Zan Maldive Tours and Safaris

Tour type: Combination tour

  • Jozani Forest and Butterfly Centre

    This half-day trip pairs Zanzibar’s only national park with the community butterfly project next door, and covers most of the island’s land wildlife in a single morning.

    Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park comes first. The forest trails carry you into the territory of the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, found nowhere else on earth. Sykes’ monkeys, bush babies, Ader’s duiker, butterflies and forest birds share the same trees, and your guide finds them and explains how the conservation programme works.

    The Zanzibar Butterfly Centre sits beside the park entrance. It is a community project: local farmers rear butterfly pupae for the enclosure and for export, which gives villages an income from keeping the forest standing. Inside the netted garden dozens of native species fly around you, and the keepers show you chameleons, bush babies, elephant shrews and other small residents.

    The combination works particularly well for families and for anyone with an interest in conservation, since both sites explain what protecting the forest actually pays for.

  • 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.