Safari and Zanzibar: how to combine them

It is the most requested combination in East Africa and the one most often put together badly. Three things decide whether it works.

Bush first, beach second

Always. Game drives start at six in the morning, and early starts are easy at the beginning of a holiday and miserable at the end of one. Reverse the order and the safari half feels like work you have to get through before the reward.

There is also a practical reason: if weather or a delay disrupts the safari, there is slack in the beach days to absorb it. The other way round, a delay eats your game drives.

Fly between them

The Serengeti or the Mara to Zanzibar is a short flight — usually via Arusha or Nairobi. It is not cheap, and it is worth every shilling. The overland alternative is two days you will not get back, on roads that are hard work after a week of early mornings.

Four nights on the coast, not two

Two nights on Zanzibar is an arrival and a departure. You unpack, you have one full day, you pack. Four is the first number where the beach actually functions as a rest — one day doing nothing, one for Stone Town or a spice farm or a dhow, and a third that belongs to you.

If the budget forces a choice between a fourth beach night and a fourth safari night, take the safari night. The beach will still be there.

What to actually do on Zanzibar

Stone Town deserves one afternoon and a guide, because the history is not self-evident and it is uncomfortable in a way that matters. The northern beaches at Nungwi and Kendwa swim at all tides; the east coast is more beautiful and the tide goes out a long way. Snorkelling at Mnemba is genuinely good.

And the food is the best on the coast of East Africa, which after a week of camp cooking is not a small thing.