What You Didn’t Know About Zanzibar

Last week we mentioned that biking around Zanzibar was on our Tanzania bucket list.  This is an Island we will almost insist you visit when you plan your trip to Tanzania, it is an unforgettable experience so different from mainland Africa. It is here that the spice trade between the Arab and Indians began – and the whispy feeling of ancient Arab lands lingers in the doorways of Stonetown.

Zanzibar

Not to mention, the beaches are simply spectacular, with clear blue water and white sand beaches.

Here are five things you may not have known about Zanzibar:

• People have lived here for 50,000 years
• Even today, the island continues to produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.
• You can find the red colobus monkey here –one of the rarest monkeys in Africa
• People say the purest form of Swahili is spoken on Zanzibar (you might here one of them say “Swahili was born in Zanzibar, died in Dar and buried in Kenya.”)
•  Freddie Mercury from the band Queen was born on Zanzibar. An eponymous restaurant serves delicious seafood near the ferry terminal