Malawi to Zanzibar, A Historical Journey

Zanzibar. An island off the coast of mainland Tanzania only about a 30-minute plane ride or 2-hour ferry ride from Dar es Salaam (which is the largest city in eastern Africa). An island unlike any other place we’ve visited on the African continent before. It has a population of about 1.3 million people with Kiswahili the main language spoken. It's also semi-autonomous from the mainland. 

The largest city on the island is Stone Town. A beautiful town with a mix of Arabic, Indian and Swahili culture which could be seen in the architecture, food, clothing and religion. What struck me the most though is just how “touristy” the island was with almost all of Stone Town converted to lodges, shops and museums for tourists. It was very unlike our travels in Malawi which have always felt very indigenous and authentic. But it was a welcome break and truly felt like a holiday. Stone Town is full of narrow, winding streets with much of the construction made from local coral and doors resembling Indian and Arabic architecture help make the island truly unique. We didn’t see any burnt brick construction on the entire island as is found all over Malawi. Just coral, rocks and cement- a strong city.  

Away from Stone Town to the North, East and South on the island are some of the most iconic and gorgeous beaches probably in the entire world. We were fortunate to have time in both Stone Town and a beach town further north on the island called Nungwi. This is where we did most of our swimming! We also saw tourists walking around freely as late as 11pm which was definitely a shock coming from Malawi where we are pretty much indoors from dark (around 6pm). Truly a laid-back island vibe (except for the driving- that was definitely controlled chaos)!  

Zanzibar also has many other small islands surrounding it and excursions are offered daily to meet a host of different needs. We opted to visit a place called Prison or Changuu Island where we got to meet large aldabra tortoises and also snorkel. I think snorkeling in the Indian Ocean was one of my favorite experiences of the trip seeing all the coral and colorful fish below. The tortoises on the island are originally from Seychelles and were a gift from the Seychelles government to the British Resident in Zanzibar, Major F.B. Pearce in 1919. Only 4 tortoises came originally but they have now grown into a quite sizable population. Prison Island itself has many names and was first used by the Sultan of Zanzibar as a holding place for slaves before they were sold or sent abroad. While there were plans to build an official prison on the island, this never happened and instead it was used as a place to quarantine yellow fever cases and in 1923 became a hospital. Later it just became a popular holiday spot.   

Zanzibar itself was front and center to the Indian Ocean/East African slave trade which affected Malawi in ways which are not often discussed (this is different from the Atlantic Slave Trade which is more familiar to Americans). We found Malawi history in museums across Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam that resembled much of the information also found in the Karonga museum. In Stone Town we visited an old slave market museum. Slaves brought to Zanzibar were drawn from a vast area from south of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), west of Tanganyika and north of Lake Victoria. In the 1700s and 1800s, Portuguese and Afro-Portuguese traders marched hundreds of thousands of slaves to Mozambiquan ports from the southern end of Lake Nyasa and the Mozambique interior. In Malawi, an infamous slave trader known as Mlozi caused havoc around the Karonga area amongst the Ngonde people. Mlozi, ivory and slave trader, with his guards known as “Ruga Ruga” men led a band of Arab slave traders. He and his army of paid warriors terrorized tribes in the region in order to supply slaves to the market in Zanzibar. He organized surprise raids in both northern Malawi and Zambia. It’s estimated around 19,000 slaves were exported from the Lake Malawi and Shire Highlands regions. Mlozi even went as far to declare himself the “Sultan of Ngondeland.” Mlozi was captured by the British with help of Malawians in 1895, tried and hung.

Once near Zanzibar, slaves were transported using crowded boats known as dhows and kept in small chambers until time to be sold. On the island of Zanzibar itself, slaves largely worked in textile and spice farms under grueling conditions with women many times taken as concubines. In addition to slaves, ivory and spices were also commonly traded on these routes. In 1897 and 1909 abolition decrees did not mean slaves were automatically free. They had to apply for manumission in court and women, especially concubines, struggled greatly during this time. They were excluded in the 1897 declaration and it wasn’t for 12 more years until they could achieve freedom but even then they could have to forfeit custody of their children. Barghash bin Said wa Zanzibar (the Second Sultan of Zanzibar) who helped develop much of the infrastructure of Stone Town signed an agreement in the 1870s prohibiting slavery in his kingdom and closing the great slave markets in Zanzibar. Of course it took time  and years for all the treaties and decrees to become actual reality for many slaves.

Today, there stands a large Anglican cathedral where the slave market used to be. It is called the Christ Church and construction started in 1873 and ended on Christmas day 1879. There are only 2 churches in Stone Town and this is one of them. Although we learned more about the Indian Ocean slave trade on this holiday, you don’t have to travel as far to learn about Malawi’s involvement. D.D. Phiri has written about it (you can find his books regularly in Lilongwe and Blantyre) along with information and artifacts located at the Cultural & Museum Centre in Karonga district Malawi. The movement of Malawians to Zanzibar unfortunately is an ugly history and their journey looked nothing like ours. May we never forget and work towards justice against modern day slavery and oppression.

“They are in such a wretched state from starvation and disease, that they are sometimes considered not worth landing, and are allowed to expire in the boats to save the dollar a head duty. . . “

-Bombay Government 1841, British Parliamentary Papers on Slave Trade

“If you could picture the beautiful villages desolated, and see the cruelties of these slave traders- women carried away captives, separated from husbands and children, children separated from their parents, husbands who would stand up for their homes and those near and dear to them murdered and their bodies mutilated.”

-Monteith Fotheringham, Adventures in Nyassaland, 1891

As one can see, Zanzibar is more than just a beautiful island but a place full of rich history and a place for solemn reflection. I highly recommend this travel destination for anyone who can visit. 

After our time on the island, Mpha and I spent a few days in Dar es Salaam and also got to visit the National Museum there. We learned more about Tanzania under the colonial era, ancient rock art and Tanzania’s first leader Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere. There was even a special memorial newly dedicated in 2018 in remembrance of the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Nairobi and Tanzania. It was very beautifully and respectfully done. And the city of Dar es Salaam itself with it's sweeping landscape, beaches, malls, movie theaters, vibrant local markets and special bus lanes was something special to experience especially coming from the much smaller Lilongwe.  

While there’s so much more I could say about Stone Town and Zanzibar and Dar and the experiences and lovely people we met there, these were some of the historical highlights of our trip and we are always so fortunate to continue learning more about this region of the African continent.