Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park is the only national park on Unguja, and the last substantial piece of the groundwater forest once covering much of the island. It is also the only place in the world where the Zanzibar red colobus monkey lives, an endemic species named after the British consul Sir John Kirk.
The monkeys are habituated and unafraid, so sightings are close and reliable. Troops feed and move through the canopy directly above the trail while your guide explains their social structure, their diet and the conservation work keeping the population stable. Sykes’ monkeys, bush babies, Ader’s duiker, butterflies and a long list of birds share the same forest.
The second half of the visit follows a raised boardwalk through the mangrove swamp on the edge of Chwaka Bay. The walkway carries you over the tidal channels and root systems, and your guide explains how the mangrove protects the coast and feeds the fishery the villages depend on.
The park sits about fifty kilometres from Stone Town on the road toward the east coast, so it combines easily with a spice farm morning or a Stone Town walk.