Double-edged sword

From the moment I watched a Flemish travel programme about Zanzibar in 1994, this island featured high on my teenage list of Exotic Places I'll Probably Never Get To Visit But Really Wish I Could. The images of Stone Town's winding alleyways and its picturesque crumbling buildings instantly entranced me, along with the island's historical cast of sultans & slaves, missionaries & merchants, soldiers & sailors and famous explorers such as Livingstone & Stanley. Our six days there partly lived up to this mythical image and I thoroughly enjoyed the following:

• touching, tasting and smelling the myriad of spices that Zanzibar has to offer

• reading the 1888 autobiography of Princess Salme, the daughter of Sultan Said, who depicts life at the 19th-century Zanzibar court in minute & fascinating details
• the sound of Hindu temple bells mixed with the Ramadan call to prayer from a nearby mosque

• exploring the region's turbulent history in the former slave market, National Museum & Palace Museum
• watching the fishing boats near the shore at sunset

• a traditional herbal facial with lemongrass peel, minty steam bath & sandalwood mask
• a nightly cup of delicious spice tea at our 'local' tea stand :-)

On the flipside of these fantastic experiences is the more nuanced view that all does not seem well in Paradise... V. wrote in his diary that "tourism has ruined Zanzibar for both locals and visitors" and to a certain extent I have to agree with him. Not only are the atmospheric alleyways blighted with cheap tourist junk, but travellers are either constantly hassled by desperate touts (referred to as papasi=ticks) or treated with indifference by the majority of passers-by. This prevents a genuine connection and makes you feel like your presence is merely tolerated for commercial purposes. I'm not suggesting that all Zanzibari citizens jump up & down with excitement at the sight of visitors, but you certainly get the impression that they don't really enjoy their role of being host. Who can blame them, considering the rapid way in which their age-old culture has had to adjust to consumer culture, beach side bars and scantily clad Westerners ? Worse than this is the fact that outside investors appear to control the tourist business. Several local people we met were quite bitter about the impact tourism has had on their community and complained that the economic benefits reach only a lucky few - often foreigners who own or run many of the guest houses & restaurants. Yes, these foreigners employ locals and stimulate the economy, but their involvement means that Zanzibaris have little control over the tourism industry and can't manage it on their own terms. From what we witnessed, this situation creates quite a lot of resentment and doesn't help locals to improve their lives. The bane of tourism? I'm not sure, but there must be better ways for tourism to co-exist with local communities. Here's hoping that in the long run in Zanzibar they can come up with a system that benefits both parties!