Day 1: Stone Town – Zanzibar Island

Our 4-day Zanzibar Island Safari starts at the international airport near Zanzibar City. Upon your arrival, your driver welcomes you to Zanzibar Island and transfers you to your hotel in Stone Town.

After settling in and freshening up at your seaside hotel, your guide will collect you for a walking tour of Stone Town.

It’s as if time stands still in this fascinating old quarter of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The eclectic architecture testifies to the various cultures—African, Arabic, Indian, and European—that have occupied this exotic island. Wander through winding alleys and admire the ornately carved and studded wooden doors, archways, and weathered shutters. As a primarily Muslim country, Stone Town features numerous mosques and two cathedrals serving the Christians who arrived with the British.

Visit the Old Fort, built by Omani Arabs after expelling the Portuguese. It has served as a prison and garrison and today attracts tourists with its cultural center, market, restaurants, and amphitheater. The old slave market now houses the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ, featuring many tributes to the city’s heinous past, including an altar built over the spot where the whipping post once stood. All newly captured Africans were tied to the tree here and whipped to test their mettle. The slave trade thrived in the 18th and 19th centuries until the British shut it down in 1873. Your guide will share many stories, some amusing but many detailing the hardships experienced on this island.

Stone Town’s bustling market and many gift shops offer souvenirs and handicrafts. The colorful market fills the air with the aroma of the spices that give this island its Spice Island moniker. After a busy day, your guide will escort you back to your historic hotel next to the ocean. Enjoy sundowners and dinner on the hotel terrace or step out to dine at one of Stone Town’s restaurants.

Accommodation: Tembo House Hotel in Stone Town (or similar)
Includes: Airport transfer & walking tour of Stone Town

Day 2: Spice Tour & Beach Resort – Zanzibar Island

On day two of your Zanzibar Holiday Package, you leave Stone Town behind. Your guide collects you after breakfast at the hotel and transfers you north to your Zanzibar beach resort. Along the way, you stop to enjoy an aromatic Zanzibar Spice Tour on a plantation.

Omani Arabs introduced spices in the 19th century, and after the slave trade’s demise, spices became Zanzibar’s primary income source. Spices play an important role in the lives of the Zanzibaris, used in their cuisine, as a cure for many ailments, and for dyes and henna used for decoration at festivals and weddings. Seeing spices like cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, and turmeric root growing in the plantations helps you understand why Zanzibar is known as The Spice Island.

Taste some unusual fruits grown here, such as jack fruit, custard apple, rambutan, and carambola. Henna bush, lipstick tree, and lemongrass also grow here. After the heady aromas of the spice plantation, continue north to the beach resort.

At the Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa (or similar), kick off your shoes and head to the beach or take a dip in the large swimming pool and enjoy cocktails at the poolside bar. After dinner and a laid-back evening, retreat to your comfortable chalet and fall asleep to the sounds of the Indian Ocean.

Accommodation: Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Includes: Transfer to Ocean Paradise Resort & Island Spice Tour

Day 3: Zanzibar Beach Resort

Enjoy a day in the beach paradise of Zanzibar Island!

Waterbabies will find numerous watersports and ocean activities available. The beach resort’s professional PADI accredited dive center can organize and oversee scuba diving and snorkeling trips. With some of the best diving in the world, your scuba diving adventure is in good hands. Qualified divers can also provide tuition to new divers and beginners.

Other watersports include kayaking, snorkeling, windsurfing, and sailing, or you may choose to take a dolphin tour or a boat trip.

On dry land, there is a fitness center, beach volleyball, billiards, and table tennis. If you prefer a more relaxed day, visit the spa or chill by the pool, soaking up some rays. For those keen to see more of Zanzibar Island, book a tour with the hotel concierge. You can also stroll around the resort, set in a 6.5-hectare garden of lush tropical vegetation with a waterfall and abundant birdlife.

Relax in the evening, toast the sunset with a sundowner, and dine to the sounds of the resident resort band. Fall asleep under your mosquito net to the gentle soundtrack of the waves.

Accommodation: Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Day 4: Beach Resort to Airport – Zanzibar Island

Wake up bright and early for a last swim in the sea or a final stroll on the sandy beach.

All too soon, this short Zanzibar Holiday Package ends. Your driver will collect you from the beach resort after breakfast for your transfer back to the airport.

Meals: Breakfast
Includes: Transfer to the airport

Zanzibar Holiday Accommodation

Tembo House Hotel – Stone Town

Located on the beachfront in the old Stone Town part of Zanzibar City, the historic Tembo House Hotel has a prime location close to historical sites, attractions, and restaurants. This lovingly restored hotel housed the American Consulate for five decades in the early 19th century before becoming the trading offices of Cowasjee Dinshaw & Partners, one of the largest trading companies in the Indian Ocean. Celebrities such as Mahatma Gandhi and Freddie Mercury have stayed in the building.

The hotel’s charming restaurant spills onto spacious seaside terraces, serving local and international cuisine. Tembo Hotel also features an inviting courtyard with a swimming pool, deck chairs, and shaded lounge areas. The hotel is decorated in an eclectic style with a distinctive Zanzibari character. The interiors feature ornate antiques and carved wooden furniture with bright splashes of color and influences from diverse cultures.

All rooms are en-suite, most with a balcony offering views of the ocean or pool. Each room includes a small lounge area with a TV and air-conditioning. The en-suite bathrooms feature a shower and a traditional hammam bath. Rooms are furnished with interesting antique pieces and ornaments, including Swahili beds (carved wooden four-poster beds).

Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa – North Zanzibar

The Ocean Paradise Resort & Spa sits on the northeastern shores of Zanzibar Island, in Pwani Mchangani. Nestled in a large, tropical garden adorned with coconut palms, water features, and a spacious swimming pool, this upmarket beach resort overlooks the turquoise Indian Ocean and lies close to Mapenzi and Kiwengwa beaches.

Individual chalets, built in a typical African round style with makuti (coconut palm) thatched roofs, offer surprisingly sophisticated superior rooms. Relax in a king-size bed under a mosquito net, and enjoy the en-suite bathroom with a shower, a ceiling fan or air-conditioning, a TV, a coffee machine, laundry services, and room service. Each room includes a terrace, perfect for a sundowner as you watch the world go by.

Stay cool in one of the largest swimming pools in Zanzibar and enjoy a drink from the pool bar. The resort offers a variety of restaurants serving international and authentic Zanzibar cuisine, along with superb seafood. After a busy day, indulge in a spa session, unwind with a relaxing massage or facial, or try the jacuzzi, steam room, or sauna. For those seeking activity, the resort features a fitness center, beach volleyball, billiards, table tennis, and a variety of watersports, including diving, windsurfing, kayaking, or a dolphin tour (note: some activities incur extra costs).

Both accommodations provide free Wi-Fi access, and all beds feature mosquito nets to ensure peaceful nights of sleep.

Optional Extras and Excursions