Villa Kiva and Zanzibar

Villa Kiva is on the long and white sandy beach of Matemwe on the North East coast of Zanzibar. Matemwe is well known for the absence of big resorts and mass tourism. It is a part of the island where it is still possible to share and live the local life, walking through a local fish market and having a relaxing time on the beach.

Not far from Matemwe Beach is the Mnemba Atoll where it is possible to have amazing sea baths in deep blue water. Fantastic diving and snorkelling are also favourites with guests.

The nature around Matemwe offers big coconut trees and white sand all around the beaches. The underground coral does not create as green landscapes as other parts of the island, but white sand and tall coconuts add to the environment magical paradise like features.

Zanzibar History

Zanzibar, a part of the United Republic of Tanzania, is a series of many islands, the main ones being Unguja and Pemba. The more populated of the two main islands, Unguja, is better known as Zanzibar Island and is home to Stone Town (also known as Zanzibar Town or Zanzibar City), an historic, bustling city of narrow alleyways and stone coral buildings. In addition to the two main islands, there are many other islands and inlets in the Zanzibar archipelago which stretches from the top of Pemba to the south point of Unguja.

The name Zanzibar came from a combination of two Arabic words, 'Zinj', meaning black, and 'barr', being the Arabic word for land, the result meaning 'Land of the Blacks'.

For a small island in the southern waters of the Indian Ocean, Zanzibar has a long and unexpected history. Easily accessible for the people of the African mainland, the Zanzibar Islands are believed to have been settled first by Africans, some three to four thousand years ago. Centuries later the island began a history of hosting foreigners from Egypt, Greece, Persia, Arabia, India, China and Europe. The first recorded visit to Zanzibar is from about 60 AD and appears in a work titled "The Periplus of the Erythaean Sea", written by a Greek merchant who was living in Alexandria. Claudius Ptolemy, the famous Greek geographer living in Egypt, also made mention of Zanzibar in his work at about 150 AD, although the island was referred to under another name. Trade routes from Egypt, Roman Europe and the African coast, including Zanzibar, were, by the time of Ptolemy's writing, extending to Indo-Chinese ports.

By the mid 19th century, Zanzibar was the world's leading clove exporter as well as a large exporter of slaves. A reported 25,000 slaves passed through Zanzibar every year. Slave trader Tipu Tip got so rich off the trade that he was able to afford over thirty concubines and their children in addition to his official wife and her two children.
At the time of Sultan Said's death he had one official wife and 75 concubine-cum-wives (called sarari). Only 36 of his over 100 children remained. Of these, 18 were male and 18 were female and all were born of sarari mothers.

From 1896 Zanzibar became a British protectorate trough a war that is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest war in history. It lasted only for forty five minutes.

The British Protectorate continued until June of 1963. Constitutional independence was established on December 10th, 1963 and control of the islands was passed to the constitutional monarch. The new monarchy didn't last long, however, because on January 1964, just a month later, a violent revolution resulted in the emergence of the People's Republic of Zanzibar led by President Karume, the leader of the Afro-Shirazi Party. The revolution was brief but brutal; over 17,000 Arabs and Indians were killed in a period of several days. Many of the remaining Asians and Arabs left the island and their possessions and land were nationalized.

On April 24, 1964 Zanzibar joined with Julius (Mwalimu – Swahili for 'teacher') Nyerere's Tanganyika to form modern day Tanzania. Zanzibar's autonomous state included a constitutional right to keep its own President, Chief Minister, Cabinet and House of Representatives.

In the late 1980s Zanzibar opened to the idea of free market and started to take advantage of its tourism potential. Zanzibar held its first multi-party elections in 1995.

Zanzibar traveller information

Zanzibar is located just few degrees south of the equator and enjoys a tropical climate that is dominated by the Indian Ocean monsoons. The winter months bring 'kasikazi' winds from the north with short rains. The long rains, known as mwaka, arrive in April and last until late May or June.

Visitors arriving in Zanzibar are required to have a valid passport and a Tourist Visa that can be obtained directly at the airport/port border. Prices vary on the applicant's nationality.

The Tourist Visa allows up to three months of stay as tourists.

The Departure fee is normally thirty (30) plus eight (8) U.S. Dollars. The majority of the airline companies pay eight while private Charter airlines do not.

There are a small number of consulates in Zanzibar but the capital city of Dar-es-Salaam is where you need to go if you need an embassy. If you lose your passport you'll need to visit the Ministry of the Interior in Zanzibar in order to get off the island. The Ministry can supply you with the documents you need to get home or to Dar-es-Salaam where you can visit your Embassy.

When to go to Zanzibar?

January through March is generally hot and dry with little rainfall.
April through June is wet because of the long rains which start to taper off in May.
July to October are ideal months for visiting Zanzibar because the average temperature is 25 C, the air is dry and breezy and there is little rainfall.
November and December are when the short rains could appear.
Average rainfall in Zanzibar is about 165 cm (65 inches) and the average temperature is 26 C (79 F).

Weather in Zanzibar & Map