Fun things to do in Zanzibar Island

A great activity if you are one who gets up early. And it need to be at sunrise.

On the beach almost to the northern tip of the island is where the fish markets are each morning. The fishermen and marketeers tolerate visitors as long as you do not get in their way as they are buying and selling fish. Depending on the season and catch you can see huge tuna, kingfish and others that I knew nothing about.

Later in the day you can watch the women go out to fish. They wade out to the coral reef with huge nets, form a circle and bring the nets in. Facinating. They can catch small fish, octopus, and sell them to local cafes restaurants etc during the day.
One thing about this area - you will always be able to eat fresh seafood.

Baraka's Turtle Aquarium

Why didn't I have my camera this day? What a great time. There are two aquariums at Nugnwi and this is the smallest but the best (well that's what I thought anyway) - a bit of a walk or get a taxi. I just loved it.

Part of Baraka's Bungalows on West Beach this aquarium is nothing of what I was expecting. Basically it is an open cave and tidal pool. I thought the man feeding the turtles was joking when he said I could get in for a swim - until he went and got flippers and a towel for me.

I ended up spending several hours here - all for a total cost of about $US5, just relaxing, swimming and feding the turtles.

It is in direct competition with the neighbouring Mnarani Natural Aquarium and this too was interesting as they concentrate on conservation, but I enjoyed Baraka's and they seem to be getting into release and conservation now.

BEST TIME TO VISIT: as the tide is turning to - from high tide - otherwise you keep hitting the rocks.

Computer access was expensive in the resorts - actually anywhere it was expensive - and we seldom logged on until we found this place.

Nungwi School Computer room. The computers were not fantastic - and the power often went out - but we enjoyed logging on here. Cheaper than the hotel and all money went to help the school. Some of the kids would be happy to chat and offer to take you around the island - probably for a tip - but we didn't take them up on this.

This is an impressive old stone building almost next door to the Anglican Church of Christ Cathedral.

The main building used to be a hostel for nuns a missionary hospital, built over slave chambers.

Although today it is a hostel with an art gallery and craft shop, it is the basement which provides one of Zanzibar's simplest, but very most moving reminders of the horrors of the slave trade.

A stone staircase leads down from the entrance hallway to what was the dungeon where slaves were kept before being taken to market. It was small, dark, airless and people would have been horrendously cramped in these areas. Try to get a guide to really understand what this place was like during the slave years.

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The Anglican Cathedral is a popular Zanzibar Attraction. Situated on the site of the former slave market (closed in 1873) it is located on the eastern side of Stone Town and is the oldest Christian Church in East Africa.

The cathedral was constructed in 1877 by the Universities Mission in Central Africa (UMCA) after the slave trade was abolished. Construction of The Anglican Cathedral, was supervised by Bishop Edward Steere (1874-1882) and if you have a guide you can hear some interesting stories about this man and the building of the cathedral. The clock on the tower was gifted by Sultan Seyyid Barghash (1880).

The altar of the cathedral was built directly over the site of the Slave Whipping Post and outside is a monument to the memory of the numerous slaves who passed through the islands’ markets.

There is also a crucifix apparently made of the wood of the tree under which Dr. Livingstone’s heart was buried. It was his wish that his heart should remain in Africa.

I took a half day tour of a spice farm and enjoyed it very much. Lunch (local food) was included. The plantations are located in the middle of the island, where the rains are more abundant and not far from Stone Town.

In centuries gone by Zanzibar achieved fame and wealth thriving on spice the trade. A visit to a plantation is certainly very interesting, I was amazed at the variety of spices and fruits that we saw including; cloves, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, citronella grass, saffron and curious fruits like tope tope.

Our guides were sweet and made us bracelets and hats from grsses and we proudly wore them - all of us looking a but crzy. We did have to tip them for these items but it was worth it - they were friendly, helpful and it was faciniating watching them make rings, bracelets etc from the grasses and leaves.

One of the wonders is that this building is still standing - in a great state of disrepair but it is slowly being fixed up. It was built in 1883 and its true name is Beit-el-Ajaib (Arabic for 'House of Wonders'). It was the first house in in Stone Town to have electric light and one of the first in East Africa to have an electric elevator.

There is lots of "stuff"in here - some very interesting some not so good but it is well worth a visit.

The building was damaged in the "shortest war in history" when the British bombarded Zanzibar, and after the turn of the century was used, by the British, as local offices until the revolution in 1964.

There has been little progress in making this building into a museum but there are some of President Karume's old cars inside and covered in dust.

There is a very small bazaar at the front entrance - interesting clothes and items - somewhat expensive though.

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The Arab fort was built in 1780 by the Omanis and is almost next door to the House of Wonders.

The forst was used to protect people from attack from the mainland, it was then used as a prison.

There are left over ruins from a previous fortification and interesting artifacts to be seen.

The ground floor area now also houses a coffee shop and a few tourist shops. Prices inside here were much the same as anywhere else.

Apparently at night there is often a show (local music and dancing) in the arena.