If you're about to leave for a week in Zanzibar and you're looking for the best excursions, know that the island of Tanzania offers so many opportunities, from boat trips to swim with dolphins to the discovery of the ancient capital Stone Town to spice plantations. If, on the other hand, you're not going to leave for Zanzibar, we hope to make your dream with our words and images, we've fallen madly in love with this island and we'd like to come back soon.
Excursions to Zanzibar: who to choose
Excursions to Zanzibar are organized by agencies, resorts, and beach boys. Children on the beach have lower prices but do not offer any insurance. While we were in Zanzibar we heard colorful stories about their services, people left to wait for hours and accidents but we also met satisfied people.
Since we were traveling with Manina, our three and a half-year-old child did not want to risk for any reason and therefore for our excursions to Zanzibar we relied on the professionalism of the tour operator I Grandi Viaggi that we know well having traveled with them in Italy both in Sardinia and Sicily. This has allowed us to face our trip to Africa serene and carefree, covered by insurance against all risks and with local guides very competent and prepared.
Excursions to Zanzibar: our experience
We stayed in Zanzibar for just under a week and we went on an excursion almost every day. When we travel we love to know where we are and we try to find out as much as possible. In the resort of I, Grandi Viaggi where we were guests every day was proposed a different excursion and below you can find those in which we participated.
Prison Island and Nakupenda Island
The Zanzibari call it the Swahili language name Changuu but tourists know it as Prison Island. Whatever you want to call it, it's an island of 800 x 200 meters off the coast of Stone Town, the capital. It is home to a former prison and colony of giant Seychelles turtles. Some turtles are really old, there is a two hundred and six year old specimen and it seems that they arrived here thanks to the sultan Majid bin Said in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The only sore point of this visit was the overcrowding of the park, literally assaulted by tourists. Seeing the turtles surrounded by dozens and dozens of people waiting anxiously to take a selfie in their company was not really a good show.
After the visit to Prison Island, we resumed the boat for lunch and snorkeling in Nakupenda, better known as "the island that is not there" because of the fact that this islet appears or disappears according to the tide. Here we had our first encounter with Zanzibarian cuisine, especially with samosa, of Indian influence, and an excellent grilled octopus obviously served with tasty local spices.
And with the skin reddened by the sun and that sense of limbo that only the boat can give, to the sound of Jambo jambo jambo akuna matata we returned to the port in Stone Town.
to be continued in the next part https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5d7f7ee39515ee00acb3971b/excursions-to-zanzibar-between-beaches-forests-and-stone-cities-part-2-5d8f314bc7e50c00afa95fe8