Karafuu coffee house adds lightness to Stone Town

Constantly new places are opening in Zanzibar, whether in Stone Town or along the beaches giving testimony to the fact that the island is indeed on the move. Especially in Stone Town one sometimes wonders how yet another café, lounge or hotel was able to squeeze itself into the centuries-old crumbling ensemble of Arabian houses and former palaces.

The new Karafuu coffee house cut its way right from Gizenga Street to the Old Fort (opposite Maru Maru Hotel), a light and white affair, modernly designed with typical Swahili lime plastering decorating the walls, a style element borrowed from Lamu in Kenya. The Scandi-Swahili look certainly is something new in Stone Town, a fresh window into an old world. 

Serving Coffee, juices and snacks all day long from 8 am to 9 pm, owner and director Hafidh Thani stems from Dubai and quickly managed to make the café a hub of Zanzibar’s creative community. Filmmakers Prof. Martin Mhando, his wife Farida Nyamachumbe and Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) crews can be met here. Karafuu, by the way, means cloves in Swahili and spice tea is served in traditional teapots