Zanzibar is an archipelago off the Tanzanian coast, and the usual counterpart to a mainland safari — a few days of beach and history after the game drives. Most itineraries connect the two with a short flight rather than a long drive.
The main island combines a historic port at Stone Town with white-sand beaches along the north and east coasts, and a spice-growing interior that gave the island its old trading name.
The archipelago has two main islands — Unguja, which is what most people mean by Zanzibar, and Pemba to the north, quieter and far less visited. Both sit between 25 and 50 kilometres off the mainland.
Its history is Swahili and Omani as much as Tanzanian: centuries as a trading hub for spices, ivory and enslaved people left a built environment and a culture noticeably distinct from the mainland. The islands remain semi-autonomous, with their own president and assembly.
Guests are picked up from Zanzibar Airport by a transfer specialist and taken to their hotel.
Flights run daily from Arusha, Kilimanjaro International and Dar es Salaam, and take well under an hour from the mainland. A ferry also runs from Dar es Salaam for those travelling overland.
Transfers from the airport to the northern beaches take around an hour and a half, and the east coast a little over an hour. Stone Town is fifteen minutes from the runway, which is why many itineraries put the town nights first.
Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a dense quarter of coral-stone houses, carved doors and narrow lanes that reward being walked rather than driven.
Jozani Forest protects the Zanzibar red colobus, a monkey found nowhere else, along with a boardwalk through mangrove.
The northern beaches at Nungwi and Kendwa have the widest sand and the least tidal variation, while the east coast is quieter and more tidal.
Mnemba Atoll off the north-east corner has the best reef access on the island, and Prison Island in the harbour holds a colony of introduced Aldabra giant tortoises.
Kizimkazi on the south coast is where the dolphin trips run from, and the shoreline either side of it is the least developed anywhere on the island.
A guided trip in Stone Town, a spice farm and Jozani Forest trip, and a dolphin trip are the standard components of a short Zanzibar stay.
Snorkelling, diving and dhow sunset cruises fill the rest of a stay, and are booked locally rather than in advance. Kite surfing runs on the windward side during the monsoon months.
A Stone Town walking tour usually takes in the Old Fort, the House of Wonders, the former slave market beneath the Anglican Cathedral and the Darajani market. It is done on foot because most of the quarter is too narrow for vehicles.
The seasons are set by two monsoons. The kaskazi blows from the north-east between December and March, bringing hot, still, clear weather; the kusi comes from the south-east from June to September and is cooler and breezier.
The long rains from late March through May are the wettest and quietest months, when many hotels reduce rates or close. November brings shorter, less disruptive rain.
Ramadan is worth checking against your dates — many restaurants in Stone Town close or shorten hours during daylight, though beach hotels are largely unaffected.
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