Zanzibar

One of the most beautiful places in the world for sure: the Tansanian island of Zanzibar, situated in the Indian Ocean.

My extensive trip through Africa in the 1980s took me from Egypt all the way down to Zimbabwe, passing through Tanzania along the way. However, I didn’t visit Zanzibar on that occasion, something I often regretted later.

Just in time for the millennium, I finally made up for it.
Although it was just meant to be a holiday trip, the camera naturally had to come along.

This led to scenes such as that of children drumming on flotsam, their enjoyment only heightened by the photographer crawling backwards through the sand in front of them.

In contrast, an almost surreal scene unfolded in an alleyway in Stone Town, where people were playing on a luxurious, high-gloss billiard table amidst houses slowly crumbling in the tropical climate.
On enquiry, I learnt that it had been manufactured in a neighbouring workshop and that the craftsmen had indulged themselves to a game before delivering it to a hotel.

The photograph of the three women harvesting kelp remains one of my absolute favourites to this day. Although they are simply seaweed farmers – Wakulima wa Mwani in Swahili – they exude an incredible sense of dignity.