th and 19
th centuries. From Stone Town’s slave market, humans were shipped to Arabia and beyond by men like Tippu Tip, a 19
th-century merchant who trafficked up to 10,000 people and became very wealthy as a result. His mansion – the beautiful legacy of an ugly business – still stands and will be re-opened to visitors when current refurbishments are completed.
Not all buildings enjoy such a makeover – 80 per cent of Zanzibar’s edifices are dilapidated as a result of nonchalance or lack of funds. Such elegant dereliction only adds to Stone Town’s authenticity. This is no tourist theme park: the town hums with bona fide life, from khat-chewing men in kufi hats, to the young boys jumping off the sea walls at sunset as the muezzin prayer call sounds. Tables at the Darajani market are piled with vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, saffron and rambutan fruits – reminders of the days when Zanzibar was an entrepôt for Indian Ocean trade in spices, fruits, precious metals and jewels.