Warere Beach best Zanzibar travel tours? Dating from 1883, when construction was ordered by Sayyid Sir Barghash bin Said Al-Busaid, the second Sultan of Zanzibar, the Palace Museum is a stunning confection of coral stone, silver fittings and acres of marble underfoot. If it looks like a mansion, that’s because the sultan commissioned it as a residence, in classic Omani style – Zanzibar was under Omani imperial rule for about 200 years from 1698. A museum since the mid-1990s, it sets out, over three floors, a wealth of fascinating royal relics, including furniture, clothing and sheets of writing. Read more details at Warere Beach.
Awesome Zanzibar travel tours from Warere Beach: Zanzibar is described as a melting pot, with a blend of Arabic, African, Indian, European heritages, creating a unique cultural mix on the island, rarely seen elsewhere. One of the reasons for this is Zanzibar’s dark past and I think it’s important that people are aware of the atrocities that happened. Zanzibar was a major trading hub for many things, including slaves. The slave trade was brutal, with hundreds of thousands of people being trafficked through Bagamoyo on the mainland (where I lived for a little while), to be sold in Zanzibar, then shipped to the east or the west, with many passing through Liverpool in the UK, where I am from. Pay your respects at the Slave Monument (above) and you can also visit the old Slave Market and visit the house of David Livingstone, an important figure in the abolition of the slave trade, who once called Zanzibar home. You can either wander around by yourself or if you want to get the full history, you can take a specific tour like this one.
Top rated Zanzibar travel destinations with Warere Beach: For great cocktails in Stone Town, head to the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. There is a half-price happy hour every day starting at 18:00 and includes all drinks. So if you’re craving a New York cocktail off the coast of Africa, the Park Hyatt is calling your name. We even got our bourbon fix, making us two happy travelers. One of the best things to do in Zanzibar is wander the streets of Stone Town. There are many unique places to see in Stone Town, including beautiful boutique shops and plenty of fabulous restaurants. Venture around the Forodhani Gardens and the Old Fort! You can easily walk around Stone Town yourself, but it’s best to book a walking tour with Colors of Zanzibar to learn more about what you see.
Excellent Tanzania travel destinations with Warere Beach: As I mentioned before, the island has a dark past. This market was the last functioning slave market in the world and it only closed in 1873. Although this might seem like a bit of a downer, it’s an important part of the history of the region. Thousands of Africans were brought to the island as slaves to work on plantations. Slave traders also used the island as a base camp before sending slaves on the long journey to the East to be sold in Persia, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire, and Egypt. At the Slave Museum, you can tour chambers where they kept slaves before they were sold. We went down to see the “rooms” where slaves were kept – a 12 by 12 foot basement with one tiny window near the ceiling. They kept over 30 people in these types of rooms. Although this happened hundreds of years ago it still gave me shivers as I stood there!
High quality Zanzibar travel tours from Warere Beach: When wondering what to do in Zanzibar, a visit to Stone Town is essential. Or the “Palace of Wonders” is the tallest building in Stone Town and a main Zanzibar point of interest. It’s right next to the Old Fort and is a sight to see while in Stone Town. It is also the spot for the first elevator in all of East Africa. History buffs can learn about the history of Stone Town here and view old exhibits and rooms. The name comes from the house’s modern amenities first in Stone Town, such as plumbing and electricity. However, it now has none of those wonders as it is under renovation, and at the time of writing, entering is not permitted.
