More on Tanzania: Back to Stone Town
Posted By Sika on July 23, 2008
We eventually returned to Stone Town for more shopping, although between running out of space in my pack (those spices take up a lot of room) and just being on general shopping overload, I only managed to buy, oh, about a gazillion more things. But I did it quickly, and then went back to Mercury’s Bar to see if we could track down the old house of Freddie Mercury. We’ll ignore that he moved back to India for school when he has 7 and never visited Tanzania again. We’ll also ignore that nobody knows where he lived and that there were two possibilities where we were pointed to. Also in the ignore pile: some people are absolutely adamant that he didn’t live in the part of Stone Town where we were looking at all. Ever. And really, it’s beneath mention that I wasn’t really sure where the guy was pointing when he told us where the house was. As such, this is the absolute, definite, incontrovertibly proven door to the house where Freddie Mercury lived when he was still Farrokh Bulsara.
At the shore, I saw some of the buildings with the mud and paint chipping away. I was surprised (again, as I had been surprised every time) by what I saw. The buildings in Malawi, when completed and well maintained, look very much like the buildings in Zanzibar. But red clay brick is usually under the mud and paint in Malawi. In Zanzibar it’s usually coral. I wonder if it makes you different to live in buildings where the invisible bits that make them up are so different. I wonder if the coral seeps into your unconscious.
We also visited the central market. I was really glad I could finally get pictures of an African market. I haven’t brought my camera to the main Zomba market or to the little market near my house (although there’s not really anything worth photographing at the small market) because of the irreparable damage it would cause to my bargaining skills. It’s really hard to convince people that you’re a local in spite of the color of your skin when you walk around acting like a tourist. So I don’t. But in Tanzania I was a tourist and an outsider and so it was no problem to act like one.
Far too soon it was time to fly back to the mainland and Dar Es Salaam. I was very sad to leave Zanzibar: I could have spent a lot more time there, just learning about the area and looking around and lusting after the Tanzanite and eating yummy food. The 24 hour bus trip was looking less and less appetizing. But I was pretty excited about the flight over.
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