Zan Maldive Tours and Safaris

Area: Stone Town

  • Stone Town

    Stone Town is the old quarter of Zanzibar City and the cultural centre of the archipelago. Built from coral stone through the 19th and 20th centuries, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 for the way Swahili, Arab, Indian and European building traditions sit together in one place.

    The lanes are too narrow for cars, so the town is walked rather than driven. Within a few minutes you pass mosques, an Anglican cathedral built on the site of the former slave market, Hindu temples, the Old Fort, the House of Wonders and the seafront palaces of the Omani sultans. Darajani market runs all day, selling fish, fruit, spice and everything else the town needs.

    Stone Town is also where the island’s stories live. Princess Salme grew up in the Sultan’s palace before leaving for Germany and writing her memoirs. Farrokh Bulsara was born a few streets away and became Freddie Mercury. The Swahili taarab singer Bi Kidude performed here into her nineties.

    The town is not a beach destination. Most visitors stay one or two nights at the start or end of a trip, or come in for a day from the coast. Either works.

  • Stone Town Historical Tour

    Stone Town is the cultural and historical heart of Zanzibar, and the oldest continuously inhabited quarter on the island. Its lanes were built from coral stone through the 19th and 20th centuries, and in 2000 the whole quarter was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Arab, African, Indian and European influences sit side by side here. Streets run too narrow for cars, so the town is best seen on foot, and mosques, churches and Hindu temples stand within a few minutes of one another. Your guide leads you through the old slave market and its memorial, past the House of Wonders and the Old Fort, along the seafront to the former British and German consulates, and into Darajani market, where the produce, fish and spice stalls show how the town feeds itself.

    Along the way you hear the stories of the people who shaped the island: Princess Salme, who left the Sultan’s palace and wrote her memoirs in Germany, and Farrokh Bulsara, born in Stone Town and later known to the world as Freddie Mercury. The walk ends near Forodhani Gardens, which comes alive after sunset as one of the best street food markets in East Africa.

    The tour runs as a private walk with your own guide, or as a small shared group. Either way the pace stays relaxed, with time to stop, ask questions and photograph the carved doors Stone Town is known for.

  • Nakupenda Sandbank with Seafood Lunch

    Nakupenda means “I love you” in Kiswahili, and the sandbank earns the name. It sits a short boat ride off Stone Town, a strip of pure white sand surrounded on every side by shallow turquoise water. At high tide it shrinks to a sliver. At low tide it opens into a wide beach with nothing on it but your group, the shade tents and the sea.

    The day starts with a boat from Stone Town. On the way out you stop to snorkel over the reef, where the water is clear enough to see the coral and the tropical fish without effort. Masks, fins and life jackets come with the trip, and the crew stays in the water with anyone who wants support.

    On the sandbank your team sets up shade and serves a seafood barbecue: fresh fish, calamari, prawns and rice, with tropical fruit and soft drinks. After lunch the afternoon is yours to swim, walk the length of the bank or lie in the shade until the boat heads back.

    Morning and afternoon departures both run. Morning trips catch the calmest water and the best light for photographs. Afternoon trips work well if you are combining the day with a Stone Town walk.

  • Zanzibar Seaport Transfer

    The ferry from Dar es Salaam arrives at the Zanzibar seaport in Stone Town, and the quayside on arrival is busy. A driver waiting with your name on a board removes the entire problem.

    We meet every scheduled sailing. Your driver takes your luggage, guides you through the arrival area and drives you to your hotel anywhere on the island, at a price agreed before you travel.

    The same service runs in reverse for departures, with your pickup timed to the sailing and the check-in requirement rather than left to chance.

    If you are combining the ferry with an onward excursion or a hotel in a different area, tell us and we will build the day around the sailing time.

  • Zanzibar Spice Farm Tour

    Zanzibar has been called the Spice Island for two centuries, and a morning on a working farm shows you why. Families here have grown spices for generations, and the plots outside town still produce cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, lemongrass and turmeric alongside jackfruit, papaya, coconut and citrus.

    This is a walking tour rather than a museum visit. Your guide, who grew up on this land, pulls a root, scrapes a bark or splits a pod and hands it to you. You smell each spice before you are told its name. You learn which plants go into the local dishes you have been eating, which go into herbal remedies still used across the island, and which appear in weddings and ceremonies.

    Along the way the farm team demonstrates coconut climbing and weaving, and lays out a tasting of seasonal tropical fruit. Most guests leave with a small bag of spices bought directly from the growers, at farm prices rather than market prices.

    The farm sits a short drive from Stone Town, so this excursion combines easily with a Stone Town walk, Prison Island or Jozani Forest to make a full day.

  • Hotel Transfers

    Zanzibar is bigger than it looks on a map, and the coastal roads vary considerably in quality. Getting from a hotel in Nungwi to a restaurant in Michamvi, or from Stone Town out to Jambiani, is a proper journey rather than a short hop.

    We run point-to-point transfers between any two places on the island: hotel to restaurant, hotel to a dive centre, hotel to a village, hotel to the spice farms. The vehicle is private to your party, the driver speaks English and the price is agreed before you set off.

    For anyone eating at The Rock, taking a sunset cruise from a different coast or heading to an activity outside their area, this is the sensible way to travel. Taxis on the island rarely have fixed pricing and the driver quality is inconsistent.

    Ask us for a return transfer with a wait, or for the driver to stay with you for the day, if that suits your plans better.

  • Prison Island Tour

    Changuu Island lies about thirty minutes by boat from Stone Town, and almost everyone knows it as Prison Island. The name is a small historical joke. The island was bought by General Lloyd Mathews and a prison was built there in 1893, but no prisoner was ever held in it. Instead the buildings became a quarantine station during yellow fever outbreaks, and the ruins still stand today.

    What draws visitors now is the tortoise sanctuary. A colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, originally a gift from the Seychelles, lives on the island under the care of a conservation team. The oldest animals are well over a century old. You are able to walk among them, feed them and photograph them at close range with a keeper present.

    After the sanctuary and the prison ruins, the rest of the visit belongs to the water. The island is ringed by a shallow reef and a small white beach, so there is time to snorkel, swim or sit in the shade before the boat returns to Stone Town.

    Prison Island runs as a half-day trip and pairs naturally with Stone Town, the spice farm or Nakupenda Sandbank for a full day.

  • Inter-Hotel Transfers

    Plenty of visitors split their stay: a night or two in Stone Town, then the north coast, then a few days on the east. Moving between them with luggage is where a trip either flows or falls apart.

    We handle the move. Your driver collects you at check-out, loads the luggage and delivers you to the next hotel at a time matched to its check-in, so you are not sitting in a lobby with your bags.

    Because the drive often passes something worth seeing, we will build a stop into the transfer at no extra vehicle cost. Jozani Forest sits on the road between Stone Town and the east coast. The spice farms sit on the road north. A transfer with a stop turns a dead hour into part of the holiday.

    Tell us your hotels and dates and we will map the whole route before you arrive.

  • Private Vehicle and Driver Hire

    Some trips do not fit a fixed excursion. A family wanting to see three places at their own pace, a photographer chasing light, a group with different plans each day, a business visitor with meetings across the island: all of them are better served by their own vehicle and driver.

    We hire out air-conditioned vehicles with an English-speaking driver by the half day, the full day or the length of your stay. You set the route. You stop where you like. If you change your mind at eleven in the morning, that is fine.

    Our drivers know the island and will suggest where to eat, when to move to beat the tide and which road is passable after rain. They are drivers rather than licensed guides, so if you want commentary at the sites, we add a guide.

    Rates depend on the vehicle, the number of days and the distance covered. Tell us what you have in mind and we will quote.

  • Sunset Dhow Cruise

    Sunset over the Indian Ocean is the one thing every visitor to Zanzibar remembers, and the best place to watch it is from the water rather than the beach.

    The cruise runs about two and a half hours from start to finish. You are met with a non-alcoholic welcome drink and taken the short distance to the launch point, where your captain and guide explain the route and what to look for. The boat then heads out along the coast, with the guide talking through what you are seeing and stopping wherever the view earns a photograph.

    Light refreshments and snacks are served on board at the viewpoint. As the sun drops the crew turn the boat so everyone gets an uninterrupted view, and after sunset you sail back in the last of the light.

    The cruise suits couples, families and anyone wanting a relaxed end to the day. It also pairs well with a Stone Town walking tour, where the town visit fills the afternoon and the boat takes the evening.

  • Zanzibar Cooking Class

    Zanzibari food is the clearest record of the island’s history. Indian spice, Arab technique, Portuguese ingredients and African staples meet in dishes like pilau, biryani, urojo soup and coconut fish curry.

    This class puts you in the kitchen rather than at the table. A local chef takes you through ingredient selection, preparation, the order in which spices go into a dish and why, and how the flavours are balanced at the end. The teaching is hands-on and unhurried, and the group stays small enough for everyone to cook rather than watch.

    Beyond the cooking, the session includes the wider setting: Swahili dress, local music and dance, and conversation with the family hosting you. You then sit down and eat what you have made.

    The class works for complete beginners and for confident cooks. It is a good option for a rainy afternoon, for families, and for anyone who wants to take a genuine skill home rather than a souvenir.

  • Stone Town and Prison Island

    The two best-known half-day excursions in Zanzibar, joined into one full day with a single transfer. It is the most popular combination we run, and the natural choice for anyone with only one free day.

    The morning belongs to Stone Town. Your guide walks you through the coral stone lanes of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: the former slave market and its memorial, the Old Fort, the House of Wonders on the seafront, the Sultan’s Palace and the produce stalls of Darajani market. Along the way you hear the stories of Princess Salme and Farrokh Bulsara, the boy from Stone Town later known as Freddie Mercury.

    In the afternoon you take the boat out to Changuu Island. Despite the name, no prisoner was ever held there. The building went up in 1893 and became a quarantine station instead. Today the island is known for its colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, some over a century old, and you are able to walk among them and feed them with a keeper present.

    The island is ringed by a shallow reef and a small white beach, so the day ends with time to snorkel or swim before the boat returns to Stone Town.

  • Stone Town and Spice Farm

    One of our most requested full-day combinations, and a good introduction to what makes Zanzibar different from any other beach destination.

    The morning covers Stone Town on foot with your own guide: Darajani market, the former slave market, the Old Fort, and the seafront views of the House of Wonders and the Sultan’s Palace. Your guide fills in the people behind the buildings, from Princess Salme to Farrokh Bulsara, and helps you bargain in the craft and souvenir shops tucked into the narrow lanes.

    After a morning of history the afternoon explains the island’s other name. A short drive from Stone Town brings you to the spice farms, where pepper, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric grow alongside tropical fruit. This is a walking tour on a working farm: your guide pulls, scrapes and splits the plants as you go, so you smell each spice before you are told what it is.

    You finish knowing how the spices you have been eating all week are grown, used in local medicine and used in ceremony, and usually with a bag of them bought at farm prices.

  • Stone Town and Jozani Forest

    Wildlife and history in one day, running the forest first while the monkeys are active and the day is still cool.

    You arrive at Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park in the mid-morning. The trails lead into the territory of the endangered Zanzibar red colobus monkey, a species living nowhere else on earth. Bush babies, Ader’s duiker, Sykes’ monkeys, butterflies and forest birds share the same trees. Your guide finds the troops, explains their behaviour and takes you across the mangrove boardwalk on the edge of Chwaka Bay.

    The afternoon moves to Stone Town. This UNESCO World Heritage Site carries African, Indian, European and Arabic influences in a few square kilometres of coral stone lanes. Your guide leads you past Darajani market, the former slave market and Forodhani Gardens, with views over the House of Wonders, and fills in the stories of Princess Salme, Farrokh Bulsara and Bi Kidude.

    The day finishes at the Old Fort with time for craft and souvenir shopping before the drive back to your hotel.

  • Spice Farm and Prison Island

    Land and sea in one day, and a good pairing for anyone who wants the island’s two signature experiences without a long drive.

    The morning runs in the countryside, on a working spice farm where cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper grow beside tropical fruit. The two-hour walk is hands on. Your guide handles the plants as you go, and explains how each spice is used in Zanzibari cooking, in herbal medicine and in ceremony. Fruit is cut and served as you walk.

    In the afternoon you head to Stone Town to catch the boat over to Changuu Island, about thirty minutes across the channel. There you visit the foundation caring for the colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, walk through the 1893 prison and quarantine buildings, and then have time to swim, snorkel and sunbathe on the small white beach.

    Pack your swimwear under your clothes in the morning so the afternoon runs without a change of plan.

  • Prison Island and Nakupenda Sandbank

    A full day at sea, pairing the island’s most famous wildlife with its most photographed sandbank.

    The morning boat takes you across to Changuu Island, better known as Prison Island. There your guide introduces the colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, some more than a century old, and walks you through the 1893 prison and quarantine buildings. There is time to feed the tortoises, photograph them and hear the story of how they arrived from the Seychelles.

    From there the boat sails on to Nakupenda Sandbank, a strip of white sand surrounded by shallow turquoise water and nothing else. Your shade tent is set up and a seafood barbecue is served with tropical fruit and soft drinks. The rest of the afternoon is yours: swimming in exceptionally clear water, snorkelling the reef nearby, walking the length of the bank or lying in the shade.

    The boat returns to Stone Town in the late afternoon, and your driver takes you back to your hotel.

  • Prison Island, Nakupenda Sandbank and Stone Town

    Three of the island’s signature experiences in a single day. It is the busiest tour we run and the best answer for anyone with one day and a long list.

    You start at Forodhani Park in Stone Town and take the boat across to Changuu Island. There you walk the 1893 prison and quarantine buildings and meet the colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, with time to feed and photograph them among the island’s trees and birdlife.

    The dhow then sails on to Nakupenda Sandbank, a stretch of white sand surrounded by turquoise water. You swim, snorkel and relax while a fresh seafood barbecue is prepared on the beach and served with tropical fruit and soft drinks. Free photographs of the day are included.

    In the afternoon the boat returns to Stone Town for a guided walking tour: the Old Fort, the House of Wonders, the Slave Market Museum, the cultural sites and the local markets. The day ends with the transfer back to your hotel.

  • Spice Farm and Jozani Forest

    The best land-based day on the island, and the right choice for guests more interested in nature and farming than in boats.

    The morning starts in Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, home of the endangered Zanzibar red colobus monkey and the last substantial piece of the groundwater forest once covering Unguja. Bush babies, duikers, butterflies and forest birds live in the same trees. Keep your eyes on the canopy and your guide will find the troops. The walk finishes on the mangrove boardwalk crossing the tidal forest.

    The afternoon runs on a working spice farm a short drive from Stone Town. Pepper, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla and cinnamon grow here alongside herbs and tropical fruit. Your guide handles the plants as you walk, so you taste and smell everything at the source, and explains how each spice reaches the local kitchen, the herbal medicine chest and the ceremonies at the heart of Zanzibari culture.

    Fruit is cut and served, and there is time at the farm shop before the drive back.

  • Jozani Forest and Prison Island

    A full day of nature across two very different habitats, the forest and the reef.

    The morning walk goes through Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, the only national park on Unguja and a safe haven for the famous endemic Kirk’s red colobus monkey. Your guide leads you along the nature trail and helps you spot the troops, along with the forest’s other residents: Sykes’ monkeys, bush babies, duikers, butterflies and birds. The route also crosses the mangrove forest on the raised boardwalk.

    Later in the day you are driven to Stone Town to catch the boat over to Changuu Island, a crossing of about thirty minutes. On arrival your guide sets out the story of the prison built in 1893 and never used to hold prisoners, and introduces the famous giant land tortoises.

    The rest of the afternoon is free to relax, swim, snorkel the shallow reef or sunbathe before the boat returns.

  • Spice Farm, Prison Island and Nakupenda Sandbank

    The walking spice tour is one of the most popular excursions in Zanzibar, and for good reason. The island was once among the world’s leading producers of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon, and the organic farms still grow a wide variety of plants through the year.

    This day starts there, on foot in a shamba, with your guide showing you how the spices, herbs and fruit grow and are harvested. You smell and taste clove, lemongrass, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, coconut, papaya, chilli, black pepper, jackfruit, cardamom, cassava and orange as you walk.

    From the farm you go on to Prison Island, where you hear the history of the 1893 building and meet the colony of giant tortoises. Then the boat sails to Nakupenda Sandbank for a seafood lunch, swimming and time in the shade on a strip of white sand surrounded by turquoise water.

    It is a long day covering land and sea, and the best value combination we run for anyone with a single free day.

  • Stone Town and Dhow Sunset Cruise

    Combining the Stone Town walking tour with a dhow sunset cruise gives you the best of the town and the water in one afternoon and evening, and finishes with the part most day tours miss.

    The walk starts in the afternoon, when the light in the old lanes is at its best. Your guide covers the former slave market, the Old Fort, the House of Wonders and the seafront, mixing the history with the stories of the people who lived here, and helps you bargain in the craft shops.

    As the afternoon closes you board a traditional dhow. The boat heads out along the coast and turns so everyone has a clear view as the sun goes down over the water. Soft drinks and seasonal fruit are served on board.

    Back on land the day ends at Forodhani Gardens, where the night food market sets up along the seafront: grilled seafood, Zanzibar pizza, sugar cane juice and a crowd of local families. Missing it would be a shame, and this is the tour built around not missing it.