Zanzibar Escape

There's a particular kind of slow that Zanzibar gives you. The breeze comes off the Indian Ocean at four in the afternoon and the heat starts to break. The dhows out on the water tack home. The call to prayer drifts across the spice gardens. The carved doors of Stone Town stand exactly where they have stood for six hundred years, and nothing about the island insists you do anything you don't want to. This is the Zanzibar beach holiday after safari that the rest of the platform's hybrid trips lead into, on its own and at full length.

The route opens with an arrival night in Arusha — every Savannah & Sands trip does, so you land soft after the long flight — then a short flight east and one night in Stone Town to walk the spice alleys, the seafront, the Forodhani night market. Five nights on the coast follow, at a lodge of your choosing on the eastern, northern or western shore. Reef snorkelling, dhow sailing, spice plantation walks are there if you want them. Reading on the verandah and a long swim before dinner are there if you don't.

The lodge is yours to choose, the coast is yours to pick, and the experiences you book on the island are yours to layer in — adults-only properties, family resorts and boutique beach stays are all on the table. Zanzibar is year-round; only the heaviest kaskazi and kusi monsoon shoulders get soft-flagged on the calendar. Park fees, lodge nights, and transfers are itemised on the page before you book — no bundled price that hides where the money goes.