Joan Forest
The Jozani Forest is a real nature reserve located in the central-southern part of the island and can also be easily reached from Stone Town as it is only 35 km away. Our resort was located on the same part of the island and therefore we could not miss it for anything in the world since only here you can see the red colobus, the redheaded monkeys, the only specimens of the island.
Meeting them is the easiest thing in the world because they populate the part next to the entrance to the forest and do not care about the humans who immortalize them in any position, even when they climb on the wires of the phone to cross the road. You can imagine Manina's joy at seeing them. If you have a child, it's a must-see excursion. We visited it at sunset and this allowed us to be in peace, being almost the only tourists present. Also in the afternoon, the monkeys are more active.
The following excursions are organized independently thanks to the availability of Milo and Samantha, the fantastic people responsible for the excursions of the Great Trips in the resort Dongwe Club of which we were guests.
Stone Town
We couldn't leave Zanzibar without visiting the old part of his capital. Stone Town is a maze of alleys and colors, a market that invades you with smells and a sunset over the ocean of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.
We believe that an excursion to Stone Town is essential to understand the intercultural soul of this wonderful island. Stone Town has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we ask you to go there and get rid of the glasses of Western culture, here you will not find unforgettable palaces but you will smell the life of the stone capital of this extraordinary island that is Zanzibar.
The influence of Arab domination and Indian influence can be seen in every corner of Stone Town but become evident in the ancient doors that look like real sculptures. We believe that it is important to understand it really rely on a local guide and stay until sunset to be admired strictly from the African House. You won't regret it, we're sure.
P.S. usually the excursions to Zanzibar combine the visit of Stone Town to the tour of the spices that are to the possibility to visit a real plantation of spices, they say that it is a wonderful experience, unfortunately, we have not had the time to make it.
The North
Also thanks to the organization of the Great Trips we have made an individual tour in the north of the island, in Nungwi. Our intention was to go there to see the sunset but then we discovered a much more valid reason to visit it: the builders of doh, the typical boat of Zanzibar.
We were really lucky because on the way to the beach to see the workers at work we stumbled upon the festivities of a wedding. This excursion was the most intense moment of our entire stay.
After all these words and pictures about the excursions to Zanzibar, we leave you to our video to immerse you totally in the atmosphere of this magical island!