Heldags privat Stone Town + Spice Farm och Prison Island Tour

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.

Fantastic day picked up by Ibrahim and Ali who made our day special, safe and informative, I'm not a great come and buy some products guy but the Spice Farm was very informative and the Prison Island Tour was made by the zaniest boat trip ever where we virtually bounced off four walls.. ....awesome!!! Saw lots of old Tortoises 🐢 😕 ha ha and then walked around a mainly inaccessible Stone Town where we had hoped to visit the old Fort...shut and Museum shut etc but we walked around and soakedup the atmosphere in a very very safe environment. Fantastic tour guides, brilliant information but let's just say a lot of areas advertised are inaccessible then you know what you are getting!! Great value though and a great day !!

This tour is not wheelchair accessible in any reasonable sense of the phrase, though the guide did his best and got us to all the listed stops. My wife was lifted, in her wheelchair, into and out of the boat by four men. I feared for both my wife and the chair! Prison Island was possibly not worth such an effort, but that’s only our opinion. The tortoises were interesting and plentiful. Stone Town was good, though the limitations of wheelchair accessibility were obvious in that internal visits were off the agenda. We had realised this beforehand, as it’s almost impossible to make a historic place like this accessible. Our favourite stop was the spice farm. We both enjoyed the fruit tasting and being shown the various spice plants and trees. The paths around the various plantings are just about accessible with the chair, though there are multiple roots to be negotiated. As other reviewers have said, there are various people other than the main guide who expect tips along the way, so have some small dollar bills to hand. Overall it was enjoyable, but I believe we were lucky to have a guide who made it work.

This tour was advertised as wheelchair accessible with flat surfaces, which is completely inaccurate. While we genuinely enjoyed the Spice Farm, describing it as accessible is a stretch. My husband uses an electric wheelchair and another passenger had significant mobility issues. We clearly advised the operator of these needs prior to the tour, yet the experience was anything but smooth. Our guide was friendly and helpful at the Spice Farm, however navigating the site was very difficult for both my husband and the other passenger. Thankfully there were occasional places to sit and rest. We were also told to tip two workers USD $5 each, which we did, but this was an unexpected additional cost on an already expensive tour. Before heading to Stone Town, we specifically checked with our guide, Ali, about Prison Island and Stone Town accessibility. He advised Prison Island was not accessible due to many steps, meaning two members of our group would not be able to participate. We asked if an alternative could be arranged — he repeatedly said he would check, but never did. By the time we arrived in Stone Town and walked to the Slave Museum, it had already been a long walk for our less mobile passenger. We then asked how far it was to walk back to the port through Stone Town and were told 30 minutes, despite being told it was 5 minutes just moments earlier. There was absolutely no way our friend could manage that distance. Unfortunately, the driver had already been dismissed by the guide. We had to insist he be called back so we could return to the ship. At that point, we were done with a tour that let us down. To say we are disappointed is an understatement. I contacted the operator to express our concerns and have received no response. We have requested a 50% refund directly from the operator and have now escalated the matter through Viator. In all my years of travelling, I have never felt the need to request a refund — until now. Tip for operators: Do not advertise tours as wheelchair accessible or suitable flat surfaces when they are not. People with disabilities rely on honesty when booking experiences. What makes this worse is that our accessibility needs were communicated in advance and still could not be met.

Everyone knew the weather was bad but they still confirmed the Prison Island Tour, but that was then cancelled and replaced with a cooking class! The cooking class sounded ok but it was just peeling of vegetables rather than cooking, so it was an expensive let down! No offer to refund the Prison Island Tour!