Online - December 18, 2004

Old Spice

DailyCandy Goes to Zanzibar

Zanzibar: actual place or wacky myth? It’s real, and it’s worth seeing. The archipelago, which lies in the Indian Ocean, just off the east coast of Tanzania, is at once palm-tree beautiful (Mnemba Island Resort) and historically fascinating (Marco Polo slept here). It’s African (the main language is Swahili), Muslim (no tank tops in town, please), Indian (curry! jewels!), Arab (the sultan’s palace), and even formerly communist (the Chinese-built airport, the East German housing block outside Stone Town).

Come here to relax after safari, or just to be only one of your friends who even knows where the heck it is. The best time to visit is November through March.

You land in Stone Town, and you’ll want to stay for a few days. The cab will only take you so far; then you’re on your feet through the maze-like medina. (Your driver will escort you.) Check into Emerson & Green, where each of the fifteen rooms has a theme. The Ballroom is huge, but the East Room and the South Room are open-air, latticed fairy tales. Book at the Tower Top restaurant in advance (only 24 are seated per night), and get there early (it’s the best sundown in town).

Stone Town has historical sites aplenty, but you’ll want to day-trip to little islands like Chumbe (the coral reef!) and Prison Island (leper colony back then, home to three-foot tortoises and peacocks now).

Stop at one of many spice plantations along the way. See them all, or pick your pleasure, from cinnamon and cloves to turmeric and black pepper. (You haven’t tasted spices till you’ve plucked them off the vine.) Wave hello to the indigenous red colobus monkeys in the Jozani Forest.

Then hit the beaches to the east, south, and north of Stone Town. This is where Zanzibar earns its lunch money. You can snorkel and scuba in bath-warm water with fish and coral so vibrant they’ll make your new plasma screen look gray. The best dive sites are Ras Nungwi on the north coast and Fumba on the south. Swim with the dolphins at Kizimkazi.

Save the best for last — Mnemba. Put it this way: The tiny north-coast island is where Bill Gates spent his honeymoon. The ten-hut wonder feels less like a hotel and more like a visit with an outrageously generous and well-connected friend. (Pleasure to meet you, Duchess.) The snorkeling and dive sites (especially the Aquarium) are so breathtaking you’ll swear you’re no longer on earth.