I have found myself saying the word “fantastic” a lot lately. Well, at least when it comes to the question of “How was your R&R in Zanzibar?” Fantastic, simply fantastic.Zanzibar is an archipelago of small islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania. The islands are marked by breathtakingly beautiful beaches, acres of spices, and the unique fusion of Arab, Indian and Portuguese architecture.
One of my closest friends from graduate school in New Orleans, Leigh Ann, is living in Zanzibar for six months, and I had the pleasure of staying with her. Leigh Ann is doing research for her dissertation in order to gain a doctorate in public health. Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a Zanzibar-based organization, she is conducting several surveys to determine the HIV prevalence rate among high-risk groups. This is no easy task on an island that is 99% Muslim, and in an area where the government criminalized gay and lesbian sex in 2004.
Leigh Ann’s apartment within the World Heritage Site of Stone Town provided an amazing observation point. Stone Town is a fascinating maze of streets that are no more than 20 feet wide. Think of a compressed version of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The dwelling units are all townhouses ranging from three to five stories. Leigh Ann’s third-floor apartment sits atop a two-story apartment in which her landlords live. And atop her apartment is a screened-in porch of sorts that is half of the size of her apartment. It provided stunning views of the Indian Ocean, the rooftops and balconies of neighboring apartments and townhouses, and the active streets below.
Zanzibar is a delight for the eyes, and, as I learned from my balcony perch, an auditory adventure. The call to prayer, issued five times daily from the numerous loudspeaker-equipped minarets of Stone Town’s mosques, echoes off the concrete walls and corrugated tin roofs -- exotic, mysterious and melodic, save for when it’s issued at 5 a.m. from a building only 20 feet away. Other sounds: the delicate tinkling of bicycle bells pushing pedestrians aside; motorcycles growling through the labyrinth of ancient streets, honking at the rounding of each bend; the fast-paced clacking of coins signaling the nut vendor’s rounds; men chatting of the day’s events and conducting business in Kiswahili; children running and shrieking with joyous abandon in the safe, darkened nighttime streets; and the shuffle of flip flops and the click of heels on concrete streets.
Yet the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words still holds true. For my version of 1,000 words in picture form, check out my photographs at http://www.flickr.com/photos/girl4peace
I am new to Flickr and didn’t realize that once your photos are loaded you can’t rearrange their order. The Zanzibar photos begin on page 3 with the “Ferry works” photo.
