Zanzibar: The Spice Islands

Last updated on April 7, 2022

Zanzibar is an autonomous region of Tanzania composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago, a collection of several islands lying about 25 miles off the coast of Tanzania. The archipelago is also known as the Spice Islands. There are four main islands, three primary islands with human populations and a fourth coral island (Latham Island) that serves as an essential breeding ground for seabirds, plus a number of smaller islets that surround them. Unguja is the main island and is referred to informally as Zanzibar. It has a population of over 900k. Pemba Island is the second biggest and has a population of over 400k. Mafia Island is the third biggest and the only other island that is inhabited with over 45k people. The capital is Zanzibar City which is located on the island of Unguja. Its historic center, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site. Zanzibar’s main industries are spices, raffia and tourism with the the most common exports being cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper.

Off the Beaten Path Safaris dropped us off at the airport, or rather airstrip, where Griffin was crushed when the security folks confiscated all of the rocks that he had collected since December. There was a pile of them in the bottom of his suitcase. Whoops! We took a 12-seater plane from Seronera Airstrip in Serengeti National Park to Ndutu to pick up 2 more people. It was 30 minutes of nausea as the plane moved in all planes (X,Y,Z). 4/5 of us over the age of 6 took Zofran and felt slightly better. We flew over Ngorongoro crater and got a great view of the caldera. Only 45 more minutes of slightly smoother flying to Arusha and we transferred to a larger plane, maybe 30 seats, for the 1 hour flight to Zanzibar which was spoiled only by an inconsiderate woman removing her mask to repeatedly cough on the flight.

We spent the first night in Stone Town. Stone Town, also known as Mji Mkongwe (Swahili for “old town”), is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng’ambo (Swahili for “the other side”). Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja and is the former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate. It is hard to believe now, but in 1698, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman. A ruling Arab elite was established and encouraged the development of clove plantations, using the island’s slave labor. The slave trade flourished here and in fact was the center of the East African slave trade until 1873. Until 1886, Oman controlled a substantial portion of the east African coast. Control of Zanzibar eventually came into the hands of the British Empire in 1873 in part because of the political movement for the abolition of the slave trade. It stayed a British protectorate until 1964 when it became independent and joined Tanyanika to form Tanzania.

Stone Town is a city of prominent historical and artistic importance in East Africa. Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, giving a unique mixture of Arab, Persian, Indian and European elements. For this reason, the town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Some say Zanzibar is where the Swahili language was born.

The weather here is so much hotter than mainland Tanzania so we made a beeline for the pool and the ocean right outside the hotel. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. It was elegant and right on the beach and right in the heart of the old town. Trey and Marin played water skipball with the kids in the ocean for a while. They were super friendly and eager to play. They were enamored with Marin as she was the only girl in the water.

We went to Forodhani Gardens to walk around the park lined with vendors and restaurants. The park is in the middle of Stone Town and located along the main seawall just in front of some of the most famous buildings like the House of Wonders and the Old Fort. This area is especially busy after sunset when tourists and locals gather for the popular food market in the main square.

We had dinner at sunset at the Cape Town Fish Market, an outdoor seafood restaurant, which had live music, warm breezes and fun entertainment. It is right next to the pier where every night, local children gather to jump and flip off the side into some fairly shallow water depending on the tide. It is easy to get mesmerized by the acrobatic feats and smiling faces. Marin got henna done on her arm in a pretty floral pattern. Sy got a giraffe done, but wasn’t pleased with how it turned out because the legs seem to be facing the wrong way so he spent the next few days scrubbing at it to get it to fade faster.

The next day we took a 30 minute boat ride to Changuu Island (also known as Prison or Quarantine Island). It is a small island just off the western coast of Stone Town around 2,600 ft long and 750 ft wide at its broadest point. The island saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in the 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine. In 1893 a prison complex was constructed on the island, but no prisoners were ever housed there and instead it became a quarantine station for yellow fever cases. The station was only occupied for around half of the year and the rest of the time it was a popular holiday destination. More recently, the island has become a government-owned tourist resort and houses a collection of endangered Aldabra giant tortoises which were originally a gift from the British governor of the Seychelles. There were over 100 tortoises here up to almost 100 years old. I am not sure it is a great life as an older tortoise as they mostly stay in one place as people attempt to feed them. We did get to see tortoise sex which was quite acrobatic, very loud with lots of grunting and drooling and not a pretty site. This place was odd with a run-down hotel that could have been 100 years old with restaurants that were still open. Supposedly there is a resort hotel being built on the island, but I didn’t see it. It is a very pretty spot. The beach and coast are beautiful with clear blue water and white sand.

Tip: Wear a bathing suit under your clothes because it is really hot. You can swim right off the beach after visiting the tortoises and before the boat picks you up to go back to Stone Town.

We took a walking tour of Stone Town with a great, friendly, local guide and had lunch at a popular local food joint called Lukmaan. Trey ordered basically one of everything so we could try things. Marin went to the bathroom and came back and had the quote of the day, “Welllll, the floor was soaking wet, there was no toilet seat or paper, and a shirtless, very wet man came out of the women’s room. Like what was he doing in there? Swimming in the toilet?!” I got the giggles over the imagery of this one! The town is very interesting. Many of the buildings are made of coral rag, a rubbly limestone composed of ancient coral reef material. They are very brittle and I don’t know how they don’t come crumbling down.

We saw the House of Wonders, the largest and tallest building of Stone Town which occupies a prominent place on the old town’s seafront just behind the Forodhani Gardens. It was built in 1883 and it was named the “House of Wonders” because it was the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity and the first building in East Africa to have an elevator. Next to this is the Old Fort which is the oldest building in Stone Town. It was built by Omani Arabs after expelling the Portuguese in 1699 and used as a garrison and prison in the 19th century, and as a terminal of the Zanzibar railways from 1905-28. The fort is essentially a square of high, brown walls with merlons, protecting an inner courtyard. In the courtyard there are some remnants of earlier buildings, including those of a Portuguese church and an Omani fortification.

Zanzibar is known for its elaborate doors. These are massive teak or mahogany structures that grace the front of almost every building of note. The original Zanzibar doors owe their distinctive brass studs to India where they originated as a defense against war elephants used to batter down fortified doors in the tribal wars of Punjabi history. Needless to say, this distinctive feature has always been purely decorative in Stone T0wn as there are no elephants. Also now obsolete is the smaller door which opens within the bigger door. This allowed visitors to come through only one at a time, stooping as they did so, and prevented the larger doors from being forced open by a sudden attack by a hidden enemy. Each door is subtly different as they were tailored to the social position, religious practices and occupation of its owner. One of the more famous doors belonged to Tippu Tip, a wealthy Afro-Omani ivory and slave trader who is now reviled for his role. We walked past his grave which is (per our guide) purposely strewn with trash and no one attempts to clean it up.

Freddy Mercury was born here and there is a new local museum in his honor in town. Apparently, after he became famous he never returned to Zanzibar because his gay lifestyle was not approved of or acknowledged and he was worried he could be imprisoned or killed if he came back. Even now the museum only went through because some locals pushed for it to increase tourism.

We visited the East African Slave Trade Exhibit where we learned about the history of the slave trade in Zanzibar. It was very moving and somber for all of us and very comprehensive. The kids were especially shocked at the photos of slave children tied up and chained to large logs. They had a lot of questions for our guide and had a hard time understanding why people would do this to other people. We heard about the jail they were kept in if they survived the boat trip from their home country in east Africa. 25 women and children were in the small, low-ceiling room we sat in for 15 minutes and I couldn’t wait to get out due to the oppressive heat and confined space. The other room was about the same size and housed 50 men. Many of them died before they got sent to the market for sale. Slavery was outlawed in 1876, but didn’t officially end until 1897. After a push by British missionary Edward Steere, Christ Church was built on top of the site of the slave market. The construction of the cathedral was intended to celebrate the end of slavery. The altar is said to be in the exact place where the main “whipping post” of the market used to be. Edward Steere died of a heart attack when the cathedral was almost completed and was buried behind the altar. Inside the church there is a cross that was made from the wood of the tree that was used to carry David Livingstone‘s remains back to Britain for interment at Westminster Abbey. He died from malaria and internal bleeding due to dysentery and his heart was buried in Chitambo in present-day Zambia. The Livingstone Memorial, built in 1899, marks the spot where he died on May 1st, 1873

In the square just next to the church there is a well known monument to the slaves called “Memory For The Slaves” by Clara Sornas. It consists of five life-sized, concrete figures in chains emerging from a pit. It is extremely moving.

We visited the Big Body Spice Farm and learned all about the plants and trees that are used to create spices in Zanzibar…clove, coffee, cardamom, cinnamon, curry, vanilla, peanuts, mango, lime, coriander, nutmeg, and many others. The native Zanzibar people use these spices in natural medications. Our guide routinely said things like this…”if you have a stomach ache, add this herb to hot water and drink it in the morning.” Marin looks like she is wearing lipstick because the plant with the tiny red berries is used as lipstick! We tried about 12 fresh fruits and collected a bunch of palm creations, crowns, hats, bracelets, and rings. The kids really enjoyed this trip because it was so interactive.

We moved on to our last hotel on the north shore of Zanzibar, Gold Zanzibar Beach House & Spa. It is absolutely gorgeous with clear turquoise water that is almost bathtub temperature. We have a small pool right outside our bungalow that has a great view of the beach. The kids were in the water pretty much all day. We ended our day playing beach soccer with a bunch of kids and adults. It was so hot that the kids would sub out on the fly to jump in the pool and then run back into the game. Sand soccer is pretty tiring! I have no idea what this place costs per night as it was included in the safari fees, but we have a day butler and a night butler to fetch whatever we need, a man who seems to just get us coconuts to drink and eat each morning, a few housekeepers who tidy up our mess and do laundry and a guy who makes palm hats on request. I feel very spoiled! Unfortunately, our last few days here we battled a family cold that we are angrily blaming on the coughing woman on the most recent plane ride. Multiple negative covid tests later, we are on our way to Quito, Ecuador!