A Shopping Trip

A few days ago, we ventured to the capital of Zanzibar, historic Stone Town, for a day of shopping. Our one shop in the village with its massive choice of one brand of milk, one brand of butter, one brand of matches and a few dusty onions was starting to feel a bit limiting, plus I had forgotten to pack any shirts and Rose was in search of a wrap skirt to compliment her headscarf (i am preparing her for our move to Jeddah).

So off we went to the main road to catch a dalla dalla. Dalla dallas are half truck, half bus, 100% death trap forms of transportation common to most of Africa, offering cheap and exciting travel to many destinations. The one rule with the dalla dalla is that it is NEVER full. All the seats occupied? Are you sure? All laps occupied? There's room on the floor! Floor full? You can hang out the back. No more room? What about the roof?! The really great thing about dalla dallas are that they're a brilliant window into African patience and community spirit. Everyone helps out, squeezing up a little, holding young ones and shopping, passing payment and change back and forth and every bump is greeted with laughter and smiles.

We arrived in Stone Town at about midday and set off to do our shopping. Stone Town is a wonderfully atmospheric place, seemingly unwilling to be jolted out of hundreds of years of slumber. The centre is a winding and maze like medina, with high shady walls and overhanging roofs to catch the rain. Ornate doors from the 17th century still sit in most entrances and depsite the abundance of mopeds and mobile phones, it's not hard to imagine this bustling arab port two centuries ago, launching galleons heavy with spices and slaves bound for the Middle East and Europe. To this day, traditional dhows and canoes sit side by side with massive ferries and japanese trawlers on the waterfront.

Stone Town is an easy place to get lost and get lost we did, wandering through the narrow streets, buying bunches of strange fruit from little stalls and stopping for a glass of sugar cane juice, pressed before our eyes. Eventually, we wound up in Darijani Market, the bustling commerce hub of the town. The fruit and vegetable market belies how incredibly abundant this island is and we could hardly stop salivating over the coconuts and the spinach and the bunches of fresh lemongrass (note: dripping saliva over merchandise is unlikely to get you a good price). We headed into the covered market where I picked up a couple of shirts for $10 and Rose bought a kanga wrap for $3.

Happy with our purchases, we started home, this time managing to get a seat on a numbered bus, where everyone gets their own seat - what opulence...