ZANZIBAR

1. Freddie Mercury's Birthplace
Zanzibar is the birthplace of the "first Asian rock star." This nickname is well known in Great Britain, but few in Russia know the interesting fact that the "first Asian rock star" was… Freddie Mercury, the legendary frontman of Queen. Farrokh Bulsara (Freddie Mercury's real name) was Parsi (an ethnic group in South Asia—India and Pakistan—of Iranian origin). He was born in Stone Town, lived in Zanzibar until the age of eight, then studied in India, where at the age of 12 he formed his first rock band with friends. At 16 he returned to Zanzibar, and only after that, at 18, his family moved to Great Britain.

2. The Rock Restaurant
Another "feature" of Zanzibar is The Rock restaurant. It is this restaurant that you can often see on postcards and tourist brochures about Zanzibar. Note that taking a truly colorful "postcard" photo of The Rock is quite difficult. This island-restaurant is located on Pingwe Beach and becomes an island only during the strongest tide. For just a few hours a day, the island is actually an island, and the rest of the time you can walk to it across shallow, seaweed-covered water. Besides, the place is heavily promoted, prices are a bit high, there are usually no empty tables, and it's better to reserve a table in advance. Nevertheless, The Rock is definitely worth visiting in Zanzibar.

3. The Shortest War in History
Zanzibar made it into the Guinness Book of Records for an interesting fact—the shortest war in human history (though it lost). In response, Great Britain issued an ultimatum to Zanzibar, declared war, and sent a fleet of five ships to Zanzibar's shores. The Zanzibaris removed their only cannon from the palace and mounted it on their only small ship. The war lasted just over 30 minutes. During such a brief military operation, Great Britain accidentally lost one wounded sailor, quickly sank the aforementioned ship with cannon fire, destroyed the coastal forts, over 500 Zanzibar residents died, and Britain restored its rule over the island.

4. Red Colobus Monkeys
In Zanzibar (in Jozani Forest National Park), you can see wild red colobus monkeys. The red colobus is a very rare (critically endangered) species of monkey found in Central and Eastern Africa. There are practically no monkeys left on the mainland, but about 3,000 individuals live in Zanzibar.

5. "Black Shore" and the Slave Trade
Zanzibar translates as "black shore" or "shore of black people." In the early and mid-19th century, the island was for a long time the largest slave market and the center of the slave trade. In Stone Town, in the market area and in the area of the Anglican Cathedral, you can see preserved cellars for holding slaves and a monument commemorating all the unfortunate slaves. It is known that in 1873—just 43 years before the ban on the slave trade—about 600,000 slaves were sold in Zanzibar. How many were sold since the beginning of the 19th century can only be guessed. Another "shameful" page is the hunting of albinos. Although albinos in Zanzibar can feel relatively safe, in Tanzania everything is much worse.