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Tanzania has no shortage of places that capture imaginations and inspire dreaming and wanderlust. The merest mention of the Serengeti conjures wide rolling plains broken by sudden kopjes and solitary Acacias, the canvas upon which the wildebeest migration is painted. Kilimanjaro rises in our imaginations as certainly as it rises up from the plains that surround it: alone, majestic, dominating the horizon. To these powerful images, the dense romanticism of the Islands of Zanzibar must be added. The Serengeti and Kilimanjaro both result from the confluence of geography, climate and time. This is true for Zanzibar, too. It is also the meeting place of cultures from near and far, old and new. This confluence gives the Zanzibari melange a richness of its own.
Zanzibar – the Spice Islands - are an archipelago of several Indian Ocean islands, the largest of which are Unguja and Pemba a few miles off the coast of Tanzania. While Tanzania and Zanibar were unified in 1964, the islands are considered semi-autonomous. When most people speak of Zanzibar, they're speaking of Unguja, the largest of the group and today the most developed. Unguja has attracted visitors from afar for thousands of years: Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians and Arabs from the Middle East; Islamic East Indians from South Asia; Portuguese, Germans and British from Europe; and Bantus, of course, from mainland Africa. All have left their mark on the place and its culture. Much of this history is apparent in Stone Town, with its medina and stonework and brightly painted doors and window shutters. Elsewhere on Unguja spice plantations remind us of the wealth Zanzibar produced for the Sultans of Oman. Oon the island's eastern and north eastern shores, Zanzibar's white sand beaches and calm, azure waters remind us of the wealth Zanzibar produces for snorkelers and divers today.
We can't think of a better way to wash off the dust of an East African safari.
Beaches
There are three major beach resort areas on Unguja. The north eastern beaches - Uroa, Pongwe, Kiwengwa, Pwani Mchangani and Matemwe - are the most developed and the most popular. The eastern shore beaches at Paje, Bwejuu and Jambiani are well-developed and popular, too, but manage to feel more intimate. Finally, a small collection of crowded, lively beach resorts clings to the shore at Nungwi beach on the island's northern tip, which was once known only as the place to go to see how dhows are made. The dhow builders are still there.
Activities
All the resorts offer sun-bathing, snorkeling and diving. Many offer dhow cruises and excursions to assorted neighboring islands and coral reefs. The largest resorts often include tennis and other fitness activities and numerous dining options.
Resorts
North
Northeast
East
Stone Town
If Zanzibar's beaches are timeless, then Stone Town is overflowing with time. History is etched into the stone facades and stamped onto the stone pavements. That history is the history of the criss-cross of peoples and cultures over hundreds of years. In Stone Town the remains of an 11th century mosque are not far from a 16th century Portuguese cathedral (later converted to a 17th century Omani fort) and 19th century British colonial administrative buildings. Most of the rest of Old Town remains as it was when it was built in the 19th century to accommodate the needs of a bustling market and trading society. Stone Town was a spice trading center (primarily cloves). It was also, notoriously, East Africa's largest slave port, with 50,000 mainland Africans passing through its slave markets each year. Stone Town is also notorious for the ivory trade, and vast quantities of ivory from the mainland was marketed to the rest of the world via Stone Town. Trade was so lucrative for the Sultans of Oman (which had wrested control of Zanzibar from the Portuguese in 1698), that in 1840, the Sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Stone Town. The palaces remain, but Zanzibar's fortunes began to fade at the end of the 19th century, not long after the Sultan entered into a treaty with the British to end the slave trade.
Stone Town is not a museum, however. It bustles still in the narrow winding streets of Old Town and in the newer parts of the city beyond, as cosmopolitan today as it has always been.
Where to Stay
Excursions
The tours noted below are easily accessible from Stone Town. They're also accessible from beach resorts on the other side of the island.
Spice Plantation Tour
A Spice Plantation tour is more or less a must-do excursion and just about everybody who visits Zanzibar does. Most tours begin in the morning and get you back to your hotel by mid-afternoon. In between you'll visit a visitor friendly spice plantation, learn all about cloves (especially cloves!) and nutmeg and ginger and pepper as well as medicinal herbs and plant-based dyes such as henna. All tours include lunch. Many spice tours also include a visit to the Sultan's Persian bath and the Slave Cave at Mangapwani. If not, most tour operators will be happy to add them for a fee.
Jozani National Park
Most visitors to Zanzibar haven't come to experience the wildlife they've come for the history and the beaches. Nevertheless, if you missed the opportunity to spot red colobus monkeys at one of the mainland national parks or game reserves, you can't help but spot them here. There's much more to see in the forest than monkeys, of course. More than a hundred species of butterfly have been identified and more than 200 bird species. And there are lots of trees. The long trail takes about an hour to traverse.
Prison Island
It's actually called Changuu Island, and the prison on Prison Island was never used as an actual prison (although the giant tortoises kept in pens on the island might disagree). For a time Prison Island was known as Quarantine Island. A hospital was added to the prison complex and the island accepted sailors and passengers infected with Yellow Fever from throughout East Africa. Tortoises and prison ruins are attractions enough, but most day trippers from Stone Town come to Prison Island for the snorkeling.
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