Throughout the world, there are few better holiday venues than Zanzibar. We recommend that Kilimanjaro is climbed before Zanzibar is visited. Doing it the other way around will mean that at times of hardship and discomfort on the mountain the imagination will return to this recently-visited island paradise, making the necessary privations of a mountain expedition somewhat rueful by comparison with the many delights enjoyed on Zanzibar Island.
Having climbed Kilimanjaro, a good plan is to fly out from Arusha directly to Zanzibar. The flight takes an hour and costs around £90 one way. From the airport, take a taxi to Stonetown, the most interesting quarter of downtown Zanzibar. It’s worth spending at least a couple of nights here in one of its excellent hotels, before taking the 45 minute drive across the island to the incomparable East Coast, the diver’s paradise.
Here, if availability can be found, try to stay at the Matemwe Beach Resort. Under priced from around $50 a head low season, this is one of East Africa’s best guesthouses, and the ideal base from which to launch diving excursions off the famous Mnemba Atoll. For the non-diver, the swimming, snorkelling, sailing, fishing and reef walking are second to none.
After a couple of days on the quiet East Coast you’ll need to head back to Zanzibar airport from where flights can also be purchased to Nairobi, if this was the airport to which you flew when you began your unforgettable adventure a couple of weeks before.
