Zanzibar

About Zanzibar

Zanzibar is the main island of a semi-autonomous archipelago off the Tanzanian coast, shaped by centuries of spice and dhow trade. Its old quarter, Stone Town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a maze of coral-stone houses, brass-studded doors, rooftop cafes and lanes too narrow for cars, where the call to prayer drifts over the harbour.

Spend a morning on a spice farm crushing cloves, nutmeg and lemongrass between your fingers, then visit the site of the old slave market, where a cathedral now stands. In Jozani Forest, Zanzibar red colobus monkeys, found nowhere else, chatter overhead, and at night Forodhani Gardens fills with grills selling seafood skewers and Zanzibar pizza. Then the beaches: Nungwi and Kendwa in the north, where you can swim at any tide, and Paje and Jambiani in the east, where the sea pulls far back, women tend seaweed farms in the shallows and kitesurfers fill the lagoon.

June to October is dry, sunny and breezy, December to February hot and still, and the long rains fall from March to May. Direct flights connect Zanzibar with Nairobi, and light aircraft link it to Arusha and the Serengeti, so it is the classic place to finish a safari. It is part of Tanzania, so you need a Tanzanian e-visa even if you arrive straight from Kenya.