After a couple of difficult flights from Mozambique (no electricity again in Beira airport) we finally made it into Dar city centre to start shooting. The urban hub of Dar is a huge cultural melting pot of Arab,African,Western European, Indian and now Chinese influences. Or so we thought.... Already the Chinese traders have moved up from street stalls to major investment projects in the space of a few years. Trying to find a few Chinese on the streets of Dar is hard, they now populate the 5 star hotels doing deals behind closed doors. All the drivers in Dar seem to think that their city is the worst in Africa for traffic and do nothing but complain about it. Well , if Dar is chaos, they should visit Lagos and it will blow their minds !! For anyone visiting a new place, arriving by water is a completely different feel to that of arriving by air. Putting in to Stone Town, Zanzibar's capital is no exception by ferry. The very name conjures up the exotic in the minds of the traveler but for me that's where it ends. I was truly disappointed in what I saw considering the island has world heritage status. It is shabby,filthy (no more so than other parts of Africa) but with the amount of tourists bringing revenue to the island, you would assume that some of the money is filtering down ? The back streets are worth a visit though for Arabesque influence and the impressive wooden front doors on most houses. St Monica's church, the site of the old slave sale centre is a must to remind everyone of the evils of the slave trade. The trade in human souls continued into the lifetimes of our great grand parents. Sitting for just a few minutes in the underground holding cells is enough for the claustraphobic to truly envisage the suffering of up to 75 men,women and children in the cells waiting to sold. It is not an experience I would either like to repeat ever again. The real treasure of Zanzibar is the eco tourist island of Chumbebe,just to the south. It is the home to some of the finest and best kept coral gardens in the worlds oceans. It is one of the remaining jewels in Zanzibar's tarnished crown. The end of episode of 1 Indian Ocean. !!!
debrouillardtv's posterous
Freelance documentary television cameraman shooting on high profile programmes and subjects around the UK and the globe! Visit http://www.debrouillard.tv
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