Tours

Join us on a half day tour of Stone Town. This atmospheric and mystical town is the cultural and historical heart of Zanzibar. It was constructed from coral stone during the reign of the Omani Sultan Seyyid Said, who in 1832 shifted his capital from Muscat to Stone Town. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000.

Stone Town is a very lively place, where you’ll find a mixture of Arabic, African, Indian, and European cultures living comfortably together. As you walk through the labyrinth of streets too narrow for cars to pass, you’ll be engulfed by the smells and sounds from bustling bazaars and markets alongside people’s homes and many peaceful mosques and a few churches.

While you meander around the city, your guide will take you on a historical and cultural journey through the old slave market and slave chambers, the National Museum, the High Court, the old German Consulate, the former English Gentlemen’s club – Africa House, the House of Wonders, the Omani Fort, the Sultan’s Palace, Livingstone House, and anywhere else that your interest lies.

Stone Town is the ideal base for anyone that wants to explore the rest of the island. While the tour is only half a day, we recommend that you stay in Stone Town for at least two days to discover many more magnificent wonders. Forodhani Gardens is worth a visit, especially at night when it comes alive as one of the best street food markets in East Africa.

The Spice Tour is one of the most popular excursions in Zanzibar. It offers you the chance to experience a taste of rural life on the island and meet very interesting local people. We definitely recommend it.

Zanzibar is often referred to as ‘The Spice Island’; this is as a result of being one of the world’s most important producers of spices such as clove, nutmeg and cinnamon in the 19th century, after the abolition of the slave trade. However, spices and herbs were originally introduced to Zanzibar by Portuguese traders in the 16th century, bought from their colonies in South America and India.

One of our local guides will take you on a half day walking tour of a spice farm (shamba). While there you will see how the spices, herbs and fruit grow in the wild or are cultivated. Your tour guide will describe how the crops can be used such as the “lipstick” tree, whose pod produces a vibrant red dye; the “soap bush” whose berries lather like soap; and the “iodine tree”, whose clear sap can be used as an antiseptic.

You will have plenty of opportunity for smelling and tasting spices, herbs and tropical fruit such as clove, lemongrass, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, coconuts, papaya (pawpaw), chillies, black pepper, cumin, jackfruit, guavas, lychees, cardamom, cassava and oranges.

The tour finishes with a stop at a spice stall selling packaged spices at a very reasonable price – (cash only).

Safari blue is a full day trip sailing on a traditional dhow boat (Arabian boat) around the South coastline of Zanzibar.

This magical journey will take you on an exploration of the Indian Ocean from Fumba fishing village to the Menai Bay conservation area. There is an excellent chance that you will see both Indo-Pacific Humpback and bottlenose dolphins.

The dhow boats are hand-crafted in African mahogany to the highest standards. They are well equipped with motor outboards, radios, sunshades, boarding ladder, life jackets and first aid kits.

In the morning, the dhow will anchor on the shores of one of the pristine sandbanks or uninhabited islands. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to snorkel, sunbath or swim. There are experienced snorkelling instructors who will provide you with good quality equipment and show you the dazzling coral reef and tropical marine life. Instruction is available for beginners. After snorkelling there are ice cold drinks, fresh coconut and local snacks.

Later the dhow sets sail for Kwale Island, where there will be a feast awaiting you of fresh fish, slipper lobster, calamari and rice with sauces all served from a sizzling hot grill. Afterwards, you’ll be presented with a large selection of mouth-watering tropical fruits and spiced Zanzibar coffee.

For the rest of the afternoon, you can either relax and sunbath or swim in the natural lagoon surrounded by mangrove forests.

We set sail back to Fumba with a traditional lanteen sail as the sunset begins to emerge.

This is a half day trip, which can be combined with the dolphin safari tour to make a full day trip.

Jozani Forest is situated 38km southeast from Stone Town. In 1995, the Jozani Chwaka Bay Conservation Project was set up to protect the largest remaining patch of indigenous ground-water forest that used to cover Zanzibar. Local communities are involved in the project and some of your entrance fee contributes to development projects and to compensate local farmers whose crops are often damaged by the red colobus monkeys.

Jozani Forest is home to several habitats including swamp forest, evergreen thickets, mangroves, as well as a variety of wildlife, including Sykes and red colobus monkeys, bush pigs, Ader’s duiker and sun antelopes, elephant shrews, chameleons and lots of birdlife.

The forest is best known for its residents the Kirks red colobus monkeys, which are endemic to Zanzibar. About 10 years ago, the monkeys were considered to be in danger of extinction, but this trend has since reversed due to the conservation project.

There are about 2500 red colobus monkey residing in Jozani Forest. You will be able to see two troops of about fifty monkeys. The will be plenty of opportunity to photograph the monkeys, as they are unfazed by visitors.

After visiting the monkeys, we will walk across to the Pete-Jozani Mangrove Boardwalk, which entwines through coral thicket vegetation, mangrove forest and across a creek. You walk through mangrove forest, which is extremely crucial to Zanzibar’s ecosystems, providing a habitat for many species such as lizards and snakes, mongoose and birdlife as well as preventing the coastal erosion.

After which, we will drive back to your hotel.

This is a half day trip, which can be combined with the Jozani Forest tour to make a full day trip.

Dolphin safari offers you the experience of a lifetime, the chance to swim with dolphins in their natural habitat.

The waters off the fishing village of Kizimkazi are the home to several pods of humpback and bottleneck dolphins. The dolphins are officially protected by the 420 km sq Menai Bay Conservation Area, which was set up in 1997 to stop the rapid depletion of fish stocks.

We will depart from the shores of Kizimkazi fishing village in search of dolphins. Snorkelling gear is available for hire. The boat will take you out onto the clear turquoise blue Indian Ocean where the odds of sighting dolphins are about 80%.

Discover Zanzibar Tours & Safaris endeavours to contribute to the protection of dolphins in the waters off Kizimkazi. We encourage our skippers not to chase the dolphins and we encourage visitors to enter the water away from the dolphins with as little disturbance as possible, staying close to the boat, avoiding sudden movement and allowing the dolphins to come to you.

After the exhilarating experience of swimming with the dolphins, we will head back to shore for lunch.

Kizimkazi also offers excellent but largely unexplored diving.

Join us on a full day-trip to Nungwi beach, located on the northernmost tip of Zanzibar, 59 km from Stone Town.

Nungwi offers a wonderful combination of beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear waters; excellent restaurants and lively nightlife; magnificent snorkelling and scuba diving; as well as the opportunity to meet very interesting local people telling local folktales.

During the day, you can relax on the sun drenched beach of Nungwi.

You will have the chance to discover how local fishermen make traditional dhows (Arabian boats). Dhows were originally sewn or lashed together with coconut-fibre coir rope, and apart from iron nails, modern construction methods and tools remain unchanged.
You will also have the opportunity to visit the Mnarani Aquarium. This is a small tidal lake surrounded by the porous coral rag stone that is home to dozens of endangered hawksbill and green turtles. The aquarium started up in 1993, when the first turtles were bought there for study and to provide a sanctuary for the endangered species. Local fishermen often bring new arrivals caught up in their nets to the sanctuary. Male turtles are kept in the sanctuary while the females are released once they have reached sexual maturity. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to feed the turtles with seaweed and to take photographs.

Later in the day, you can watch the burnt orange rays of the sunset emerge over the resplendent Nungwi beach and waters before we drive back to your hotel.

This is a full day tour, including a visit to a spice farm in the village of Dunga, where you will have the chance to experience a taste of rural life on the island. Here you can meet very interesting local people who make handicrafts and the famous doors of Zanzibar. We will also go to north to Nungwi to watch local fishermen make the traditional dhow boats.

Our local guide will take you on a tour of a spice farm (shamba). While there you will see how the spices, herbs and fruit grow in the wild or are cultivated. You will have plenty of opportunity for smelling and tasting spices, herbs and tropical fruit such as clove, lemongrass, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, coconuts, papaya (pawpaw), chillies, black pepper, cumin, jackfruit, guavas, lychees, cardamom, cassava and oranges.

We will stop for lunch at a local restaurant where you will get the opportunity to taste local and authentic Zanzibari cuisine, seasoned with many of these spices and herbs.

Door carving enjoys a long history throughout the Muslim world and Zanzibar is no exception. You can see how local craftsmen use local tree species such as jackfruit or breadfruit to carve out floral and geometric shapes in the door frames and panels. The studs on the doors were said to have been intended to ward of elephants. The oldest door in Zanzibar dates back to 1700 – it was salvaged from Sultan Seyyid Said’s ruined palace and can now be found in the Palace Museum in Stone Town.

You will also have the chance to discover how local fishermen make traditional dhows (Arabian boats) in Nungwi. Dhows were originally sewn or lashed together with coconut-fibre coir rope, and apart from iron nails, modern construction methods and tools remain unchanged.

We will watch the sunset emerge over Nungwi beach before driving back to your hotel.

Join us on a half day trip to Prison Island. We will take a boat from the shores of Stone Town, setting down anchor 5km away, on the beautiful beach of Prison Island.

The prison – which is now in ruins – was built in 1893 and was originally intended to house violent prisoners from the mainland, then known as Tanganyika.

You will get the opportunity to visit the tortoise sanctuary, which contains a large colony of giant tortoise imported from the Seychelles in the late 19th century. The average weight of these creatures is 100 kg, and many of them are said to be over 100 years old. There will be plenty of time to feed the tortoise with spinach and to take photographs.

The island is also the home to a colony of beautiful peacocks; a herd of suni antelopes, which can be spotted if you tread carefully; and contains excellent tropical birdlife.

For the rest of the trip you can either enjoy the marine life as you snorkel around the coral that fringes Prison Island or just relax under the warm glow of the sun, until we set sail back to Stone Town.