T
here’s something enchanting about Zanzi-
bar – a land formed from the Queen of She-
ba’s treasure. It starts with hits of African
spices and Arabian perfumes in the air, and
takes hold in the labyrinthine streets of
Stone Town, Zanzibar City’s historic precinct. Here salt-
encrusted mansions and spice markets hark back to an
era when Africa first met Arabia and then Asia. It’s sultry
and storybook beautiful, in an Arabian Nights way.
Zanzibar is a small group of islands in the Indian
Ocean two hours by boat of the coast of Tanzania. In
its heyday, the archipelago was a promised land for
sultans and merchants who made their fortunes in the
ivory, spice and slave trades and built lavish homes in
a distinctive design clash of Arab, Indian and Swahili
traditions in order to house their harems.
Now that the human trac has cleared and the
eunuchs and concubines have moved out, Zanzibar is
re-emerging in the modern world as a beach resortA coastal oasis
swirling with mystery,
Zanzibar is home to
an exquisite
assortment of
architecture,
including vibrant
stained-glass
windows of opulent
Indian homes and
tall, crisp-white
Arabian mansions.
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