A night above the slave chambers

There’s a mini-revolution of sorts. Afraid of ghosts and spirits of traumatised souls, my friends are wary of spending a night at Saint Monica’s Guesthouse in Stone Town, Zanzibar, because below it lie slave chambers.

I’m more practical – it’s the only choice we have because every other room in Stone Town is booked for the Sauti za Busara 2015 music festival at the Old Fort, a few minutes’ walk from the guest house. I win.

STIFLING AFTERNOON

Our room is charming – quaint and old fashioned with a verandah that faces the once-notorious slave market upon which stands the impressive Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ built in 1873. After the cathedral was built, the hostel for nuns was built – that is today Saint Monica’s guesthouse and restaurant. The missionary hospital was built later above the underground slave chambers.

The afternoon heat is stifling but the breeze on our verandah is beautiful. The room attendant serves us freshly brewed tea and chapatis.

Meanwhile, tourists wander in and out of the cathedral and to the statues of the slaves, complete with the chains. It’s surreal to be juxtaposed between the horrors of history and the charm of today’s island life.

UPSIDE DOWN COLUMNS

After tea, we wander down into the slave chambers. They are tiny and suffocating, with some of the chains used to shack the stolen people intact.

A few minutes in the two hell-holes with the stale air from a slit in the wall is enough – yet the slaves here were dropped through a hole and chained, and then shipped away. Thousands died in these horrendous chambers.

It was not until 1876 that selling slaves was outlawed in Zanzibar. By that time the construction on the cathedral (which took 10 years to build) had begun. We wander into the cathedral.

There’s restoration work going on – at the entrance, workmens’ pith helmets and tools lie with part of a broken stained glass window.

The high walls, unusual dome ceiling and stained glass windows allow for light and cool air inside. Of course, there’s always a light moment in every story. At the entrance through the enormous wooden door stand marble columns which, when looked upon carefully, are upside down.

Edward Steere, third Bishop of Zanzibar (1874 to 1882) in charge of the construction had designed the unusual ceiling which the Muslims said would fall and crush the Christians, was away when they were put up. In his absence, the columns were erected upside down.

It’s a ‘minor’ fault in the otherwise impeccable building. Even Sultan Barghash, the second Sultan of Zanzibar (1870 to 1888) admired it. He donated a clock on condition that the bell tower would not be taller than his palace.

It was during Barghash’s rule that Stone Town was transformed, with modern buildings such as Beit-al-Ajaib (House of Wonders with its elevators and the massive carved wooden doors – a feature of the wealthy houses – that he picked up when exiled to Bombay for two years), parks, hospitals, piped water, railway line and public baths, including the Hamamni Persian Baths with hot and cold water from the underground aqueducts.

The baths don’t work anymore.

BOUNTIFUL MARKET

Barghash was also instrumental in ending the slave trade in Zanzibar. In 1870, he signed an agreement with Britain which led to the closure of the great slave market upon which the cathedral stands in Mkunazini.

By now, I’ve reached the altar. On the pillar at the left of the chancel is the crucifix made from the wood of the tree in Chitambo under which Livingstone died in 1875.

In the eventide,  we wander through the maze of narrow alleys of today’s Stone Town. Women clad in black buibuis and men in simple white kanzus, tourists and all, shop and chat.

Some live in the once noble houses with centuries-old wooden carved doors, motor-bikes parked by them. Finally, like all Zanzibaris, we’re at Forodhani Gardens by the Indian Ocean, awash with a bounty of seafood and meats and all the vegetables and fruits in season.

FACT FILE

Local flights to Zanzibar from Nairobi operate every day. Fares average USD 350. 

Saint Monica’s guest house ([email protected], +255 24 2230773) is a real bargain, with all its history and comfort. Ask for a room with a Verandah. For a bit more, you can get an ensuite room.