Welcome to Zanzi Info!

This blog has been created to become most comprehensive source of information about Zanzibar, not only for people who desire to visit this beautiful, exotic island, but also for ones who simply want to extend their knowledge.

Our main goal is to get the visitors interested in Zanzibar by providing notes about its history, culture, traditions and nature as well as touristic attractions&tips, curiosities, even cuisine.

For the very beginning, let's find out some basic information:

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar), and Pemba.

The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City. Its historic centre, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site and is claimed to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa.

Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands (a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia).

Zanzibar has a tropical climate. The heat of summer is often cooled by strong sea breezes associated with the northeast monsoon, particularly on the north and east coasts. Being near to the equator, the islands are warm year round. Rains occur in November but are characterised by brief showers. Longer rains normally occur in March, April, and May in association with the southwest monsoon.

The islands' nature is particularly appealing. Endemic mammals with continental relatives include the Zanzibar red colobus, one of Africa's rarest primates, with perhaps only 1,500 existing. Isolated on this island for at least 1,000 years, the Zanzibar red colobus is recognized as a distinct species, with different coat patterns, calls, and food habits than related colobus species on the mainland. The Zanzibar red colobus live in a wide variety of drier areas of coastal thickets and coral rag scrub, as well as mangrove swamps and agricultural areas. They are accustomed to people and the low vegetation means they come close to the ground.

Rare native animals include the Zanzibar leopard, which is critically endangered and possibly extinct, and the recently described Zanzibar servaline genet. There are no large wild animals in Unguja, and forest areas such as Jozani are inhabited by monkeys, bush-pigs, small antelopes, civets, and, rumor has it, the elusive leopard. Various species of mongoose can also be found on the island. There is a wide variety of birdlife and a large number of butterflies in rural areas. One cannot forget also about friendly marine mammals - dolphins - which are at the same time one of the greatest attractions for visitors.

The people of Zanzibar are of diverse ethnic origins. The first permanent residents of Zanzibar seem to have been the ancestors of the Hadimu and Tumbatu, who began arriving from the East African mainland around AD 1,000. They belonged to various mainland ethnic groups, and on Zanzibar they lived in small villages and did not coalesce to form larger political units. Zanzibar today is mostly populated by African people of Swahili origin, but there is also a minority population of Asians, originally from India and Arab countries.

Zanzibaris speak Kiswahili, a language which is spoken extensively in East Africa. Zanzibar is regarded as the home of Kiswahili, which is spoken in its purest form here and in pockets on the coast of Tanzania and Kenya. Many locals also speak English, French, or Italian.

[source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar]

Let it be a short start to our virtual trip through Zanzibar...