Zanzibar, Tanzania (Day 2) — 2024
April 9 was our second day in Zanzibar. The weather was still mostly cloudy but mostly dry at least, so we decided to tender into town again and walk around on our own with Bill & Robert. There were a couple of places we wanted to visit that we had missed on our previous visit, but really walking around this city is a treat in itself. So after breakfast, off we went.
The first place we wanted to visit was easy to find because it is right across the street from the tender dock. The Old Dispensary was begun in 1887 and completed (by a different owner) in 1894. It was originally to be a charity hospital but in the end became a medical dispensary with apartments on the upper floors. It fell into disuse after the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964 but was renovated in the 1990’s. We had seen the building on our previous visit of course; it is a very distinctive green and white building that is the first thing you see when exiting the dock. But we couldn’t enter it before because it was undergoing restoration. Not only is the building now beautifully restored, but it is a working medical facility again.
Inside the first floor is a covered atrium reaching all the way to the top floor, with balcony openings on the upper floors. A glass enclosed elevator reaches from the first to the top floor. There are historical photos on display on the walls and in display cases along with plants and seating. Very nice.
We walked up to the second and third floors. Looking across the atrium on the upper floors the opposite wall looked like the outside of another building.
We stepped out onto the roof. In one direction were views of the harbor and in the other were panoramic views of neighboring housetops.
We left through the green pillared front entrance and walked past some colorful flowers. Up the street we passed one of the iconic carved doors for which Zanzibar is famous and came to the old Sultan’s Palace, a museum since the revolution. An interesting looking floating restaurant was under construction not far from the sea wall; maybe next time we will be able to eat there.
We walked through a tunnel under a building that seems to be a museum (the same one we walked through yesterday) and came to the Old Fort. It is the oldest building in town, built by the Omanis in 1699 after expelling the Portuguese. We had been there before but since we were there we decided to walk inside. The fort has a large open field inside the crenelated walls with guard towers on each corner. And in another section is a stone amphitheater used for performances. A group of young men was on stage practicing (we think) while we were there.
At last we walked to our second objective for the day, the Persian (or Turkish) Baths, which date back to the second half of the 19th century. We had been unable to find them on our previous visit but armed with better directions (and better luck) we did find it this time. On the way we saw a minaret extending above the rooftops and a construction project propped up by what looked like rather uncertain wood posts. We hooked up with a guide outside who helped us find the baths and showed us through them. Inside was an octagonal fountain (not operating) for foot washing and several cubicles arranged around it that appear to be bathing facilities. It was spacious with a muted and relaxing atmosphere.
There is a very steep stairway, behind a door that had to be unlocked, to climb to the roof of the baths. Mary took a pass because of her still recent knee replacement, but Rick, Robert and Bill followed the guide up to the roof, which had another fine view of neighboring rooftops. We walked along by the tops of the domed ceilings in the rooms below.
By now we were getting hungry so we looked for a likely restaurant. Not finding one, we headed back to the dock where we had been told there was a nice restaurant usually open for lunch. But it was still Ramadan and the restaurant was closed. On the way there we passed a cat on its throne, a facade on a side street apparently being propped up by large wooden poles and other street scenes.
From the ship was quite a panoramic view of the Zanzibar waterfront and we also saw some of the dhows, traditional sailboats long used for commerce in this area of the world. In our room we had a towel piggy at night.
Finally, if you have been following along we think you would agree that the Indian Ocean has been particularly generous during this trip with beautiful sunsets, something we always enjoy. So as we leave the Indian Ocean and head for the shores of Africa we will end this episode with one last fiery Indian Ocean sunset.
Zanzibar, Tanzania (Day 1) — 2024
We anchored off shore in Zanzibar early in the morning of April 8. Zanzibar is a fascinating place to visit, but today was gray and rainy or drizzly. That wasn’t so when we visited here for two days in 2022. Then we took a tour to see the Red Colobus Monkeys in Jozani National Forest on the first day and explored Stone Town on the second day:
https://baderjournal.com/2023/03/08/zanzibar-tanzania-day-1-2022/
https://baderjournal.com/2023/03/13/zanzibar-tanzania-day-2-2022/
But before we begin today’s visit, we had another great sunset the night before our arrival.
Hoping for the rain to stop we waited until after breakfast to tender ashore. The rain diminished some but didn’t stop so we went ahead to the tender. The tender was almost empty, thanks to other passengers sensibly avoiding the rain. We came ashore at the tender dock, not far from a beach with boats pulled up from the water.
On a rainy day like this we didn’t want to spend too much time wandering around town; after all we could still hope for better conditions tomorrow. One place we did want to visit, though, was Memories Of Zanzibar, a large store across the street from the Freddy Mercury museum where we had good luck on our previous visit finding some gifts and mementoes. It wasn’t too long a walk and the streets were not at all crowded. We passed some people offering private tours, but we weren’t interested in that today. We sympathized though, because on a day like this they probably don’t get much, if any business. Among other things, we walked by the Shangani Post Office. Built in 1906 it served as Zanzibar’s main post office until 1964; not sure what it houses today, perhaps still a neighborhood post office. A HAL tour group was gathered outside.
Memories Of Zanzibar is packed with jewelry, clothing, books, and African arts and crafts, in all price ranges. We picked up a few things that didn’t break the budget (and were small enough to take home in our ship cabin). Even if you don’t buy anything, this is a fun place to visit.
We headed back to the tender dock, passing the lovely Forodhani Gardens along the water front, with a row of old cannon facing any threat that might come by sea. At night this park is often occupied by food vendors. Walking up the boardwalk to the tender dock we boarded a tender and returned to the ship.
But wait, that’s not all! We had booked a HAL excursion for some sightseeing and dinner near the water. This was very expensive for a four hour excursion; you may recall in a previous episode I mentioned that most of the excursions were about twice what they cost on the 2022 Grand Africa and this one was no exception at a cost of more than $400. We never would have done it except we had a free excursion coming because we were in a veranda stateroom. We had chosen one in the Mediterranean, but when that part of the trip was cancelled they posted a new list of excursions for the free tour amenity and we picked this one. So along with Bill & Robert we tendered ashore again around 4:00 and boarded the inevitable bus at the port. Our first stop was the ruins of the Mtoni Palace, built in 1828. It was the residence of the Sultan’s wives and many children and was quite elaborate and beautiful, according to contemporary accounts. Today it is roofless, but still has rooms, staircases and arches, to explore. We didn’t get to see any of this, however. For some reason those leading the tour decided it was unsafe and wouldn’t allow anyone to leave the bus. So we just pulled up near one wall, looked at it for a few minutes, then turned around and drove off. Quite disappointing, especially after a substantial bus ride out of town to get here.
We returned to town, driving past a large apartment building with laundry drying on the balconies, then stopped for a visit at the Darjani Market, the city’s central market. Built in 1904, this is mainly a food market but also includes vendors of cloth, clothing, souvenirs and even electronics. We walked through the market, seeing many varieties of fresh seafood and colorful produce.
We drove next to the Peace Museum, which opened on Armistice Day in 1925 as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the war. It was closed when we were there, so we were only able to view it from the outside. We have mentioned that it was a drizzly day and a number of the many motorcycles on the street with us were outfitted with improvised cloth roofs.
We were originally supposed to have dinner under the stars at the Serena hotel, but for reasons that were not disclosed to us this was moved to an inside room at the Park Hyatt (perhaps because of the possibility of more rain). It was a nice upscale hotel with African decor where we had a good buffet dinner.
A local band played African music during part of the meal. There was a singer for a few songs, but we didn’t get a usable picture of her.
But the best thing here was the view from the hotel’s waterfront veranda. We saw a working beach nearby and the Zuiderdam out in the blue water. And at its height the sunset looked like something from a science fiction movie.
Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles (overnight) — 2024
On the morning of April 4 we docked in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, which is located on the island of Mahe. With a population in excess of 25,000 it is not, as sometimes claimed, the smallest national capital in the world (that would be in Palau). We had two sea days on the way to the Seychelles, though, and on both evenings we had sunsets worth looking at.
We have visited the Seychelles once before, in 2018, and at that time participated in a private excursion throughout this beautiful island: https://baderjournal.com/2018/08/08/victoria-mahe-seychelles-islands/. So this time we decided to just walk into town, only about an hour’s walk but rather taxing in the high heat and humidity.
We set out after breakfast, walking down the dock toward the bay, then through the covered walk that we think has been built since our last visit. The covered walk not only provides welcome protection from the sun but is lined with engaging wall paintings.
Victoria has a number of prominent wind turbines that can be seen from the port, although not all of them seemed to be working. Near the walkway were some colorful flowers as well, something that can be seen all over town.
At the end of the walkway was an information table where we were given a nice map of the city, and some people with a metal detector checking ID’s (and ship cards, we think, on the way back to the port). We emerged from the walkway into a large parking lot where several taxi drivers were offering tours but we wanted to walk through the city on our own. They accepted our “No thank you” politely and didn’t pursue us further (this is not always the case elsewhere).
We walked on toward town, seeing the Liberation Monument, erected in 1978 and moved in 2014 to the front of the ruling party’s headquarters. Known as “Zonm Lib” (Free Man), it does not commemorate the demise of slavery, as we thought looking at it, but a coup in 1977 that removed the Seychelles’ first president, causing three deaths. Apparently it is still pretty controversial. We also visited the National Library nearby. Its roots date back to a grant from the Carnegie foundation in 1910 and it became the National Library in 1978. It moved into this new building in 1979. The building was closed for several years because of a fungus infestation and apparently reopened less than 6 months before our visit. The library is large and spacious with a nice children’s room and a lot of room for its collection to grow, judging from the many empty shelves we saw.
Just beyond the library in an area away from the street and bordered by a rock walled canal we came upon the Carrefour des Arts, a gallery for Seychellois artists opened in 2005. This complex also included some art and craft stores. But the best thing was a walk outside the building displaying sculptures reflecting local traditions made of found materials (such as wire, wood, metal, plastic bags, etc). It was small but quite interesting and the canal was lined with nice flora.
As we continued toward the center of town we spotted down an alley the golden dome of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Mosque. It was built in 1982 by the family of the head of the United Arab Emirates, who also owns a mansion on the side of a mountain overlooking Victoria. We encountered the Jubilee Drinking Fountain sitting in front of the National History Museum. Created of porcelain by the Royal Daulton company of London, it was unveiled in 1900, three years after Queen Victoria’s actual Diamond Jubilee. It features a foot tall sculpture of Queen Victoria, which was moved for preservation purposes inside the museum in 1977. The fountain was restored and the statuette replaced with a replica donated by the British government in 1993. On the museum grounds we also came across sculptures of a crocodile and what looks like a manatee
In the middle of one of the central intersections in town sits the 25 foot tall Victoria Clock Tower. It was erected in 1903 in memory of Queen Victoria, after whom the city was named, who had died in 1901. Made of cast iron, the clock tower was painted silver in 1935. It is a model of Big Ben in London (actually it is a model of a model of Big Ben that sits near Victoria Station in London) and was originally supposed to chime. But the chime never worked until in 1999 its mechanism was replaced with a modern electronic one . . . by the same company that had manufactured the clock tower itself almost a century before.
We walked on to the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market, a large covered produce market housing many individual vendors. This is the central market of the city where you can buy not only produce, but also colorful spices, freshly caught fish, clothing, crafts and souvenirs. The market dates back to 1840 but it is named after the English governor of the Seychelles who served for 4 years after World War II. It has two stories with a roof covering many of the vendors and others in a courtyard with individual umbrellas to protect from the sun. The sides are open and this is a regular hangout for white egrets (on both of our visits an egret was sitting on top of a pillar by the entrance reviewing the visitors as they arrived). When we visited here in 2018 we had a very nice view from the market of the Hindu temple a few blocks away, but since then a blocky gray building has gone up right next to the market that entirely eliminates the view in that direction.
It was only a few blocks further to reach the Hindu temple, called Arul Mihu Mavasakthi Vinayagar. Constructed in 1992, it is the only HIndu temple in the Seychelles. It is dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesh, who is also sometimes called Lord Vinayagar. Hindus account for about 2% of the population of the Seychelles. You have to remove your shoes to enter the temple; Mary did but Rick waited outside and took some pictures through the door. The temple looked similar to other Hindu temples we have visited (most recently in Colombo, Sri Lanka, less than a week earlier), but rather smaller. Still, with its multi-colored tower full of sculptures it made for a nice view with the green mountains behind it.
The walk back to the port seemed longer in the hot sun, but there were many nice flowers to enjoy on the way.
On April 9 we were still docked in Victoria. But it had been so hot the day before and we had seen and done what we most wanted to here. So we decided to spend the day on the ship. We did see what looked like a big fire not too far from the port, but perhaps it was something purposeful because we never saw any fire trucks. On the way out of the port we also saw the pilot boat. If you have never seen one, this boat pulls up alongside the ship, both moving at speed, after it leaves the harbor and the pilot jumps(!) from a doorway in the ship’s hull to the boat, which is outfitted with bars for him to grab so he won’t fall off the boat. Quite a show, but brief and not always visible from the deck. The seascapes were beautiful as the sun dropped lower while we put out to sea.
Male, The Maldives (overnight) — 2024
The morning of March 30 found us anchored well off the coast of Male, the capital and largest city of the Maldives. The Maldives is an archipelago nation situated in the Indian Ocean about 450 miles southwest of India, comprising some 1,200 islands, about 200 of which are inhabited. With a population a little over 200,000, Male has about 40% of the population of the entire nation, all crowded together on less than 4.5 square miles of land. It is the most densely populated island in the world. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia by land area, with a total of about 115 square miles, and the second smallest by population, with a little more than 500,000 people. Male is also one of the world’s lowest lying countries, with an average elevation above sea level of just 5 feet and the highest point less than 8 feet. It has been projected that expected sea level rise will submerge about 80% of the country by the end of the century, and perhaps much sooner than that.
If anyone has been following this blog since this voyage sailed from Florida at the beginning of January you may recall that the Maldives was not on our original itinerary. We were then scheduled to go through the Suez Canal and spend the last part of the voyage in the Mediterranean before sailing back to Ft Lauderdale. If you haven’t seen that original itinerary (or have forgotten it), you can view it here: https://baderjournal.com/2024/01/08/third-voyage-around-the-world-in-2024/. But less than three months before we sailed war broke out in the Middle East and soon the Houthis in Yemen were firing missiles and drones at ships sailing through the Red Sea. While we don’t think they attacked any cruise ships, the situation was dire enough that all the world cruises scheduled to sail through there were rerouted and ours was no exception. There is really only one way for a cruise ship on a world voyage to get back to Ft Lauderdale without going through the Red Sea (and without going back the way it came) and that is to go around Africa.
So we can’t really argue with HAL’s decision (undoubtedly mandated as well by its insurer) to divert this voyage around Africa. We have quibbles about the ports and schedules they adopted, but not with the basic decision to redirect rather than follow the original itinerary. Still, we have been on cruises before that had to bypass a port or two because of weather or political conditions, but never a full month of scheduled ports! The new schedule actually might have been very interesting to us if not for the fact that just 16 months previously we had visited most of these ports on the Grand Africa voyage. Many of them are well worth visiting once, but many of them we wouldn’t have chosen to visit again so soon. And to make matters worse, the cost of most of the excursions had gone up 2 or 3 times what we paid in 2022 (perhaps because HAL had to schedule them much later than usual, because several cruise companies were suddenly competing for mostly the same ports at about the same time, or because some tour companies got greedy, who knows?). But the bottom line is that the rest of this voyage, starting in the Maldives, was entirely different from the itinerary for which we had signed up (and we were really looking forward to many of the planned stops in the Mediterranean area). Although the revision of the itinerary really HAL’s fault they did give us a fairly large refund and some other benefits to make up for the disappointment, but we were still quite disappointed. Here is the new itinerary, which had been disclosed to us on January 30 while we were in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico:
So after that lengthy digression, we are still where we were in the first sentence of this episode, anchored off the coast of the city and island of Male.
The Maldives are well known as a destination for people looking for romantic beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving, or deep water fishing. We could see from the ship that these waters are a beautiful blue and the weather here is nice (at least when it isn’t the rainy season). But those beach resorts are on outlying islands, not the very urbanized island of Male. And we are on a world cruise to explore the world, not looking for extended visits to beaches or water sports. We had never been to the Maldives before, so we took the (long) tender ride in the morning to spend our day with Bill and Robert exploring the city.
The streets near the ocean front were narrow and very busy, with lots of motorcycles. We visited the produce market and the fish market, where men were busy butchering today’s catch.
We walked further away from the shoreline, stopping at some shops selling mostly disappointing souvenirs similar to what you might see in any beach community. We came to the large Islamic Centre, mostly a mosque called the Grand Friday Mosque, that opened in 1984. This is one of the largest mosques in South Asia with a capacity of more than 5,000 worshipers. It is impressive from the outside and the inside is supposed to be beautiful as well. But this is a strictly Muslim country and it was Ramadan when we visited. So the mosque was closed to non-Muslims outside of a small window during the morning . . . which we just missed. Its golden topped minaret is 142 feet high. In an open square near the mosque is the Victory Monument, dedicated to those who lost their lives resisting a terrorist attack by Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers in 1988. The round red white and green tablet is displayed inside an opening in the marble representing a hole that was blown in the wall by the terrorists that day.
Before it became a republic in 1968 the Maldives had been a sultanate for more than 850 years. After the sultanate was abolished most of the 16th century sultan’s palace was demolished and the grounds were converted into a public park, situated across the street from the Victory monument. It was a very nice respite on a very hot day in an urban area. One side of the park had buildings that were undergoing renovation and we think they housed the National Library and National Art Gallery, a joint entrance to which we found later nearby (closed).
For us, the main attraction in Male was the Old Friday Mosque (Male Hukuru Miskiy), still in the same part of town with the other spots visited. Islam came to the Maldives in the 12th century and this mosque was built in the middle of the 17th century over the foundations of one that had been built in the 12th. It is made of interlocking coral blocks, many with intricate relief carvings that fit together perfectly when spanning more than one block. Next to it is an unusual minaret (called the Munnaaru) built a few years after the mosque, also of coral blocks. It looks like two large and one smaller hatboxes piled on top of each other. Copper belts around the minaret were added in 1906 for greater stability and the inscriptions on its outside walls were painted dark blue. These are the oldest structures in Male. Of course it was Ramadan so we didn’t go inside, but the views on the outside were great.
Arrayed around the mosque inside the surrounding wall, is a 17th century graveyard. The tombstones are made of carved coral. Women’s tombstones have rounded tops, men’s have pointed tops, and the sultans and their families are in small mausoleums resembling one room houses.
About a block away was a complex with two buildings. The Medhu Ziyaaraiy (Central Tomb) was built in 1906 and is the tomb of Abdul Barakaath Yoosuf Al Barbary, who converted the king of the Maldives to Islam in 1153. Next to it is the Muliaage, a colorful bungalow style house completed in 1919 that was a home for several royals and some other dignitaries. It has served as the official Presidential Palace for 30 years from 1968 to 1998, and again since 2009. In the first picture below the roof and a bit of the facade of the Muliaage can be seen over the gate to the right. The painting on the gate is of the Muliaage.
So that was enough for us since we were pretty done in by the muggy heat. We walked back to the dock and tendered back to the ship. Of course we were here overnight and there was a dramatic sunset.
On March 31 we were still anchored near Male, but we decided to spend the day on the ship. There was nothing left to see in Male that was worth the long tender ride and the heat and humidity; even having lunch in the city would be problematic because of Ramadan. So this became a sea day for us. We did take a few pictures from our veranda on what was another bright and sunny day. The airport for Male is on a larger nearby island called Hulhule which since 2018 has been linked to Male by the Sinamale Bridge, a little under a mile in length. From the ship we could see planes landing at the airport.
Smaller, very green islands sat in front of both Hulhule and Male.
Not long after we sailed away we had yet another fine Indian Ocean sunset.
BADER JOURNAL 
