In the same period, famous missionaries and discoverers came to the island in order to buy supplies and hire porters, and to get permission from the sultan to continue their travels into the unknown Africa. The most distinguished, David Livingstone, did not have high thoughts of the people of Zanzibar. His impression of them was that they were lazy, not willing to do much more than eat, get drunk and sleep. He came up with another name for the island,” Stinkibar”, due to the poor sanitary conditions.

In 1964, the sultan was thrown out of power by a blood shredding revolution, and the same year the island went in to union with the mainland, Tanganyika, and formed the united republic of Tanzania with the late Mr. Julius Nyerere of the CCM party as the President. Zanzibar has its own parliament which controls the island. In the past years, people are expressing their wish for a different ruling system within the union, with 3 separate parliaments for Zanzibar, Tanganyika and Tanzania, and we remain to see what will happen. The opposition is strong in the coastal areas and the islands, but so far the CCM is still ruling.

Stone Town: The main attraction here is without a doubt the old Arabic area. Stroll around the narrow streets with old architecture, which is characteristic for the Swahili towns on the East African coast. Though fascinating and interesting, Stone Town is not worth spending all you time in. After getting the feel of the town and visiting the attractions, the next thing you should do is to head up along the coast, find your own paradise and relax for a while.  A range of budget hotels and luxury lodges are set up along the coast, where you can enjoy white sand,  gentle waves, fishing villages, swimming with dolphins and coral reefs. Most hotels organize snorkeling, diving and boat trips among others. The best time to visit Zanzibar is between June and mid March, with the hottest months from January. From Dar es Salaam you can take an express boat to Stone Town, the trip takes about 1.5 hours. The flight from Dar es Salaam takes 25 minutes, from Arusha the flight takes 1 hour.