Freddie Mercury's birthplace is holiday hotspot with amazing beaches and food
Zanzibar’s Stone Town fish market is way too fascinating. I was so distracted by the mesmerising, colourful creatures for sale on the slabs I almost tripped over and landed on a swordfish.
Now that’s going to be an interesting insurance claim.
It’s just one of many memorable sights and experiences on this dazzling island, off the coast of Tanzania in East Africa.
Home to beautiful jungles, lively towns and white sandy beaches stretching for miles, it’s an Indian Ocean tropical paradise with plenty to offer beyond fly-and-flop hotels – which are admirably suited to the job if that’s all you want to do...
What to see
Stone Town fish market in Zanzibar
Traditional door in Stone Town on Zanzibar (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The UNESCO world heritage site of Stone Town is well worth spending a day in to discover its vibrant Indian, Arabic and African influences – and the horror of slavery.
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Its mix of cultures is revealed through historic wooden doors on houses. Made from mahogany and brass, the beautifully crafted doors convey which families used to live there through their design.
Spiky studs meant the home was owned by an Indian family (the knobs are a throwback to anti-elephant defences in India), while chains sculpted into the frame of the door denoted rich slavers.
Stone Town Slave Market Memorial and the church (Shutterstock / tr3gin)The Slave Market Memorial pays solemn tribute to the many thousands of Africans who were seized, separated from their families, beaten, sold to bidders at auction here and shipped abroad – with many dying on their appalling journeys overseas. An Anglican church now stands on what was one of the last slave markets in the world. It stopped operating in 1873 and still has the hole from the whipping post where slaves were hit to make them scream – a louder wail supposedly meant a strong spirit, so would attract a higher price.
Claustrophobic underground chambers where dozens of starving men, women and children would stand waiting for days until the next auction are a horrendous reminder of the trade. A tour of the former slave market site and memorial costs around £4.
Aerial view of Stone Town, Zanzibar (Getty Images/iStockphoto)A short walk away is the lively spice market, where powdered flavourings of every colour can be haggled over, and around the corner is that not-to-be-missed trip-hazard fish market.
Stone Town is the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, and the childhood home of the Queen frontman is now a museum dedicated to his remarkable life (freddiemercurymuseum.com, $10 for adults/$6 children).
The Old Fort, built in 1699 by Omani Arabs, is crumbling away but you can still access the battlements. A little art gallery filled with work from local artists was one of the gems I discovered up the stone steps there, plus market stalls selling wicker baskets, trinkets and souvenirs in the fort grounds. Well worth a look.
Freddie Mercury during the Live Aid concert (PA)Back on the street under the beating sun, and vendors selling nuts and cold water were a welcome sight. You can spend hours strolling through the narrow streets, where cats snooze on the warm pavements and everyone is greeted with a cheery “jambo!” from the shopkeepers.
Leaving Stone Town for our hotel, we travelled through a gloriously lush landscape with towering coconut palms lining the roads and banana trees gently waving their leaves in the balmy breeze.
The island is known for its delicious fresh fruit, with juicy papaya, pineapple and ripe mango for sale from little wooden stalls along the road. Mango is coated with sugar, salt and chilli powder as a tasty snack.
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Where to stay
Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa pool (DAILY MIRROR)My base was the luxurious Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa, a new five-star hotel complex at Muyuni Beach in Matemwe, on the north-east coast of the island.
Set amid 10 hectares of land, the deluxe all-inclusive property nestles between verdant jungle and the bath-like turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
The rooms are truly sumptuous. I was in a Garden Junior Suite on the ground floor with a balcony looking out over the tropical flowers and palm trees of the manicured grounds. An emperor-sized bed came equipped with a floor-to-ceiling mosquito net, which was pulled out as part of the hotel’s evening turn-down service.
Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa room (DAILY MIRROR)Meanwhile, the rainfall shower in the ensuite did the trick to rinse off sandy toes, helped by the hotel’s luxury range of shampoo, conditioner and lemon verbena body wash.
A well-stocked minibar featuring local beers, and a Nespresso coffee machine to perk you up after the cocktails of the night before added to the luxe finishing touches.
It’s hard to resist spending your time lazing around one of the four pools.
The quiet Garden Pool features a swim-up bar serving sparkling wine, fruity cocktails and a mean negroni. The gingerito is worth trying for a fiery twist on a classic mojito. Eventually, you’ll want to leave those pools to visit the four incredible restaurants.
Cheers! Emmeline Saunders enjoys a drink (DAILY MIRROR)The Aqua offers a sumptuous buffet three times a day, with a dedicated wok station for noodle dishes, a fish grill for the catch of the day (the king fish, a type of mackerel drenched in lemon, is a must), a pasta bar, salad and dessert stand, plus a groaning bread station for all your carbohydrate needs.
For quick bites shaded from the sun while resting your feet on the sand, head to the Beach Club Grill, while the Brazilian-inspired Carnivorous Restaurant comes alive at night to turn out garlicky rock lobster, rare steaks and grilled chicken.
Try Le Asiatique for a live teppanyaki show, where the skilled chef flambés freshly caught prawns, chicken and rice mere inches from your eyebrows.
If you are not stuffed, top it off with a trip to the moreish gelateria.
When you’re not eating or soaking up the sun, there are aquafit, beach volleyball and African dance classes to try your hand – and hips – at while working off some of those deliciously acquired calories.
A firm Balinese massage at the secluded spa will put paid to any aches and pains, while the tennis and padel courts are free to book for a pre-dinner game when the air is a little cooler.
The Emerald’s staff are friendly, kind and eager to teach guests some Swahili. For example, “maisha marefu”, which means “long life”, is the correct way to say cheers to your drinking companions.
What to do
Nutmeg at a Zanzibar spice farm (Getty Images)With a living coral reef – declared a marine conservation area – just a 15-minute boat ride from the beach, snorkelling is one of the best things to try outside of the resort.
The trip took us to the reef just off the private Mnemba Island (known locally as Bill Gates Island after the Microsoft billionaire stayed there) to duck beneath the waves and see the magical underwater world.
As well as coral, keep your eyes peeled for multicoloured parrot fish, stripy zebra fish, electric blue tang fish and even little orange and white ‘Nemo’ clown fish.
You can go further out in the boat to see dolphins skimming the surface of the water and playing in huge pods.
Back on dry land, the island of Zanzibar is famed for its spices. You can pay a visit to a spice farm to see crops of cloves (‘king of the spices’), red, white, green and black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
Bring Tanzanian shillings or US dollars and make sure you stock up on the freshest kitchen cupboard staples you’ll probably ever find.
As Freddie Mercury once famously said: “I like to be surrounded by splendid things.”
Thank you, Zanzibar: you were truly splendid.
Book it
- Tropical Sky offers seven nights on all-inclusive stays at the Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa from £1,599 per person, including flights from London on selected dates throughout 2023 and transfers. Find out more at tropicalsky.co.uk.
- More info at zanzibartourism.go.tz.
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