Zanzibar: Spice, Sand and Swahili Soul

Stone Town

Stone Town, Zanzibar's historic capital, is a maze of narrow streets between tall coral-stone buildings with carved wooden doors. The Omani sultans who controlled the island's clove trade built an extraordinary urban landscape — one that UNESCO recognised in 2000. The Old Fort, the Palace Museum, and the narrow lanes around Hurumzi Street reward aimless wandering.

The slave trade memorial at the Anglican Cathedral, built on the site of the last open slave market in East Africa, is among the most affecting historical sites in the Indian Ocean region.

The Beaches

The east coast beaches — Paje, Jambiani, Dongwe — are the most beautiful: white sand, turquoise water, and at low tide the ocean retreats to reveal tidal flats where local women harvest seaweed for a small but important export industry.

Nungwi in the north is the most developed beach area, with water deep enough for swimming at all tides and a strip of beach bars. Kendwa next door has slightly less tourist infrastructure.

The Food

Zanzibar's night market at Forodhani Gardens is the best culinary experience on the island — vendors grill seafood on charcoal over the seafront, prices are negotiated, and you eat standing, watching the dhows on the harbour. Zanzibar pizza (not actually Italian — a stuffed flatbread with egg, cheese and various fillings) is the street food to seek out.

Spice Tours

Half-day spice tours from Stone Town visit working spice plantations — vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric — with excellent guides who explain both botany and economic history.