand some money back - standing her ground and making a noise till reluctantly they gave her some back! Then the inevitable little lecture from the husband about "impulsive buying"!

Bananas and sweet potatoes in much abundance

A crab man

If you want a new bed, Zanzibar might be just the place to come though you might want to buy the mattress somewhere else! (Only joking!)

Local taxi

A mission school as evidence of the once Christian presence on the island. Christianity spread from here to the mainland. David Livingstone is much revered in Zanzibar for the part he played in the eradication of slavery.

A visit to St Monica's built on the site of the old slave market. Now a hostel. We could have stayed there.

A holding underground chamber for slaves waiting to go to market. They were flogged under a tree before the market. The ones who cried out were deemed weak and worth a lot less. Much else were we told of the horrors of slavery.

A memorial to the slaves showing the original chains