Spice Tour Zanzibar

The day started poorly, with nonexistent communication. I wasn't told what time I would be picked up and no one responded to my message on TripAdvisor or WhatsApp. Luckily the guide showed up (and he was very nice). We didn't go to the Zanzibar Spices and Heritage center, we went to a spice farm nearby instead. I'm not sure why. The guide gave a good tour, but there needs to be better communication and a more accurate description of the activity that's being offered.

Very nice tour with Guide Salum. He picked us up at the agreed time at the hotel in the old town. We drove a short distance to the spice farm where we were received very nicely. Not greenhouses as in Europe, but quasi “wild” plantings of a wide variety of spices and fruits. Salum explained us a lot of details and we were able to “try”. Overall very nice and recommended.

This was a great afternoon Salum was knowledgeable And caring The spice farm was interesting and engaging with info on types of spice and h How they grow and are harvested A coconut harvesting demo and wonderful local fruit grown in the farm plus a handwoven crown and basket made of leaves to take home

It wasn't what I expected. I thought I was going to a spice plantation where I would see stretches of cinamon/cloves etc.... what I visited was more of a herbarium with sooo many different trees ( the cinnamon tree with it's nasal decongestor or roots, the iodine plant, vanilla, ylang ylang used in Chanel Number 5 perfume, ginger, curry, cloves, red bananas, the lipstick tree (real color stay lipstick), nutmeg which I learnt can be hallucinatory. It was amazing. I would still like to see a huge plantation though.

A really nice tour. It is available in several languages. It's nice to see which plants are native here. Finally, you can taste different fruits and enjoy a coconut.

Hamza is an incredible tour guide. We recommend him 10/10! In fact, we had plans to use a different tour company on Wednesday and Friday, with Hamza's Stone Town and Spice Plantation tour landing on the Thursday in between. We ended up canceling with the other company for Friday and using Hamza instead because he was just that awesome. The other company wasn't bad per say (they facilitated the things we hired them to arrange), but Hamza was much friendlier and enthusiastic about the work he is doing here. He is from the islands and loves being Pemban/Zanzibari. It shows through the thorough tours that he gives and the way he interacts with all of the people around. It seems like he knows everyone! He bought us some local snacks to try (make sure you eat the Zanzibari Mix in Stone Town!!), gave us an incredible tour of Stone Town and then the Spice Farms. We didn't want just a facilitator, but we wanted a guide...someone who could answer our questions and really help us get to know the Zanzibari culture. His English is excellent! We also went to the Nakupenda Sand Bar and then to Prison Island with him, as well. He built sand castles with our kids, showed us around and made us feel like family. Book with him - you won't regret it!!

Hamza couldn’t have picked a better tour for us. He is incredibly knowledgeable about all the different spices, how to cook with them, & the traditional use- something you never hear about. Hamza should really write a book about Zanzibar spices. The lunch was a great expérience, all the food was cooked with the spices from the farm. We got to taste most of the spices picked directly from the trees or bushes. And when I cook with the many spices I brought home, my food tasted really great.

Hamza was our go-to guy on Zanzibar. He was super professional and helped us organize all our activities including transfers, fishing trip and spice tour. The spice tour was especially memorable and Hamza is a very knowledgeable and good guide! We learned a lot about the various spices on Zanzibar. He went out of his way to make sure our trip was fantastic and he succeeded so many many thanks to Hamza. Highly recommend!

Loved learning about all the spices grown on the island, tour had fun interactive tasting of spices, tour guides made beautiful jewelry and baskets to carry samples out of banana leaves and hibiscus flowers. Very authentic tour of history of spice use and practical cooking and medicinal application of the spices, including how the spices spice up your relationship haha!

Great visit to research the tastes of the spices and fruits of the region, coconut tasting and making hats with banana leaves!