The end of an overland journey from Nairobi to Zanzibar - see the commentary on Kenya_Tanzania 1998.
Zanzibar was strategically important, controlling trade along 1000 miles of the coast of east africa from Mozambique to Somalia. It was particularly "famous" as a slaving port under the control of the Omani Arabs from the end of the 17th century; as many as 50,000 slaves per year were passing through the port in the mid nineteenth century. It was also famous for the spice plantations founded by the arabs. The harbour was considered so secure that the Sultan Of Oman moved his based from Muscat to Zanzibar in the mi nineteenth century.
The Portuguese arrived in the late fifteenth century followed by the British 200 years later. Zanzibar achieved independence from Britain in 1963 and in 1964 merged, as a semi-autonomous region, with the mainland ex-British colony of Tanganyka to form Tanzania. Zanzibar proudly asserts its independence with its own Customs and Entry formalities, including demanding Yellow Fever inocculations from anyone who set foot on the mainland.
