The island of Zanzibar is of Africa but not in it, a superb choice for a beach element of a longer safari but also a good destination for a sun and sand holiday in its own right.

Stone Town is the only significant city, an atmospheric meandering capital busy with markets and traders that echoes, five times a day, with the calls to prayer from countless muezzins. The city beaches are more used for informal games of football than for lounging in the sun, so after a day or two sun lovers should head out of town, to a selection of resorts set around the coast, or to the other islands, Pemba, Mafia, Mnemba and Chumbe. The emphasis here is on relaxed barefoot luxury, and most of these resorts and islands offer superb snorkelling and scuba diving.

Regular flights link Zanzibar with the mainland, though there are also a handful of resorts on Tanzania’s coast that can be reached overland.