Stone Town, Spice Farm and Prison Island Full-Day Tour

A spice farm in the green heart of Zanzibar

Zanzibar's name as the Spice Island comes from the plantations that cover the fertile centre of the island north-east of Stone Town, around Kizimbani and Kidichi, where cloves were planted on a grand scale in the nineteenth century and still grow beside cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, turmeric, ginger and lemongrass. On a Zanzibar spice tour you walk through the farm with a guide who cuts bark, crushes leaves and opens pods so that you recognise each spice by its scent and taste, and explains how it is grown, harvested and used in the kitchen and in traditional medicine.

The visit lasts about four hours including lunch, with tropical fruits to taste along the way, and ends with a Swahili meal cooked with the farm's own spices, typically rice pilau or coconut curry with vegetables, fish or chicken, served with soft drinks. There is usually a small stall selling fresh spices and soaps; bringing a little cash is useful but not required.

Stone Town, the old city on the sea

Stone Town is the historic heart of Zanzibar City, a maze of narrow alleys, coral-stone houses and carved wooden doors built up by Swahili, Omani, Indian and European traders over two centuries and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2000. The guided walk of about two hours threads through the lanes past the brass-studded doors, the Darajani market with its spices and fish, the former slave market with its moving memorial, the Anglican cathedral and the Indian-influenced bazaars of Hurumzi and Kenyatta Road.

Things to do in Stone Town could fill days, and the guide helps you choose: a few minutes at a rooftop view, a stop for coffee, time for photographs of the doors. Dress modestly here, with shoulders and knees covered, and ask before photographing people. Entrance to museums inside Stone Town is not included, but the walk itself passes the main sights from outside.

The Old Fort and the seafront

The Old Fort, Ngome Kongwe in Swahili, stands on the seafront beside Forodhani Gardens and is the oldest building in Stone Town, built by Omani Arabs at the end of the seventeenth century on the site of a Portuguese church after they took the island. Its thick coral walls and round corner towers enclose a courtyard that now hosts craft stalls, an open-air stage and a small cafe, and the ramparts give a view over the harbour where dhows and ferries come and go.

The tour spends about thirty-five minutes at the fort before the boat to Prison Island, and the seafront outside, with the House of Wonders next door and Forodhani Gardens in front, is where Stone Town's evening food market sets up after sunset. The boats to Changuu leave from the beach just beyond, a few minutes' walk away.

Prison Island (Changuu) and its giant tortoises

Changuu, known to everyone as Prison Island, lies about forty minutes by boat north-west of Stone Town. In the nineteenth century the island was used by a slave trader to hold captives, and a prison was built there in the 1890s but never used as one; instead the buildings became a quarantine station for yellow fever cases arriving by ship. Today the ruins of the prison and the quarantine station are a short walk from the jetty, shaded by casuarina trees.

The island's real attraction is its colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, descended from animals given as a gift from the Seychelles in the early twentieth century. Some are well over a century old and weigh as much as a large man; you can walk among them in their enclosure, feed them leaves provided by the keepers and have your photo taken with the giants. Please do not sit on or climb on the tortoises. Is Prison Island worth visiting? For the tortoises and the clear water alone, yes.

The beach and the crossing back

Prison Island also has a small white beach with clear, calm water on the side facing Stone Town, and the visit of about an hour leaves time for a swim or a few minutes on the sand after the tortoises; bring swimwear under your clothes and a towel if you want to go in. Snorkelling gear is not included, but the water off the beach is shallow and pleasant for a dip. The views back to the skyline of Stone Town, with the fort, the House of Wonders and the minarets, are the photo to end the day.

The boat ride is in a local wooden boat with a sunshade; it takes about forty minutes each way and the sea is usually calm in the morning and afternoon. Best time to visit Prison Island is the afternoon, as on this tour, when the light on Stone Town's seafront is at its best. After the return crossing our driver collects you for the drive back to your hotel.