Heldags privat Stone Town + Spice Farm och Prison Island Tour

Amina was an amazing guide! She was so knowledgeable on the history and culture of Tanzania and Zanzibar. Took amazing pictures and even taught me a few Swahili phrases. I would definitely recommend booking with her!

Amina was delightful and very knowledgeable about Stone Town and Zanzibar’s history. I had a great day and would highly recommend this tour and Amina in particular. Also how cute are the tortoises!

Awesome! The tortoises were very cool

You are going to discover a very interesting city, Stone Town, with many very interesting corners and it has the complement of Prison Island, where you will be surrounded by giant tortoises. The spice farm, I could have done without it

Good way to get to know stone town and prison island! We also enjoy the spice farm Ali our guide made it a very enjoyable experience

Amazing experience! Our tour guide Amina was wonderful and we really enjoyed our time with her. It was perfect — the spice tour was our favorite part! Definitely worth every penny.

Amina was an amazing guide. We learned so much from her. She was so adaptable and was able to navigate us around rain and Eid craziness in town. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on this tour. We felt like we hit all the highlights of Stonetown that we could have in one tour.

This private tour included a visit to the Tangawizi spice farm followed by a walking tour of Stone Town. The Tangawizi “spice farm” was not really a farm in the traditional sense. It was a couple of acres on the outskirts of Stone Town with various plants growing there. That said, we did see examples of nutmeg, vanilla, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, jackfruit, ginger, turmeric, and lemongrass. It was informative at a basic level, but if you are looking for a true working spice farm experience, I would recommend seeking out a larger, more authentic operation. After the spice stop, we continued with a walking tour of Stone Town. The route through the vegetable, fish, meat, and spice markets was visually fascinating and lively. Unfortunately, the guide’s explanations were fairly perfunctory. He spent more time greeting friends and acquaintances than explaining the history, culture, or nuances of what we were seeing. Our guide (Mr. P) was knowledgeable but not very enthusiastic. He had difficulty making eye contact and made little effort to engage with us personally or to learn anything about us, which made the experience feel transactional rather than “private.” Several practical aspects could have been improved, especially given the heat. Water was not offered (we had to ask), restroom breaks were not proactively suggested, and there were no suggestions to rest during the walking portions. The van itself was adequate and nicely air-conditioned. The driver’s English was limited, but he eagerly—perhaps a bit too eagerly—engaged us about an upcoming football match. Once football topics were exhausted (and so was his English), he turned on music. We met the guide at the spice farm, and he returned with us to Stone Town. During the drive, the guide and driver spoke to each other and made no effort to include us. They asked to play “Swahili music,” which turned out to be about 30 minutes of techno rap in Swahili accompanied by videos of gangsters throwing money around. One song featured women singing “who the f*** is the master?” This felt like a poor and somewhat jarring representation of Zanzibar and Tanzania. Overall, the tour covered interesting places, but the delivery, engagement, and attention to guest comfort significantly detracted from the experience. With more thoughtful guiding and better logistics, this could be much stronger.

Both our tour guys were great. Abraham was awesome!! Super knowledgeable and very patient. He made sure we were well taken care of and even went over his time to accommodate us. Would highly recommend

Very nice experience. It was perfect except crossing to Island prison, too many waves and lack of communication before pickup. I recommend.