In Stone Town, Zanzibar, there’s a place that comes alive at sunset. I went there every night.
Forodhani Gardens is a documentary photography project about the night market at Forodhani Gardens, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Stone Town is the old, historic heart of Zanzibar — a maze of narrow streets, carved doors, and architecture blending Arab, Indian, and African influences. By day, Forodhani Gardens is quiet, ideal for a calm walk by the sea.
At sunset, everything changes.
Young people dive into the sea, tourists look for the best spot to watch the show, and the square fills with cooks, tables piled with local food, gas lamps, and the smell of open-air cooking. Pizzas, kebabs, octopus and squid skewers, prawns, fried banana bread, samosas, and freshly pressed sugarcane juice — a mix of cultures and flavours that makes this night market a unique experience in Zanzibar.
What brought me back every night wasn’t the food or the spectacle. It was the way locals and travellers from all over the world mixed in this space, sharing the same moment without needing to share the same language.
In Stone Town, Zanzibar, there’s a place that comes alive at sunset. I went there every night.
Forodhani Gardens is a documentary photography project about the night market at Forodhani Gardens, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Stone Town is the old, historic heart of Zanzibar — a maze of narrow streets, carved doors, and architecture blending Arab, Indian, and African influences. By day, Forodhani Gardens is quiet, ideal for a calm walk by the sea.
At sunset, everything changes.
Young people dive into the sea, tourists look for the best spot to watch the show, and the square fills with cooks, tables piled with local food, gas lamps, and the smell of open-air cooking. Pizzas, kebabs, octopus and squid skewers, prawns, fried banana bread, samosas, and freshly pressed sugarcane juice — a mix of cultures and flavours that makes this night market a unique experience in Zanzibar.
What brought me back every night wasn’t the food or the spectacle. It was the way locals and travellers from all over the world mixed in this space, sharing the same moment without needing to share the same language.
