South Pemba

This short video clip shows Zanzibar and its harbor from the House of Wonders, the former royal palace. On 28 January 2009 Barbara and I arrived off the island of Zanzibar on the 296-passenger Silversea cruise ship Silver Wind, which had sailed overnight from Dar es Salaam during a 16-day cruise from Cape Town to Mombasa via Mozambique, Madagascar and Tanzania. During our ship's one-day call at fabled Zanzibar we visited the House of Wonders and the Palace Museum and then took a stroll through Stone Town. Exotic-sounding Zanzibar, which merged with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania, consists of two major islands, Unguja and Pemba. Somewhat confusingly, Unguja Island is often called Zanzibar also; and Zanzibar Town is situated on Unguja. 96 km/60 miles long and some 35 km/22 miles from the mainland, the island of Zanzibar is steeped in history. Both Livingstone and Stanley spent time in Zanzibar in the late nineteenth century; and other explorers such as Burton, Grant and Speke all passed through. From the 1890s onward Zanzibar was a British protectorate. With the exception of the sinking of one British ship in Zanzibar's harbor during World War I, Zanzibar saw no action during either of the world wars. Movement toward self-government followed the Second World War. Finally self-government was granted by Britain in 1963. Although briefly Zanzibar was an independent sultanate, a full member of the British Commonwealth and a member state of the United <b>...</b>