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luxury set settles in. There’s the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, the luxurious Hideaway of Nungwi Resort & Spa and the Hakuna Majiwe Lodge, which actually takes the thatched roof vernacular architecture to another level with its 20 cabanas. I stayed at the Royal Zanzibar Beach Resort, which could patent its five-star Zanzibar experience: infinity pool, private beach, lush gardens, four-poster beds, teak furniture and multiple restaurants, including cliff-perched Samaki. But don’t be like travelers who, weary from safari and sleeping in tents, simply stay put in one of these resorts, venturing only from room to beach to water to restaurant. On the main island alone, there’s simply too much else to see. That’s where you’ll find the remarkable Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a labyrinth city of alleyways and historic architecture. Everywhere in the alleys of this beautiful, hypnotic and slightly shambolic town I saw evidence of Zanzibar’s checkered past; the place was prominent in the ivory trade and the slave trade. Over time, the islands became a source for some of the finest spices in the world. Your hotel can arrange a guide to steer you through the maze of the city, which is reminiscent of the medina of Marrakech, a jumble of antique and souvenir shops, cafés and remarkable architecture. Keep your eyes open for the famous carved wooden doors, many covered in pointed brass studs—the studs were to keep elephants from casually barging in. Now they look like museum objects. The doors on Baghani Street are particularly stunning. Zanzibar is known as a spice island and indeed, the air in Stone Town is fulsome with the perfume of cloves and nutmeg. The fragrances grew even more intense when we reached the Darajani bazaar, where vendors had piled high the island’s bounty: dodo mangoes and passionfruit, along with grapefruit, jackfruit and baobab seeds. The sea was the star in the market hall, which dates from 1904. Here were the fruits of the Indian Ocean, from parrotfish to octopus and triggerfish. As you wander through Stone Town, you’ll see 19th-century mansions that have been restored and turned into smart cafés, shops and boutique hotels. Of particular note is the House of Wonders, or Beit-alAjaib, which was built as a ceremonial palace in 1883 and is now a museum of local life. (At the entrance, look for two 16th-century Portuguese bronze cannons; in the inner courtyard there’s a mtepe, a traditional Swahili boat.) From the wharves at Stone Town, you can watch the fishing dhows with triangular sails set off, a centuries-old design for traders plying the Arabian Gulf. As for those beaches, most resorts will feature a beach outside your door. But if you want to be more This page, from top: a red colobus monkey, indigenous to Zanzibar but endangered after years of habitat destruction; a child frolicking with a flock of seagulls on a pristine white-sand Zanzibar beach; snorkeling in the crystal-blue waters. Opposite: Michanwi Pingwe beach’s The Rock restaurant at high tide.
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