Stone Town - Zanzibar

Both these cards are from the Stone Town, the older part of Zanzibar City in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. 

The cards were sent by Jason and Pavel. 

Photographed by © Javed Jafferji

Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat.

Stone Town is a city of prominent historical and artistic importance in East Africa. Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, giving a unique mixture of Arab, Persian, Indian and European elements. For this reason, the town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

Due to its heritage, Stone Town is also a major visitor attraction in Tanzania, and a large part of its economy depends on tourism-related activities. - in: wikipedia

The Ijamaa mosque is one of the oldest in the old quarters of Zanzibar.

Known in Kiswahili as Msikiti Ya Ijumaa Mizingani, it was originally built by Sunni immigrants from Faza in 1831.

Serengeti National Park - Tanzania

The picture on this card was the winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, a photography competition co-owned by two UK institutions that pride themselves on revealing and championing the diversity of life on Earth - the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.   The competition provides a global showcase of the very best nature photography. 

The picture was taken by Michael "Nick" Nichols in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. 

Miguel sent me this card after visiting the photography exhibition at the museum. 

On the back of the card: Nick set out to recreate a time past, before lions were under such threat. Here, the five females of the Vumbi pride in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park lie close together, sleeping calmly, photographed in infra-red. 

Tanzania UNESCO WHS

With these african cards sent by Emerich, I've now more than 800 UNESCO sites. That's an impressive number, isn't it? These 3 are all from Tanzania and from the country's most famous attractions, Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. These sites were classified as World Heritage Sites in 1987, 1979 and 1981.

Photo by Petr Hejmánek

At 5,895 m, Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa. This volcanic massif stands in splendid isolation above the surrounding plains, with its snowy peak looming over the savannah. The mountain is encircled by mountain forest. Numerous mammals, many of them endangered species, live in the park. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/403

Photo: Petr Hejtmánek

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera. The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/39

Photo: Petr Hejtmánek

In the vast plains of Serengeti National Park, comprising 1.5 million hectares of savannah, the annual migration of two million wildebeests plus hundreds of thousands of gazelles and zebras - followed by their predators in their annual migration in search of pasture and water – is one of the most impressive nature spectacles in the world. The biological diversity of the park is very high with at least four globally threatened or endangered animal species: black rhinoceros, elephant, wild dog, and cheetah. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/156