A cloud changed the color of the sea and made another oil painting of the sea.

Zanzibar, which means "Black Coast" in Arabic, was once the economic and trade center of Zanzibar Empire and is now a part of the United Republic of Tanzania in East Africa.

From 65438 to 0999, when I went to East Africa, I longed for Zanzibar Island, but I couldn't make it because of the high cost. After this trip to East Africa and climbing Kilimanjaro, I finally got my wish.

Stone city

As soon as the bus stopped, Shicheng, the old town of Zanzibar, set off from the seaside. Looking up, it is a typical "Medina" (especially the Arab gathering area in North Africa), with black and white walls, narrow lanes and stone buildings.

The white walls are almost glued together, and men in Muslim robes and women in blue headscarves pass through them. White stone buildings and sea breeze are evenly painted on wooden windows and balconies.

There was a woman leaning against the railing, without a mask or a headscarf. When I raised my camera, she turned around at once.

The women here, no matter how young, always keep a high degree of vigilance against tourists' cameras.

Zanzibar currently has a population of about 654.38+300,000. It has been the trading center of the Indian Ocean since the early years of the AD, and it has already had trade with China since the Southern Song Dynasty.

The local people are not only from the African continent, but also Persians and Arabs.

Islanders are generally darker in skin color, but their appearance is different-the woman who runs the shop has a thin face, a hooked nose and a sari; Moses, the tour guide, has a wide nose and thick lips. His ancestors obviously came from the African continent: the hotel waiter is probably descended from Arabs.

The dirty alley presents a certain aesthetic feeling because of nostalgia, and the scenery is suddenly enlightened with seven bends and eight bends. Originally, a row of works by local painters were placed against the wall, which made the highlights of East Africa more bright and childlike.

Walking, the alley gradually widened. Tharia threshing floor has a building, an ancient street, ebony walls and yellow curtains hanging on the balcony. The Emerson Spice Hotel is here.

The hotel was originally named "Spice" and changed its name after it was acquired by Emerson Company of the United States in 2006.

There are carved grass, silver cranes and flower windows on the first, second and third floors. Turandot's boudoir, Aida's boudoir ... Hotel rooms all seem to be named after Arabian princesses.

Walk through the lobby and enter a small courtyard.

Swimming pool, swing, antique table.

The hotel claims that the building consists of three old buildings with world cultural heritage, and the whole building has Swahili, Arabic and Hindi styles.

Although the style is difficult to define, the hotel has collected a large number of old furniture and arranged it in an quaint way.

This antique hotel used to be the palace of Diwang and the industry of Indian perfumers.

After history entered 1870, it became the prime minister's office of the Sudanese government.

Open the window, and now there are pieces of iron shed houses, either rusty or dilapidated, with several bright colors, either mosques or hotels.

A certain piece of sea blue emerged from the shack and became more and more beautiful against the ruins.

Dingxiangdao

Lilac is a specialty of Zanzibar. Indians like to add cloves to their cooking. Although small in size, it has good performance.

Three or two can dominate the fragrance of a pot of white rice.

As the world's largest export port of clove and clove oil, Zanzibar has 4.5 million clove trees, accounting for more than 70% of the world's supply.

In that case, of course we should go to the spice farm.

After leaving the city, the road was lush. The whole island is covered with large coconut groves and farmland, and the air is green and transparent.

The car stopped under a big tree and we walked into the Woods.

This clove plantation not only grows spices, but also plants fragrant leaves such as eucalyptus and fruit trees such as carambola, mango, citrus, coconut and jackfruit.

Moses, the tour guide, pointed to the spice crops as he walked.

The so-called spices are pepper, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and so on, which are commonly used in western cooking.

They may be the seeds of leaves, roots, bark, flowers or grass, shrubs or trees.

Among these spices, ginger and pepper are commonly used in China.

Zanzibar is rich in cloves, but the hometown of cloves is not here.

It is said that it originated in Indonesia and was introduced and widely planted during the period of Sultan Said.

Walking under a lilac tree, the tour guide picked the buds and the petals opened slightly. Although the bud is not big, it is fuller and thicker than the lilacs planted in our own yard.

The spice is made from dried flower buds. Clove with the highest grade can be extracted from it or directly dried. Clove is an indispensable raw material for making cigarettes, and the local clove export is completely controlled by the government.

Moses picked an egg-sized yellow and white fruit and asked, "Do any of you know what this is?" Everyone argued about guava or passion fruit.

I saw him cut the fruit, and a few magical red and bright paints shone on the brown stone, like butter painted by a baker.

He said, "This is the mace of nutmeg. Nutmeg seeds and maces can be made into spices. "

That thing which is rare is dear. At first, the nutmeg trade was controlled by Arab merchants, who sold it to Venetians at high prices.

Nutmeg has always been one of the most expensive spices exported to Europe. In order to control the trade of meat, beans and onions, Britain and the Netherlands fought a long war at sea, and the so-called spice island war broke out.

Besides cloves, Zanzibar also exported slaves in the19th century.

In the evolution of civilization, slavery was once a common phenomenon. However, the large-scale slave trade in Africa began in modern times. Slave traders were mostly Arabs. They drove caravans to the African continent to hunt ivory and Africans. The captured Africans were tied to chains and transported heavy ivory.

After arriving in Zanzibar, the slaves stayed in the dungeon for a day or two and were rushed to the market for auction like cattle. They were bought by Europeans and transported to plantations for hard work.

Zanzibar abolished the slave market in 1873.

In the same year, the Anglican Christian Church was built and opened.

This church, which is a mixture of Gothic and Arabic styles, was built outside the site of the slave auction market, and a slave monument was set up to preserve the dungeon where slaves were held and record that cruel time. ......

The blue sea.

When we arrived at the seaside, coconut trees were projected on the beach and the sea water had begun to rise.

In 2004, when I first saw the Indian Ocean, it was a tsunami disaster. At this time, the Indian Ocean appears charming blue.

Simple black wooden boats float on the quiet light blue, dolphins roll and slide in the dark blue, seafood flashes around happily, emitting invisible toxins, colorful fish schools wander among corals like floating flowers, and they are all huge in the diving mirror.

A cloud changed the color of the sea and made another oil painting of the sea.

On the white beach, two fishermen are knocking on wooden boats, while the dry people sit and watch and talk.

I went over, took a hammer and pliers, and learned to insert the pliers into the cracks of the ship.

Everyone laughed: "Are you repairing the boat?" Oh, I was supposed to put a pinch of twine first. The twine is soaked in oil and put on the hull. Then, pick up the pliers, knock in the hemp thread and squeeze it hard.

The girl chased barefoot on the beach, the blue skirt fluttered in the wind, and the sea breeze put her true colors in her pocket.

The sea is closed! Two fishermen came dragging the fish, and the fish was struggling with its mouth wide open.

Four strong men came dragging a bigger fish. It was a shark, and it was still brave when it died. A little boy followed, chasing the big fish head.

He took two steps back and then went to see the fish's tail.

Well, he is taking measurements. The fisherman dragging the fish was filled with joy, and the boy behind him was surprised. Like Hemingway's female tourists, I look at the sea and fish very shallowly.

That night, by candlelight, the table was filled with seafood mango salad, crab salad, squid, shrimp, lobster and all kinds of assorted barbecues.

There is nothing special about cooking and seasoning, but the ingredients are all caught on the same day, and the taste is too rare to describe.

Beautiful Indian Ocean, rich gifts.