Zanzibar Island Things to Do

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Stonetown has many old buildings that are of interest, the names of all that I visited are back in my notes so I cant list them at the moment.
We visited churches and houses, some with spectacular carved wooden doors and windows.
Just keep your eyes open and look all around you.

Stonetown is known as the capital of Zanzibar Island and when locals refer to Zanzibar sometimes they are actually talking about Stonetown and not the island as a whole.

Stonetown is like a melting pot of cultures, sometimes I knew I was in Africa, others I felt like I was in the Middle East....its an amazing place......great to explore on foot.

One of my first nights in Zanzibar was spent in the Africa House Hotel in Stonetown....sitting on the rooftop bar drinking yummy drinks and watching the sunset over the ocean.....Totally amazing.

Later on we went inside and watched the footie on the widescreen! A luxury when you are travelling! LOL

I stayed on the east coast and the warter was very clear and nice for snorkelling. But the coral death has taken its toll and you really had to get out of the lagoons and beyond the inner reefs to see much interesting stuff. Coral reefs and banks around a small island off the NE side of Zanzibar was very good, highly recommended.

We went to this gorgeous farm a little outside the centre for a spice tour. It was very interesting since the guide knew alot about all the spices and could tell us what they have been used for medecinally, folklores about them and how they are used today. We also got accustomed with fruits I have never seen before, like jackfruit, which I thought smelled really really awful. A little boy run up in a tree and fetched us a pineapple, we picked ginger right from the earth and tasted cinnamon right from the cinnamon tree. At the end of the tour you went to the spice store and bought all herbs and spices you could find. It was very nice and all my friends loved the spices I brought home.

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This palace was home to the Throne of the Al-Busaid Dynasty.
Afterh the 1964 Revolution, the palace was used by the government for official gatherings and was out of bounds to the public.

In 1994, when President Salmin Amour finally gave his consent, the palace was made into a museum. A beautiful building, the exterior depicts the influences of the time, the white two storey building sits overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Unfortunately not all of the last Sultan's possessions are in the palace as some have mysteriously disappeared without trace! ( sadly, this took place over the years before the palace was converted into a museum).

Displays of some of Zanzibar's trading commodities of the early nineteenth century can be seen, these include cloves, tortoise shells and ivory.

The first floor contains all the ceremonial halls. It has a State Room and a Banquet hall (were the sultan hosted his 'Idd barazas') expanded in the 1930s to accommodate more people.

...if you forget about the luxury resort waiting you a few meters away.

This kind of resorts have mushroomed in the Eastern coast of the island, but, as far as I could see, most of them tried to blend in the environment and their impact did not seem to very very brutal.

Beaches in Zanzibar are fantastic: the epitome of a tropical paradise, with withe sands, turquise waters, leaning coconuts and a soft sea breeze. Besides, they are not very crowded and you can still find a beach entirely for yourself.

At least, it was like that when I was there back in 1999, but it is true that the island was seeing a considerable development, so things might have changed.