Getting married in July and am thinking of going to Zanzibar for a few weeks. Anyone persuade me to go or not?

ta

Funny, just been chatting to a mate about it, she said it’s awesome and recommended the Z Hotel. I’m going to Kenya in June, will spend the second week on Zanzibar if the first week doesn’t kill me.

The mrs and I had a week in Zanzibar at the end of our honeymoon. Climbed Kilimanjaro the first week, went on safari for a week then had a week of chilling on the beach to finish with. Top place. Make sure you book a night or two in Stone Town as well as at time at the beach (beaches are at the north of the island IIRC), it’s well worth exploring.

I certainly wouldn’t go to Zanzibar for a few weeks. We visited about 18 months ago when we ended a trip to Tanzania with a week there which was more than enough time. It’s nowhere near as idylic as some of the other Indian Ocean islands I’ve visited and there’s not much to do. The beaches we visited were pretty dirty in comparison with other places I’ve visited and I was suprised by the amount we got hassled (far, far more than we did on the mainland). Stone town is worth a look, but it’s pretty touristy and I think you could see everything of interest in a day.

We did have an amazing night on Chumbe Island (a coral conservation park and island off the south coast) which I highly recommend visiting. Expensive, but worth every penny. The snorkelling (tourists aren’t allowed to dive) was some of the best I’ve ever done if you’re into marine life.

I’d consider it alongside a trip to the mainland if I were you, maybe combine it with a safari?

Depends what you’re looking for and your budget, but also consider Pemba – it’s a lot quieter and unspoilt from what we saw.

B

i-dave, the Z hotel was one of the ones i was looking at.
Just need to consider whether i can spend 2 weeks lazing around.
I’m quite fidgety and usually need plenty of distractions after 30 minutes of lying on a beach / around a pool.

We stayed here for a week.bloody superb, if you take one of the bungalows you get a private dip pool and your own chef who comes and plans your menu for the next day for you.
here……

Then here for a week,

there…….

in this room

And it was really very good indeed.

finished off there after a fantastic but exhausting trip from Nairobi to Dar es salaam on a truck…spent three days on the Island, one day in Stonetown- worth a visit but a day is suffucient and then over to the North beaches for R&R. I’d struggle with a fortnight there tbh, but did like visiting the local village outside of the complex and engaging with the local fishermen whilst repairing their handbuilt little wooden fishing boats at low tide.

It was a crap nightclub. It’s probably for the best its closed down now. But I’m not sure what it’ll be like to stay in at the moment!

We went for out honeymoon 3 years ago to Tanzania followed by a week on Zanzibar.

We stayed on the southern edge of the island, the name of the ‘resort’ escapes me, I’ll try and find it later. We found it incredibly relaxing, but you had to as there is not much else to do. We were disapointed with the beaches where we were, the tidel flow was so extreme that you had to walk out for about 10mins to get to the sea at low tide across very sharp and dangerous coral. I have heard other people say that the beeches are not quite as nice as the brochures make out. We certainly thought we had been to better in the med.

Stone town is worth a visit. We stayed in a fantastic quirky little hotel… right next to 2 local mosques. We didnt really see much of stone town itself though as we spent 36 hours with severe d&v to the point we nearly ended up in hospital.

One thing I would say is be prepared for the poverty, although one of the richest places in Africa there are still some very poor people, and we actually felt guilty as much as the money we put in to these nice posh hotels, doesnt actually get in to locals hands.

Never been, but this song has always made me want to go – and the above make it sound great!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jew6sJW_usc[/video]

Be careful in Africa

We got engaged in Zabibar on Kendwa(sp?) beach, lovely spot.

‘A few’ weeks would be too long for me though, I’d be bored after a week.

me n mrs fg got group mugged when doing a guided tour around a spice farm; 4 blokes with machetes and a pistol! 😯
spent 3 days in zanzibar including 1 night in stonetown and the other 2 up north at a beach resort.
prefered kenya to be honest

have to agree about the guilt trip, there’s some real reality trips to experience whilst there, suppin on a G&T when fisherman a few yards down the coast stuggle to make a living….that was my lasting memory 🙁

I was there for a few days in ’95, great place then, although I did spot some floaters in the sea 😯

Had a couple of trips there on the end of independant backpacking/safari trips on the mainland. A weeks sufficient – the second time we went it felt like we were revisiting someplace that didn’t really warrant it – should have gone to Pemba or Chumbe instead. Sorted out accommodation when we got off the hydrofoils. Course all this was 20/15 years ago so Stone Town may have the Golden Arches & open top Sightseeing buses by now! Understand from friends that it has seen some touristification since we were there.
For what it’s worth we spent a day walking in the rainforests – red colobus monkeys were wonderful – a couple of days on the east coast on a perfect beach deserted except for fishermen in the lagoon, and the rest of the time wandering around Stone Town, local markets and watching the sun go down from the balcony bar at the Africa House Hotel.