About 25 kilometres north of Stone Town is the village of Mangapwani with a beautiful clean beach and several caves. The name of the village means "Arabian Coast" and probably refers to one of the caves, which is actually a man-made cavern that was used to hide slaves after the trade with Oman was outlawed in 1845.

The cave was used even more intensively after 1873, when the slave trade was abolished altogether and the black market was in full swing.

The view into the dank and tiny cave is one of the most impressive you'll get in Zanzibar, and like the underground cells in Stone Town, it conveys the full horror and suffering of the slave trade.

The beach and cave are quite difficult to get to. The turn-off from the main road in the village of Mangapwani is unmarked, but a tarmac road leads almost to the coast.

It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the beach to the cave.

Many taxi drivers don't know this cave at all, so you have to navigate them yourself using the map.