Once the trading centre for the whole of East Africa, Zanzibar and its surrounding islands, are part of a great coral reef stretching down Africa's Indian Ocean coast. The islands now belong to Tanzania.
The coastlines of these "Spice Islands", which have supplied the world with aromatic spices like cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon ever since they were discovered by Arab traders in the 8th century, are some of the most seductive in the world. They lie in aquamarine seas under the huge equatorial sun. Sugar white beaches slope gently to waters teeming with life. The sensual beauty of the islands of Zanzibar has always been a well kept secret among the world's travellers, artists and discoverers. This is a perfect part of the world to unwind in the warm breeze, relax and enjoy life.
Tanzania and its islands are 3 hours ahead of GM time.
When to go
Located close to the equator Zanzibar is hot and humid all year round. There are two rainy seasons, April to mid June, and for the month of November. During these low seasons there can be heavy downpours but there is still a respectable average of seven to eight hours sunshine per day.
Many of our properties are closed for the months of April and May.
Getting there
Zanzibar and its islands are just a short flight from some of Tanzania and Kenya’s wildest parks. There are frequent flights to Zanzibar from Dar es Salaam which take 20 minutes. Air Kenya flies from Nairobi to Zanzibar.
If you are travelling to Zanzibar after a South African safari, South African Airlines now flies twice weekly direct from Johannesburg to Zanzibar.
If you want to fly straight from the UK there are several options:
- British Airways flies three times a week from Heathrow to Dar es Salaam, taking about ten hours. From here it is a 25 minute light aircraft flight over to Zanzibar.
- Kenya Airways flies to Zanzibar airport via Nairobi.
- KLM and Swissair fly from the UK (from Heathrow and regional airports) to Dar es Salaam via Amsterdam and Zurich respectively. From here it is a 25 minute light aircraft flight over to Zanzibar.