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.