"Stone Town" a Zanzibar Town Travel Page by PeteG

Ruth and I spent a few days in Stone Town after being on safari on mainland Tanzania.

Stone Town is so different to the mainland. Generally, Stone Town is in a state of decay. Outside of a few Hotels and restautants there is very little money, buildings are falling down and live seems pretty tough.

I've been to a few tough places before and am more than used to people hastling tourists either for money, or just trying to get you into shops. Also, I am not a small boy and am not usually hastled too vigorously!! However, in Stone Town I was really agressively hastled to the point were I thought serious trouble was not far away.

Having said all that, I'd recommend the Tembo House Hotel. Really lovely old building, friendly staff, right on the beach and near to the middle of town. No alcohol allowed however, but a lovely place for a day or two.

I'd also recommend going on a boat trip out to the old prison island. It cost us about US$30 to be taken the 30 minutes trip out to a lovely island. This also included use of their snorkel gear and we could stay all day. Also, take a couple of dollars as a large family of giants tortoises are kept there and for not a lot of money you can get in with them and feed them. Some are 140 years old and weigh approximately 300 kgs.