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Understanding this city is a bit complex because it has been through a lot of things, it was part of the Portuguese empire, it was the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, it had a revolution and it became its own Sultanate, it was ruled by the British until 1963, it had again a revolution and remained as an independent republic until they decided to join with Tanganyika to form what we know today as Tanzania. All this together made everything different from any other city. You will find many pieces of ancient history as it was one of the most important ports for the export of slaves and spices to the British Empire. All the history that it contains made this city become a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2000. There is something that you have to understand here and I suppose that it is the same throughout Africa, if you come from America, Europe, or some parts of Asia, you are and they will always treat you as a “Muzungu” I don’t know what the exact translation is, but for you to understand, you will always be a tourist. In the street they will look at you as if you were an alien especially children because they are not used to seeing many people with white skin. If you travel to less touristy regions or towns, it will be the worst, this implies something ugly on some occasions and it is that they will offer you things a little more expensive so you have to know how to negotiate.