The name Zanzibar evokes images of sultans and spice traders, an island of beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise waters criss-crossed by dhows. It’s also a great place for spotting wildlife, including dolphins, antelope and the rare red colobus monkey.

The island of Kilwa Kisiwani, just off the coast of Tanzania, was once the centre of a great East African empire that stretched from Kenya to Mozambique, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fascinating ruins include mosques, palaces and the tombs of the sultans who grew rich off the back of trade in gold, ivory, spices and slaves.

The remote Aldabra Atoll is the world’s second largest coral atoll, situated on the outer fringes of the Seychelles. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the world’s largest population of giant tortoises, providing a sanctuary for over 100,000 of these remarkable creatures.

Alphonse is one of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, a white sand paradise where tortoises lumber through coconut groves and the shallows are alive with green turtles, eagle rays, nursing sharks and colourful fish. The island is also home to a single hotel, which employs most of the 100-strong population.

The island of Praslin is home to some of the Seychelles’ top attractions, including the Vallée de Mai, a protected forest where you’ll see the rare coco de mer, a tree that produces the world’s largest seed and palm flower. The grove is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been compared to the Garden of Eden.

Lovely little La Digue is every inch the desert island idyll, and with less tourist development than Mahé or Praslin to impinge on your Robinson Crusoe fantasies. This is a place where many locals still get around by ox cart, and the beaches are some of the most beautiful in the Seychelles.

Mahé is the largest island in the Seychelles, home to the diminutive capital, Victoria, and 90% of the country’s population. It’s the quintessential tropical paradise, a sun-drenched landscape of granite mountains, lush jungle and heavenly white sand beaches.

Little Cousin Island, just to the west of Praslin, is a protected nature reserve, providing a sanctuary for hawksbill turtles, giant tortoises and the highest concentration of lizards in the world. The island also hosts more than 300,000 nesting seabirds each year, including terns, noddies and shearwaters.

The island of Praslin is home to some of the Seychelles’ top attractions, including the Vallée de Mai, a protected forest where you’ll see the rare coco de mer, a tree that produces the world’s largest seed and palm flower. The grove is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been compared to the Garden of Eden.

Lovely little La Digue is every inch the desert island idyll, and with less tourist development than Mahé or Praslin to impinge on your Robinson Crusoe fantasies. This is a place where many locals still get around by ox cart, and the beaches are some of the most beautiful in the Seychelles.

The island of Curieuse, once a leper colony, is now part of the protected Curieuse Marine National Park. This is one of the few islands in the Seychelles where the famous coco de mer grows, and is also known for its red soil and giant tortoises, introduced here from Aldabra Island in the 1980s.

Situated just to the northwest of Praslin, the island of Aride is renowned for its amazing birdlife. Keep your eyes peeled for species including noddies, terns, shearwaters and frigatebirds, along with sea turtles, skinks and geckos. And all this against a backdrop of granite cliffs, sandy beaches and lush tropical flora, with many endemic plants.