Excursion to the house of Wonders

Another project the the students are working on is creating a blog for the Zanzibar national museum called the “house of wonders”, to which they had an excursion in the beginning of August. We went all together, together with the students, Masaka, Catherine, Salama and Mbarak. It was a wonderful visit because some of the students had not been to the House of Winders before and even those who had already been enjoyed the trip tremendously.

They arrived at ten am and the museum staff gave a brief history of the building, the initial purpose of the structure and a varied range of events that took place during colonialism. The Zanzibits students were given writing pads to note important quotes. They also took photos of the many different aspects of the museum, to make their project an even bigger succes.

Then they were led to the second floor by the museum staff, where they found an exhibition room dedicated to the common people of importance in ZAnzibari history, as well as some pictures made before the independence from Oman. Also on the second floor they found an exposition explaining how Swahili lives are lived, detailing Swahili cuisine, clothing and pottery arts. The Swahili lifestyle reflects the East African style of living.

After visiting the house of wonders, the students went to another building, the Palace Museum, to complete the excursion. There they got to know all about the history of the colonial time, especial during the life of princess Salme.