Milango mbalimbali ipo Zanzibar

This is a series of shots I took of (and with!) the beautiful, famous, ornate carved wooden doors of Zanzibar. The doors themselves reflected (and to some extent still do reflect) the relative wealth of the inhabitants. The doors are carved with flowers, trees, Arabic, Gujarati, and Swahili sayings, and often feature large iron spikes (an import from India; apparently originally used to keep out elephants). There is even a Swahili saying reflecting the importance of doors:
Nyumba njema si mlango. (a good house isn't judged by its door.)