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Top 10 Things to do in Zanzibar

If you are a visitor to Zanzibar for the film festival, you may well be wondering what to do when the film programme ends today, and contemplating buying a ferry ticket to the mainland or jumping on a plane home.

But have you explored the rest of what Zanzibar has to offer? Here Mambo gives you our top ten tips on what to do in Zanzibar once the film festival is over.

1. Go snorkelling. After days goggling at the big screen, it's time to immerse yourself in nature and to experience the best of Zanzibar 's picturesque marine life. It's the perfect antidote to town and a seriously relaxing and immersive experience. For full day trips try Safari Blue or Chumbe island, or just pop into a travel office in town if you want a quick, cheap trip. Or if you fancy going deeper, try diving.
2. Spa time. Indulge yourself in a luxurious treatment at one of Zanzibar 's lovely spas. If you fancy a traditional, atmospheric treatment featuring local plants and herbs from Zanzibari women, head to Mrembo Spa in Stone Town or at Mtoni Marine hotel, or if you fancy a more Western-style spa treatment, from facials to pedicures, at affordable prices, try Lemon Spa in Stone Town , with branches all over Zanzibar .
3. Party party. If you fancy partying with other travellers, especially backpackers, head up north to Kendwa and Nungwi, the area with the biggest party scene. Affordable accommodation options with bustling bars and beaches include Kendwa Rocks and Sunset Bungalows.
4. Kitesurfing. A huge east coast kitesurfing scene is taking off in Zanzibar right now, centred around Paje - but you can also kitesurf from Jambiani, Matemwe or Nungwi. The main schools are Kitecentre Zanzibar, Airborne and Haraka Kite. Now is an ideal season to try kitesurfing as the winds are back after monsoon season.
5. Get a bird's eye view of Zanzibar. Zanzibar is stunning at ground level, but it is even more beautiful from the air in a micro light, and you might even spot pods of dolphins frolicking in the ocean.
6. Zanzibar 's flora and fauna. You can go east to Jozani to see Zanzibar 's famous red colobus monkeys and other wildlife, to ZALA Park to see many of the island's reptile life or to the Kiwengwa Pongwe Forest Reserve to see original indigenous forest and deep caves.
7. Visit a witchdoctor. Go to Makunduchi, the island's birthplace of Kiswahili and pay a visit to an mganga, one of the island's traditional witchdoctors, who can tell you about Zanzibar 's spirits and magic. You can also visit the nearby lighthouse and baobab forest. Or read more here about Zanzibari spirits.
8. Go on a local sea safari. Go to Bwejuu in Zanzibar 's aouth-east region and you can go on a sea safari to see how seaweed is farmed and harvested, as well as visiting the local village and eating a traditional meal.
9. Try some Swahili food. Go on a Swahili cookery course to learn how to cook Swahili-style, or just sample a local breakfast. Or try some weird and wonderful local fruit.
10. Visit Pemba. The more rugged and forested island of the Zanzibar archipelago, Pemba, offers tremendous diving, unspoilt villages and a taste of how the islands were in the past.