Activities in Zanzibar
Zanzibar offers you the ultimate beach and leisure experience. For those who love the sun, sand, and surf – Zanzibar is a perfect escape.
The Zanzibar beach holiday tours cannot be fulfilled without it’s wealth of activities to satisfy even the most demanding explorers from drift dives and kite surfing to dhow sunset cruise and pampering.
World Class Snorkel and Scuba Dive Reef Sites
For centuries Zanzibar has been a preferred diving destination for only a very select group of people, but now it’s changed and has become clear that it is an excellent place for diving.
Zanzibar is East Africa’s best diving spot, boasting rich marine life due to coral reef structures around the island. Zanzibar’s diving reefs are generally shallow, with calm, clean water.
Dive sites overflow in this magic place, and a wide variety assures there’s something for the beginner as well as for professionals.
You can also snorkel here. Chumbe Marine Park only allows snorkeling to ensure maximal protection of its low lying reefs. Aquatic fauna seen during snorkel and dive excursions in Zanzibar are parrotfish, triggerfish, angelfish, octopus, glassfish, sweetlips, butterflyfish, green turtles, nudibranchs, moray eels, lionfish, moorish idols and many more.
Exploring Stone Town
Explore Stone Town, the atmospheric cultural and historical heart of Zanzibar City, on this 3-hour walking tour with a guide.
Constructed from coral stone in the 19th and 20th centuries, Stone Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.
You’ll get to know the town as you see heritage sites and architecture, visit a local marketplace, check out the church and memorial at the old slave market, admire the former home of the sultan, and do some shopping with the help of your guide. Tour is limited to 10 people to provide a small-group experience.
You can buy exquisitely carved artifacts, beautiful jewelry, and varied seafood fresh from the ocean, luscious organic fruits harvested from a nearby farm, incredibly distinct traditional clothing from kitenge to Swahili dresses and so much more. Visit Stone Town on your day excursion of Zanzibar with Olosokwan Adventures and lose yourself in a long-gone era.
Spice Tours
In days past, Zanzibar was known as the ‘Spice Island’, exporting these across the world, the industry beginning with the Omani Arabs in the early 19th century when they made Zanzibar the capital of their empire.
Nowadays a Spice Tour has become one of the most popular excursions on the island. You can walk through the spice farm with your guide, touching, smelling and tasting different spices and tropical fruits, learning about their properties, origins and use as medicines and in food and drink.
Learn from the village locals the home remedies they can concoct. Spices are also used as coloring and as a component in cosmetics. You could also chance to view the fascinating clothing that is dyed for weddings and special events using the colors extracted from the spices.
Enjoy them in their organic taste, and you can try and match them to the processed products you find in your local grocery store.
A Discerning Turquoise Beach Vacation
On your beachfront holiday in Zanzibar, stretch out on a quaint sisal daybed or get rocked to sleep in a hammock strung between two palm trees facing the turquoise Indian Ocean. The warm tropical sun peeks down at you from gaps in the leaves while the soft breezes scented with the unique fragrance of the spices growing on the island mingling with the aroma of organic coconuts, fruit and other flora surround you.
There is an alluring freshness in the air, and as you slip into a languorous siesta, only the sounds of the gentle waves twirling on the unbelievably white sands and the rustling of the trees create a serene harmony. As you awaken, the scintillating azure of the Indian Ocean greets your eyes with the sun rays skimming on the waves that are subdued by the reefs and coral formations under the surface. There is a mystical ambience all around that is pleasurable and tranquil. Bathe in the tropical sunlight or take a dip in the waters that feel a pleasant tepid on the skin.
Experiences of Unique Boutique Beach Lodging
If you are looking for the ultimate accommodation experience on your boutique beach vacation in Tanzania, you can choose from the some of the authentic, distinctly luxury options the archipelago of Zanzibar has.
Here you can expect a serene time to yourself with only the incredible beauty of the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, powdery-soft white sands, verdant tropical vegetation and fascinating avian, terrestrial and marine fauna.
The tepid waters are crystal clear and ideal for swimming, snorkeling and diving. Your stay at the Mnemba Island Lodge, all intimately and individually characterized by exquisitely decorated rooms, opulent living spaces, sumptuous cuisine, specially cooked to your tastes, discreet service and a host of facilities such as a private plunge pool, elegant spa, library, patio gardens, infinity pools and much more. All amenities, facilities, gourmet cuisine and fine wines are included, and the ambience of the island will weave a spell of utter allure all around you.
Diverse & Bespoke Island Tours
Zanzibar offers a range of thrilling customizable activities aside from Stone Town, spice farm, diving, snorkeling and fishing excursions that you can sample when on your seaside vacation in Africa.
For instance, picture yourself riding a beautiful, well-trained horse on the gorgeous white sands of Kiwengwa Beach with the warm sun on your face and the breeze swaying your hair. Quad biking is yet another adventure you can go on, and both children and adults are welcome to try.
Perhaps, the most interesting part of this adventure is the visit to little Zanzibari hamlet that you can only reach by quads. Relax your mind, body and soul by taking yoga classes with Jo Fox. You can choose from the diverse sites around the island and also opt for private lessons.If you enjoy active-water activities, try the kitesurfing and windsurfing.
Olosokwan Adventures guests that are trying their hand at active sports for the first time can opt for lessons from expert instructors.
Nungwi and Kendwa beaches
Whether you stay at Nungwi beach, Kendwa beach, or even somewhere along the East coast, exploring Zanzibar’s north beach resorts is certainly worth the effort.
Nungwi is the third largest settlement in Zanzibar, with a population of about 5,500, found at the far north of the island.
The smaller nearby Kendwa is on the west coast, overlooking the tiny Daloni Island and the larger island of Tumbatu. Both are located about an hour’s drive from Stone Town.
Dhow building and village tour: Nungwi beach remains a focal point for Zanzibari ship building where skilled shipwrights use age-old methods and tools to turn rough timber planks into ocean-going dhows. Village tours can also be arranged for those interested in discovering the cultural side of dhow building and how the tradition persists through the centuries.
Jozani Forest
Once the home of leopards, Zanzibar’s nearest destination to a game reserve is Jozani Forest, located in the south of the island. Currently Jozani is under consideration to become a World Heritage Site, and is well worth a visit for its stunning scenery and biodiversity.
Top of the list of things to see here is the endemic Red Colobus Monkey. Troops of these monkeys can be found scrambling from branch to branch, in search of food.The monkeys have become acclimatized to people and allow you to get close to them to take photographs as they eat, play and jump from the treetops.
There are many salt marshes around the bay, and you can go exploring the dry coral rag forests that are inundated with tidal waves every season. Lose yourself in this wondrous world during on your wilderness holiday in Zanzibar.
Your walks along the trails in the forest will treat you to the sight of Sykes’ monkeys, bush babies, varied birds, the shy Ader’s duiker, suni antelope and more.
Private Island Escapades
There are small islets around Zanzibar such as the Mnemba, Chumbe, Chapwani and others. These isles offer you the rare experience of living on a private island for the duration of your Indian Ocean holiday in Tanzania.
These islands host only a few rooms for like-minded guests and you can spend your detox vacation in complete seclusion from the outside world. Mnemba Island in the east, covered with casuarina copses entertains not more than 20 guests (10 rooms) at a time.
Here, you will be staying in eco-friendly beachfront bandas with miniature suni antelopes and other island avian denizens roving around. In the west, Chumbe Island forms a part of a protected coral reserve.
When you spend time here, you will be amazed to see how humans can live without leaving a footprint on the environment. Learn about the ingenious methods by which waste is disposed of and energy created from solar power.