I posted this in African Travel, but figured it might get more exposure on this forum:

Ms AAW is coming with me on my Tanz trip in October and wants to visit Zanzibar. I have never been - can anyone give me ideas? Anyone know a travel agent that can set up my travel and recommend what to see/do in Zanzibar?

Bwanamrm and I visited Zanzibar before a fishing trip to Tanzania in October. Two or three days is plenty of time to see all you need to see. We fished one day with fulvio’s son (Stefano Gianola +255 786 058 370). Spent another day visiting the slave market area, the spice and fish markets, the shops in old town and Prison Island. The tours were arranged through the hotel. The day we arrived we just hung out at the hotel. We flew direct to Zanzibar, then took a commuter flight to Dar. We were not traveling with guns. We stayed at the Ndame Hotel. Adequate and inexpensive, food was good. The crowd there was more of a party crowd and it was noisy in the evenings. I think we both would opt for other accommodations in retrospect. Patrick Wright with PWP Travel made a couple of trips over there last year too so he might have some information on accommodations, etc.

In the unlikely event that you are a duiker nut you could organise a quick hunt for Aders duiker on Zanzibar. Div Pretorius who is now with Kilombero North Safaris, specialises in them.

Always wanted to go to Zanzibar as there is so much history there, but never could spare the time after a hunt. Mike, great idea to just go fishing.

Pom, Michel Mantheakis started the Zanzibar duiker hunts a few years back. In addition to Anders Duiker, there is a Zanzibar Suni and a Sundervald's blue duiker. A very specialized hunt. Dive used to work for Michel. Michel still offers the hunts.

Not my cup of tea, as it's shotguns and can't bring your own firearms to Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is on my bucket list though.

The Fairmont Zanzibar is an excellent hotel.

Right on the white sand beach on the east coast of the island.

Good dive shop and easy access for diving and snorkeling around the Mnemba Atoll, which is just offshore.

The hotel is nice and quiet. Very relaxing.

They can arrange tours, including a walking tour of Stone Town and visits to other places of interest on the island.

You will enjoy it.

Personally I think Zanzibar is way over commercialized and developed. The last 3 years have seen a crazy amount of development, and not for the better. Too many people, too much commercialization, and the service as most places isn't great. The history is largely washed away, or overshadowed with small shops selling "Hakuna Matata" t shirts. There are some nice beaches, but you end up getting harassed the whole time by people trying to sell you shit you don't want.

Pemba Island is a much better experience, although requires another quick flight. The fishing there is excellent as well.

There are some nice places on mainland too, and you can fish with Stef out of Dar if you want.

The Kilwa ruins are a great spot to visit.

I must say, I was a bit underwhelmed as well. I had expected that the Stone Town area in particular would have been more historically preserved. Would I do Zanzibar as a standalone trip. No. Is it a nice way to take a couple of days on the front end of a safari to relax and get over jet lag and see a significant part of the history of Africa, sure.

We just spent 3 days in Zanzibar on the cruise around Africa. We have visited there several times, and this time was a surprise at the development that has taken place in just 5 years. A container port, for 2 vessels, where we moored vs anchoring and tendering into Stone town, and a shipyard. We always enjoy it, very historical architecture and culture, Stone town is a buzzing market area for tribal wares, as well as local shopping for residents' daily needs for vegetables, meat, fish, etc.
I would select the SERENA Hotel, right on the beach, looking back at the port, great restaurant and can arrange tours of all kinds. They were the hosts for us in The Selous of the fly in day trip we did from Dar es Salaam. You can do fly-ins from Zanzibar as well.
I looked into hunting some of the Tiny 10 with "The Greek"... when he quoted the trophy fee of $7000 for Suni, and a minimum of a 10 day hunt, at high Tanzania rates, discussion was over!!
ENJOY!!

Thanks guys; this is helpful.

I highly recommend anyone wanting to do some great tourist stuff or fishing, whether before or after hunting to get in touch with Tom Dames. Tom’s father, Derek, is a partner in Ker & Downey Safaris and they arrange excellent trips in many African countries.

Tom is a licensed PH of about 20 years, hunting mostly for Danny McCallum & Robin Hurt. He’s a lifelong Kenyan, still lives in Nairobi, so he has tons of African experience and contacts.

I arranged a trip in 2023 through Tom where we visited Mara North, Watamu (fantastic fishing!), both Tsavo parks, then my daughter and her boyfriend (now husband) climbed Kilimanjaro. Tom arranged everything and it was totally seamless. When I hunted Mlele in 2021, Tom arranged fishing with Stef Gianola for a layover day I had in Dar, as well as a hosted private home stay in Dar on my trip home.

Tom can plan a fantastic trip for any budget and he’s personally been nearly everywhere you may want to visit. He can suggest very exclusive trips that you’ve likely never heard of. Passionate fisherman also and he knows what is good and when, for various locales. I’ll never use anyone else for African leisure travel or fishing. tom@thorn-trees.com