When people asked me where I was going on my holidays this year and I responded with São Tomé and Príncipe, they looked at my blankly. No-one seemed to know where or what it was. And it was exactly for that reason Julian and I decided to visit. There’s something quite exciting about travelling to a place a little off the radar. After all, if people haven’t heard of it, then it’s unlikely there will be many tourists.
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Do you have something to celebrate, part 2? My Bucket List trip
After our amazing time getting up close and personal with wild animals in Kenya (read about that trip here), Julian and I flew to Zanzibar for a few days of culture before our beached out bliss.
Ever since I was young, the name Zanzibar has always sounded so exotic and conjured up images of streets filled with spice traders and intrepid adventurers arriving on dhows with billowing sails. In reality, the traders and adventurers were actually on the hunt for gold and power and Zanzibar was, at one time, East Africa’s main slave-trading port.
Today there are no slaves but the waves of Swahili, Portuguese, Omani, and Chinese traders who passed through the island over the centuries have left their cultural mark. This is most evident in Zanzibar’s capital, Stone Town, where elaborately carved doors, forts and ornate traders’ houses reflect layer upon layer of its past heritage, all weather beaten by the sea breeze.
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