Question Author
I'll try and explain what I mean again Catron.
To begin with, putting down "Spice Islands" as the answer may not be correct. A quick search on the internet shows that there are more than one group of "Spice Islands" and in order to answer this question correctly, I'm sure you'd agree we have to have the right group.
Now, I know perfectly well what the picture caption on Corbis says and there is no doubt that the picture was taken at Nungwi Beach, Zanzibar. However, the reality is that none of the people who enter this competition are aware of the degree of pedantry over this matter that may be instilled in the people looking for the right answer at the Telegraph or its agents.
Unless I'm mistaken, it seems to me that you may not have seen the set puzzle. The question asks "Name the islands". If I answer "Spice islands", the pedants could ask "which ones does gumboil mean, the ones off the coast of Africa or the Maluku islands?" If I answer "Zanzibar" technically this could also be incorrect as Zanzibar is the main island of the archipelago group as well as the name of the archipelago and might not have been the island upon which the photo was taken. Remember, not everyone would be ingenious enough to look for the picture on Corbis and might arrive at a different conclusion.
Nungwi Beach as you're probably aware is actually located on the north coast of the main island, Zanzibar. The question asks for the name of the group of islands. So if I answer "Zanzibar", exactly what do I mean? At least credit me with the fact that such an answer is dubious especially since the answer the examiners of the entries may have been told to look for "Spice Islands". It's a bit like New York, New York yes?