Things to do in Zanzibar (Unguja)
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Mr Mitu's Office
Organise spice tours through your hotel, a travel agent, the Tourist Information Office or through the long-standing Mr Mitu's office, although the tours are no longer led by Mr Mitu, and don't differ significantly from those organised elsewhere, other than perhaps being more crowded. The office is signposted near Ciné Afrique. Costs for all tours include a lunch of local food seasoned with some of the spices you've just seen.
They depart about 09:30 and return by about 14:30 (later, if a stop at Mangapwani beach is included). It's best to book a day in advance (you will be collected from your hotel), though it's usually no trouble to just show up in the morning. If you …
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Stone Town
If Zanzibar Town is the archipelago's heart, Stone Town is its soul. It's magical jumble of cobbled alleyways make it easy to spend days wandering around and getting lost - although you can't get lost for long because, sooner or later, you'll end up on either the seafront or Creek Rd.
Nevertheless, each twist and turn of the narrow streets brings something new - be it a school full of children chanting verses from the Quran, a beautiful old mansion with overhanging verandas, or a coffee vendor with his long-spouted pot fastened over coals.
Along the way, watch the island's rich cultural melange come to life: Arabic-style houses with their recessed inner courtyards rub sho…
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Safari Blue Menai Bay Dhow Tours
For something different, contact Safari Blue Menai Bay Dhow Tours, which organises day excursions on well-equipped dhows around Menai Bay. The excursions, which leave from Fumba, include a seafood and fruit lunch, plus snorkelling equipment, and time to relax on a sandbank. The dhows can also be privately chartered, for honeymoons or groups. Before booking, it's worth checking weather conditions, as some months - notably April/May and July/August - can get quite windy or rainy.
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Darajani Market
The dark, narrow passageways of the chaotic Darajani market assault the senses, with occasional whiffs of spices mixing with the stench of fish, the clamour of vendors hawking their wares, neat, brightly coloured piles of fruits and vegetables, and dozens of small shops selling everything from plastic tubs to auto spares. It's just off Creek Rd, and at its best in the morning before the heat and the crowds, when everything is still fresh.
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Dhow Countries Music Academy
Near the port you'll find the Old Dispensary. Upstairs are the offices of the Dhow Countries Music Academy where you can organise dance and drumming lessons, and buy CDs with local and regional music.
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Beit el-Ajaib
One of the most prominent buildings in the old Stone Town is the elegant Beit el-Ajaib, now home to the Zanzibar National Museum of History & Culture. It's also one of the largest structures in Zanzibar.
It was built in 1883 by Sultan Barghash (r 1870-88) as a ceremonial palace. In 1896 it was the target of a British naval bombardment, the object of which was to force Khalid bin Barghash, who had tried to seize the throne after the death of Sultan Hamad (r 1893-96), to abdicate in favour of a British nominee. After it was rebuilt, Sultan Hamoud (r 1902-11) used the upper floor as a residential palace until his death. Later it was used as the local political headquarters o…
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Beit el-Sahel
Just north of the Beit el-Ajaib is the palace, Beit el-Sahel, which served as the sultan's residence until 1964, when the dynasty was overthrown. Now it is a museum devoted to the era of the Zanzibar sultanate.
The ground floor displays details of the formative period of the sultanate from 1828 to 1870, during which commercial treaties were signed between Zanzibar and the USA (1833), Britain (1839), France (1844) and the Hanseatic Republics (1859). There is also memorabilia of Princess Salme, a Zanzibari princess who eloped with a German to Europe and later wrote an autobiography. The exhibits on the 2nd floor focus on the period of affluence from 1870 to 1896, during whi…
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Freddie Mercury Tours
One of Zanzibar's most famous sons is Queen lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, born Faroukh Bulsara in 1946 in Stone Town to Parsee parents. He lived on the island until he was about eight years old, when he was sent off to India to boarding school. His family left Zanzibar in the wake of the 1964 revolution, never to return. There's no agreement as to which house or houses Freddie - he acquired the name while at school in India - and his family actually occupied, and several make the claim.
For anyone wanting to make a Mercury pilgrimage, two good places to start are the Zanzibar Gallery, with a gold plaque on the outside memorialising Mercury, and the popular Mercury's rest…
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Mtoni Palace Ruins
The ruins of Mtoni Palace, built by Sultan Seyyid Said as his residence in the early 19th century, are located just northeast of Maruhubi Palace. In its heyday, the palace was a beautiful building with a balconied exterior, a large garden courtyard complete with peacocks and gazelles, an observation turret and a mosque. By the mid-1880s the palace had been abandoned, and during WWI parts of the compound were used as a supplies storehouse.
Today nothing remains of Mtoni's grandeur other than a few walls, although you can get an idea of how it must have looked once by reading Emily Said-Reute's Memoirs of an Arabian Princess. To get here, continue north on the main road pas…
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Old Fort
Just south of the Beit el-Ajaib is the Old Fort, a massive, bastioned structure originally built around 1700 on the site of a Portuguese chapel by Omani Arabs as a defence against the Portuguese. In recent years it has been partially renovated to house the Zanzibar Cultural Centre, as well as the offices of the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). Inside is an open-air theatre that hosts music and dance performances.
There's also a small information centre that has schedules for performances, and a good restaurant. The tree growing inside the fort, in the area in front of the café, is known in Swahili as mwarobaini (the tree of forty) because its leaves, bark and…
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Kidichi Persian Baths
The Kidichi Persian Baths are another construction of Sultan Seyyid, built in 1850 for his Persian wife at the island's highest point. Like the other nearby ruins, they're rather unremarkable now, but with a bit of imagination, you can see the Sultan's lavishly garbed coterie disrobing to test the waters. The décor, with its stylised birds and flowers, is typically Persian, though it's now in poor condition.
To get here, take dalla-dalla 502 to the main Bububu junction, from where it's about a 3km walk east down an unsealed road. Look for the bathhouse to your right.
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Divers Alert Network Southern Africa
You can check the Divers Alert Network Southern Africa website for a list of Zanzibar and Pemba-based operators that are part of the DAN network. If you choose to dive with an operator that isn't affiliated with DAN, it's highly recommended to take out insurance coverage with DAN.
There's now a decompression chamber in Matemwe (otherwise the closest ones are in Mombasa, Kenya - an army facility and not necessarily available to the general public - and in Johannesburg, South Africa).
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Beit el-Amani
The larger of the two buildings that make up this museum previously contained a poorly presented history of the island from its early days until independence, while the smaller building across the road housed a decaying natural history collection. Both are in the process of being rehabilitated and merged with the Zanzibar National Museum of History & Culture at the Beit el-Ajaib, and are currently closed.
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Livingstone House
Livingstone House was built around 1860 and used as a base by many of the European missionaries and explorers before they started their journeys to the mainland. Today it's mostly remembered as the place where David Livingstone stayed before setting off on his last expedition. Now it houses the office of the Zanzibar Tourist Corporation. You can walk from town, or take a 'B' dalla-dalla.
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Maruhubi Palace Ruins
The once-imposing Maruhubi Palace Ruins was built by Sultan Barghash in 1882 to house his large harem. In 1899 it was almost totally destroyed by fire, although the remaining ruins - primarily columns that once supported an upper terrace, an overhead aqueduct and small reservoirs covered with water lilies - hint at its previous scale. The ruins are just west of the Bububu road and signposted.
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4 Day Zanzibar Retreat
4 days (Zanzibar)
The Spice Island of Zanzibar is the perfect destination to explore and relax after one of our East African adventures.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$820 -
5 Day Zanzibar Retreat
5 days (Zanzibar)
The Spice Island of Zanzibar is the perfect destination to explore and relax after one of our East African adventures.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$890 -
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Old Slave Market
The Anglican cathedral was built on the site of the old slave market alongside Creek Rd. Although nothing remains of the slave market today, other than some holding cells under St Monica's Hostel next door, the site remains a sobering reminder of the not so distant past. Services are still held at the cathedral on Sunday mornings; the entrance is next to St Monica's Hostel.
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Watching Local Football
Zanzibaris are passionate football fans, and watching a game is a good introduction to island life. Stroll by Mnazi Mmoja Sporting Grounds any weekend afternoon, and you're likely to catch a match. For early risers, there are also usually informal pick-up games most mornings at daybreak in the fields lining Kaunda Rd, diagonally opposite the Mnazi Mmoja grounds.
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Mbweni Ruins
Mbweni Ruins was the site of a 19th-century UMCA mission station that was used as a settlement for freed slaves. In addition to the small and still functioning St John's Anglican church, dating to the 1880s, you can see the atmospheric ruins of the UMCA's St Mary's School for Girls, set amid lush gardens on the grounds of the Mbweni Ruins Hotel.
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Hamamni Persian Baths
Built by Sultan Barghash in the late 19th century, these were the first public baths on Zanzibar. Although they're no longer functioning and there's no water inside, they're still worth a visit, and it doesn't take much imagination to envision them in bygone days. To get in, you'll need to ask the caretaker across the alley to unlock the gate.
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Mcheza Bar
Next door to Mtoni Marine Centre is this recently completely refurbished beachside sports bar, with a mix of booth and table seating, two big screens, plus burgers and pub food, seafood, South African steaks and a pizza oven. A sushi bar is set to open soon on the adjoining beach. There's live music on Saturday evenings in season.
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Victoria Hall & Gardens
Diagonally opposite Mnazi Mmoja hospital is the imposing Victoria Hall & Gardens , which housed the legislative council during the British era. The hall is not open to the public, but you can walk in the small surrounding gardens. Opposite is the State House, also closed to the public.
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Raintree Restaurant
Elegant dining in a lovely setting overlooking the surrounding gardens and the water, delicious seafood grills and salads. Special features include occasional evening beachside barbecues, and a Sunday lunchtime curry buffet.
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Zanzibar Serena Inn
For an introduction to taarab music, stop by the Zanzibar Serena Inn, where the Twinkling Stars play on Tuesday and Friday evening on the veranda from about 6pm to 7.30pm.
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