Homeland of Freddie Mercury, island of spices, vibrant place of the slave trade in the past and a place of a variety of marine animal species - it's all about Zanzibar.
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| africatravelresource.com |
What you should know about Zanzibar?
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| grandvoyage.com.ua |
Zanzibar is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is a part of Tanzania, but, in fact, it is a separate autonomous territory with its own flag and even president. On the map Zanzibar appeared approximately in X century. In the Middle Ages the local population ruled the Sultanate of Oman, who built here slaves trade center. Later, the British captured the archipelago. As a result, Zanzibar has got an amazing mixture of Arab, Indian, African, European architectural traditions, culture and language.
Why to go for a vacation to Zanzibar?
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| ahlulbayt.tv |
To see dozens of palaces and mosques in Stone Town - the capital of the archipelago. Relax on the best beaches around the Indian Ocean. See exotic animals - rare monkeys, ancient turtles, tropical fish. Visit caves where slaves were languishing, which were then secretly transported on cargo ships and delivered to the slave markets of India, or Arab countries. And, of course, arrange a sightseeing holiday on the plantations of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or other fragrant spices. You can watch how they grow and how they collect spices, chocolate beans, herbs.
The beaches of Zanzibar
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| bsecrets.com.ua |
Zanzibar is famous for its wide sandy beaches with white sand and coral lagoons. Almost all of them are suitable for a beach holiday. In the north-eastern coast there are beaches, which are very popular with divers: Kivenga, Matenve, Uroa, Mapenzi. A Kizimkazi bay is one of the best places in Zanzibar, where you can see dolphins as close as possible. They regularly organize their hunting in the Gulf, so you can easily see the dolphin flock.
Diving in Zanzibar
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| tpg.ua |
What a holiday in Zanzibar without diving. In these waters, there are dozens of places for diving or swimming and snorkeling. The reef is home to many tropical fish and sunken merchant ships of the past centuries. One of the most beautiful and interesting dive spots is Boribi reef off the west coast of the archipelago. Under the surface of the water you can see the coral thickets, meet stingrays,parrot fish and giant crabs.
Natural parks in Zanzibar
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| guliver.me |
Resting on Zanzibar, we should not lose sight of the forest Dzhozani - protected area of the archipelago and the only place where there are no spice plantations. There you can see crawling snakes, mangrove trees and Red Colobus. These funny monkeys can not be seen anywhere else - only in the forest Dzhozani. The reserve is also a home to small antelope Suni, rare birds, butterflies and chameleons.
The capital of Zanzibar
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| guliver.me |
The Stone Town has grown from a small fishing village, it turned into a town with a maze of winding streets and absolutely chaotic arrangement of houses, where they kept and sold slaves, loaded on ships cloves and coconut oil. The main wealth of the city is its architecture: carved wooden doors, lace balconies and verandas at the background, absolutely white walls of houses. There are many beautiful palaces, temples, mosques.