As Zanzibar is known as a place that adorns our dreams of a tropical island with its white sands and turquoise sea, the culture of the people living here lags behind.. We shouldn’t be too surprised; The island has such a dazzling beauty that it is normal for the eyes of the people who come from the concrete to see nothing else.. But when we turn our heads from the sea to the land, it is not possible to ignore the villagers who live far beyond the standards we are used to.. That’s why we visit Muungoni, a lush Zanzibar village, to see up close what’s going on in the houses hidden behind the banana trees by the roadside.
Why Muungoni?
Muungoni is on the southwest side of Zanzibar island, on Google+ A village whose name is not on the maps, adjacent to the mangrove forest, which used to be a center for spice trade, but is now only visited by the locals.. Well, how did we find it and why did we come to this village?
When we first went to Zanzibar 4 years ago, we did not spare time to visit the island, as we were completely focused on resting after safari.. That’s why when we arrived, we couldn’t look at the life here from afar and get into it.. With the curiosity left over from that time, we decided to add a village visit to our trip this year.. Our aim was to both get to know the culture of a Zanzibar village closely and to help a little while we were there.
We are not one of those people who know where to start with this type of thing.. “Jamboo!” We can’t say, we can’t go to the village cafe and sit.. For some reason, we cannot be one of those travelers who immediately engage in conversation with the locals on our other trips.. We always prefer someone who knows to lead us.. For us, the most convenient way to visit Zanzibar village was to arrange a tour or guide.. As a result of my long research on Tripadvisor, Muungoni was the most suitable option as it lasted all day, contributed to different people in the village, and could spend time in nature.
Zanzibar Village One Day in Muungoni…
As we don’t have a working phone in Zanzibar, we communicate with Helen via e-mail.. Helen, the digital leg of our arranged tour. If you expect a “quick turnaround” from corporate life that you are used to, you are wrong.. Everything here is poly poli, that is, slowly… After learning that the village and our guide Rama will not be suitable due to the rush of Eid-al-Adha,. we are contracting for the day. After visiting Muungoni village, we will also do a canoe tour in the mangrove forest right next to it, but this tour is not available at all hours of the day.. It is necessary to look at the tide clocks, which should always be at hand in Zanzibar.. Our meeting time is 11:00 for that particular day and we mutually agree.
When the tour day comes, our next problem is to meet with Rama. we need to find someone. It was already 11:20 because we were stopped by the police twice.. It’s okay, hakuna matata… It’s not as difficult as we thought to catch Rama on the side of the road since there’s no one else in the neighborhood he expected anyway.
Rama…short for Ramadan. native of Muungoni. He still lives in this village with his wife, whom he married last year, and a few relatives’ children.. “How does he earn money, does he build a house, does he drink alcohol, smoke pot?. If there is no problem, it will be easy to get married.” She says… She is educated about the environment, and is very interested in nature and medicinal plants.. He noticed that some of the tourists who came to Zanzibar in the past years were interested in this type of thing and he set his mind to organize tours that introduced the plants in the forest.. At that time, he met Helen, an environmentalist like himself.. Rama started guiding while Helen took care of the promotion and website leg.. In the future, they saw that those who came on nature trips were also very curious about the life in the villages, and they started to organize tours that introduced both the natural beauties and the village life.
How Do They Live In Houses?
First, she introduces us to young men’s houses.. According to village tradition, men between the ages of 13 and 15 could no longer stay with their families.. They used to build a makeshift house with a single room and go to the family home just for dinner.. Their house-building method is also interesting: they place coral reefs from all over the island between the slats, make a natural plaster of mud and glue them together.. Its roof is made of coconut leaves.. They were also building chicken coops or toilets in the same way.. It is not resistant to heavy rain or hurricanes, but because it is cheap and practical to build, it can handle young men until they get married and build a new house.
The houses where the families stay are more robust, their windows are small, but they put concrete plaster on their walls.. There are gaps in the attic to allow air circulation. Since the air temperature on the island does not fall below 25 degrees, the only task of the roof is to protect it from rain.. The interior of the houses is quite spacious, but there is no furniture arrangement that we are used to.. Sofa, washing machine, TV… They don’t have any of these. But there is electricity and, of course, a cell phone.
“Can anyone build a house wherever they want?” The question immediately comes to mind.. I wish it was, old fashioned… But it wasn’t that simple.. There are certain families and lands belonging to these families in the village, the remaining areas belong to the state.. Everyone has to build their house within the land of their family.. Those who want to live outside that border can buy a house in another region, but cannot build a new house there.
Each house has its own garden, and all of them must have a huge taro (elephant ear) along with major fruit trees such as banana and mango. ) plant has. After boiling its leaves, they sauteed it with potatoes and carrots and had their meal.. In some houses, we see small planted vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.. Some grow it for food, while others sell seedlings and earn money.
How do they make a living?
Rama says 75% of the village is unemployed. I have to take this to mean that no one is making any money, they just don’t have a regular income.. Men are usually engaged in fishing, being at sea early in the morning or at sunset. Some of them are trying to generate income from their small gardens that I just mentioned.. Women spend most of the day cooking. It must take a lot of time to prepare everything, as we don’t use ready-made food like we do.
Rama “In Islam, women take care of the housework, but men do the cooking.. We Zanzibarians act the opposite on some issues.. When I say, “Women cook for us,” I find it difficult to hear him because of the Arabic voices coming from the radio -probably praying.. Enough Africans to sing and dance to the squeaky door squeak morning and night, shouting at each other, “Jambo!” Arabs enough to greet them with “Salamu Alaikum” instead.
Women’s business line is a bit wider because they are more skilled. First of all, we meet an aunt who makes a living by knitting baskets.. After collecting the leaves of the wild date palm trees and drying them in front of his house, he cuts them with a knife, thins them, and forms a thick spiral by braiding them into four.. Then he sews these spirals together and makes products such as baskets, carpets, tray covers, bags and sells them to other villagers.. Her hand is too fast for me to follow how she knits. Despite this, it took a week and a half to make a bag.
Next is the Lokman doctor… If they gather all the women in the village and say, “Which one is Lokman Physician? Let’s see.” If they say, I will show it without any doubt. He was crushing grain on a grinding stone made of coral rock when we went to him.. When I saw it, “Is it an old product they took out of the ballot box for a village tour?” I thought it wasn’t, but they still use primitive methods.
Our doctor Lokman continues to promote us by showing us a bowl of dried plants from the courtyard where he hangs his laundry.. It tells about the diseases in which all kinds of herbs that I can’t remember the names of are used one by one.. Not to us, but to Rama… Since he doesn’t speak English, he tells Rama, and Rama transfers it to us.
Finally, he shows how he makes rope from dried coconut fibers.. She first turns the sheep’s wool-like fibers into a fine thread on her leg.. He turns both threads into a solid thread with agile hand movements.. It is so strong that even the wood used in house construction is tied to each other with this rope.
Dishes
The main ingredients they use in meals are not far from our kitchen; chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, legumes are very familiar. But they have a spice use that we eat our fingers. First, we visit the women who are preparing a snack for the holiday.. They make and prepare fries similar to pisi and potato croquettes, and they will sell them at the feast celebration in the evening.
Then we are guests at Rama’s house.. His wife prepared rice and fish curry for us.. There is also green lentil in the rice cooked with coconut water.. It’s a bit mushy but tastes delicious. The fish is fresh from the sea; deliciously prepared with vegetables and curry sauce. We lick our plates and swallow them.
Food is eaten on the floor and by hand.. They also brought a spoon to the table for us and Rama accompanies us in his own way.. There is also a bowl of water and an empty basin next to the table.. Washing hands before and after eating. Although he offers us water in a sealed bottle, Rama drinks the water left in the bowl.
Superstitions
Although all the villagers are radical Muslims, their superstitions are very high.. While introducing the trees in the forest, Rama does not neglect to mention the villager’s point of view.. For example, places with some fertile trees are considered sacred sites, while trees infected with parasites are believed to contain demons.. “Young girls are afraid to cross here.” We understand from his chuckle that Rama also finds it ridiculous.
There are also wish trees and rag binding events like ours.. They make a wish by placing popcorn, honey, milk in a plate in the hollow under the tree.. They tie a white cloth if they wish for something good, such as giving birth to a child, or a red cloth if they wish for something evil, such as the family getting out of trouble.. We think that almost all the people of the village stopped by to make a wish because of the abundance of fabric piled up on the tree.
Outfits
Lastly, we are going to get to know their traditional clothes… There is nothing special about the clothes of the men in the village.. Although the number of men traveling with Oman kandura is quite high in Stone Town, this number is quite low in the villages.. I’m more interested in the clothes women wear. (If you want to learn more about Kandura, you can take a look at “Things to Know About Dubai Before You Go”.)
Kanga is the colorful fabrics that women wrap around in Tanzania and thus in Zanzibar. it’s called (khanga). We are guests at another village woman’s house and she immediately brings clean kangas from inside and shows how they are dressed.. There is a different way of covering when they go out of the village; one kanga is wrapped around the bottom like a skirt, and the other one is wrapped around the top to completely cover the head.. While working during the day, one is wrapped from the chest to the knee, and the other is randomly thrown on the head.. In the photo is the bride’s kanga
Farewell Time…
“Jambooo!” At the end of the tour we wave goodbye to, we go on a canoe tour in the magical mangrove forest.. I really like that the canoes are still made from the trunk of the mango tree, not fiber. While I am walking in a deep silence, the thoughts that cross my mind still puzzle me: We find the people here “poor” because they do not have the “blessings” offered in the system we exist in; however, they are more “rich” than us because they can find the best of everything they need to survive in nature.. We think they are ‘dirty’ because they step on the ground or eat food with their hands; whereas they have a “cleaner” body than us because they are not exposed to any chemicals. This little tour we take in the village of Zanzibar makes us question our lives again.. If you have the opportunity to come to Zanzibar, you should see this life closely, will you?
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