Africa House was the English Club of colonial Zanzibar — billiards, gin, and views of the dhow harbour — and the wide upstairs terrace is now an open-to-all bar that fills every evening at sunset with a mixed crowd of locals, expats and tourists. Drink prices are higher than the alleys behind it, but the seat is paying for the view: directly into the path of the sun as it goes down over the bay, with dhows in silhouette and the call of the muezzin from the mosques behind.
Order a Kilimanjaro beer and a plate of grilled prawns and arrive half an hour before sundown to claim a railing table. The hotel is otherwise unremarkable, but the terrace is one of the few essentials of a Stone Town stay.