Zanzibar Photo Album

Our June 2019 holiday took us to the lovely, friendly island of Zanzibar, located just off the east coast of Africa. We flew with Emirates and FlyDubai via Dubai and then travelled for an hour by road to the Breezes Beach Club and Spa at Dongwe on the south east coast. Breezes is a lovely resort set right on a lovely beach and surrounded by extensive gardens.

We visited the famous 'Rock Restaurant', which has become almost a symbol of Zanzibar, and just ten minutes up the coast from our resort. On another day we took a 'walking tour' of Zanzibar City with it's ancient area called Stone Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We also took a short 30 minute sail to visit the nearby Changuu Island which is also knwn as 'Prison Island'. This is a small island 5.6 km northwest of Stone Town, Zanzibar. The island saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine. Historically, Prison Island was first used by Arab slave merchants as a place to detain slaves, and in 1890 the British built what was intended as a prison for Stone Town. Although the building was never actually used as a prison, it later became a quarantine station for Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda and what was then Tanganyika. It is now home to a large number of Giant Aldabran Tortoises.

First stop in Stone Town was at the 'East African Slave Trade Museum' which catalogues the horrors of the evil trade, in text, pictures and statues. Stone Town was host to one of the world's last open slave markets, presided over by Arab traders until it was shut down by the British in 1873. The slaves were shipped here in dhows from the mainland, crammed so tightly that many fell ill and died or were thrown overboard.

Stone Town is also the birthplace of Freddy Mercury, lead singer with the pop group, Queen. While we were photographing Freddy's Birthplace, we noticed a fellow member of Queen, Brian May and his wife Anita Dobson, across the road also photographing the house door. They were staying in the Palms Resort, adjacent to Breezes Beach Club, and just a few metres along the beach from our resort.

We travelled with Audley Travel who were extremely methodical with their planning, that ensured a perfect relaxing holiday.