8 Days Amazing Holiday in Zanzibar

Arrival, meet and greet at the airport, transfer to Dhow Palace Hotel. Check in for two nights in a double room on bed and breakfast basis. Each evening as the sun sets, Stone Town's Forodhani Gardens transforms into an open-air food market — skip the fish kebabs and head straight to the vendors selling urojo, a thick mango-and-tamarind soup served alongside chickpea fritters, boiled potatoes, cassava flakes, chutney, and as much hot sauce as you dare. Follow it up with hand-pressed sugarcane juice with ginger and lime.

Your program starts with a morning walking tour on our Historical Stone Town Tour. This tour takes you through fabled Stone Town, where history appears to stand still. With visits to the House of Wonders, the Palace Museum (People's Palace) and the Arab Fort amongst others, it is a fascinating look at the essence of Zanzibar — its bustling market, winding alleyways, ornately carved and studded doors, two cathedrals and countless mosques.

In the morning you will depart from Dhow Palace Hotel to Blue Oyster Hotel, located in the southwest of Zanzibar island. You will make a Jozani Forest tour en route, to discover the small Zanzibar leopard, blue monkey, chameleon, mongoose, bush baby, tree hyrax, bush pig, civet, and two small antelope species found only on Zanzibar. Check in for three nights at Blue Oyster Hotel on a bed and breakfast basis.

Early in the morning after breakfast you will visit the Blue Lagoon atoll on a tour to Michamvi Beach and the coral garden, a location where you can snorkel with starfish in their natural environment amid the clear Indian Ocean waters (snorkeling gear provided; roughly 2 hours). At Pingwe you can relax in shallow water viewing various starfish species — a highlight especially for visitors with young kids. You will later stop at The Rock Restaurant, where classic Swahili cooking comes to life with a fresh seafood menu of lobster, calamari, octopus, crabs, shrimp and the fish of the day.

A day of leisure — swim and play at the beach in front of the hotel, enjoying the beach and feeling free to arrange any other extra activity.

After breakfast, transfer from Blue Oyster Hotel to Amaan Beach Bungalows on the north coast, with a Spice Tour en route — a discovery of spices, fruits and coconut climbing, testing and smelling the different spices grown and used in Zanzibar cuisine such as cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. It is not only a tour but a rare experience showing why Zanzibar is called the Spice Island. Arrive at Nungwi around 1:00pm and check in for two nights at Amaan Beach Bungalows on a half-board basis.

A day of leisure — swim and play at the beach in front of the hotel, enjoying the beach, the sun, and playing volleyball at the beach.

You will enjoy breakfast at your hotel with some leisure time until the transfer to the airport/seaport for your departure.