Whoever wrote that previous blog post about Africa lacking authenticity obviously hadn't been to Zanzibar yet.
Zanzibar was the romance and character that I was hoping to extract from Africa.
The place is authentic, unique - stuck somewhre in the 17th century, yet the faces of the people tell the story of present day Africa.
While the streets are saturated with an 'old-world' type charm , the delapidated infrastructure is very evident. Zanzibar is dependant on income from tourism and spice trade and the recent econimic slump has seen the Island take strain.
There is a palpable fusion of cultures and a background that is difficult to pin down. The Arab influence is noted and this is whispered in the architecture. I always associate those arabic arches with a great time in Islamic History without wondering about the cultural imperialism that comes along with conquests of great nations. But that's just the way of the world perhaps.
Zanzibar was the romance and character that I was hoping to extract from Africa.
The place is authentic, unique - stuck somewhre in the 17th century, yet the faces of the people tell the story of present day Africa.
While the streets are saturated with an 'old-world' type charm , the delapidated infrastructure is very evident. Zanzibar is dependant on income from tourism and spice trade and the recent econimic slump has seen the Island take strain.
There is a palpable fusion of cultures and a background that is difficult to pin down. The Arab influence is noted and this is whispered in the architecture. I always associate those arabic arches with a great time in Islamic History without wondering about the cultural imperialism that comes along with conquests of great nations. But that's just the way of the world perhaps.
2 comments:
Post pics! I was thinking about this too recently. In Portugal there's the old Arab quarter-what was once the symbol of power, the main street in which Arab leaders lived has now decayed & is the area for immigrants.
No nation wants another ruling over them, & thus we cannot admire the Arab conquests...or can we??
Yes, Islam was spread peacefully.. Was it just the way of the past that the winner of conquests ruled...?
I read an article about Cairo recently-lamenting the loss of the old stately Cairo, British Cairo...
I'm hoping to go soon InshaAllah. I've heard nothing but great things about the place :D
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