COASTAL HOLIDAYS

 

ZANZIBAR  ISLANDS

 

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania. Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands.

 

Zanzibar Stone Town is a unique place. The intriguing history tells us about brave sea traders, explorers, Sultans and the fragrance of exotic spices. The exceptional architecture and construction of the coral stone buildings and narrow streets carry the imprints of the influences of various cultures and traditions brought in by the Stone Town inhabitants. Each building; its windows, its carved doors, its walls tells its own historical past. Zanzibar has great symbolic importance in the suppression of slavery, since it was one of the main slave-trading ports in East Africa and also the base from which its opponents such as David Livingstone conducted their campaigns.

 

The main island of Zanzibar, Unguja, has a fauna which reflects its connection to the African mainland during the last Ice Age. Endemic mammals with continental relatives include the Zanzibar red colobus, one of Africa's rarest primates, the Zanzibar red colobus may number only about 1500. Isolated on this island for at least 1,000 years, the Zanzibar red colobus is recognized as a distinct species, with different coat patterns, calls and food habits than its related colobus species on the mainland.

 

Rare native animals include the Zanzibar leopard, which is critically endangered and possibly extinct.  There are no large wild animals in Zanzibar, and forest areas such as Jozani are inhabited by monkeys, bush-pigs, small antelopes, civets, and, rumor has it, the elusive Zanzibar leopard.  There is a wide variety of birdlife, and a large number of butterflies in rural areas. Pemba island is separated from Unguja island and the African continent by deep channels and has a correspondingly restricted fauna, reflecting its comparative isolation from the mainland. Its best-known endemic is the Pemba Flying Fox.

 

Zanzibar’s brilliant white beaches lapped by the warm turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean provide the perfect place to relax soak up the sun and take a break from some busy sightseeing. The beaches in Zanzibar are a paradise, interspersed with picturesque fishing villages, where the people live a simple way of life, unchanged over the years. The waters between Zanzibar and Pemba are home to some excellent game fishing opportunities.