Zanzibar Day 5

Jozani Forest is about 40 minutes from The Residence and is home to the Red Colobus Monkey that can only be found in Zanzibar. The forest stretched over 5000 hectares and houses various indigenous plants with medicinal features. Our guide kept pointing out cures for hemorrhoids, not sure if this is a big problem on the island.


The monkey’s are very cute, tame and playful. They are known as poison monkey’s on the island as they eat and kill a lot of trees. However the people of Zanzibar are protecting these animals.



Lastly we went to a mangrove swamp where our guide explained that mangrove forests are important to our eco system (I never knew this). Apparently when it’s high tide, the sea water comes through the mangrove forest and sort of cleans the water. I know this is lame, but I cannot remember I this works, just know that I was quite impressed.


The spice tour was next. Again because we were on a site inspection we didn’t have time to do the entire tour. The guide just showed us a clove and cinnamon tree. I would’ve never guessed that this was where cloves and cinnamon comes from. I know very little when it comes to spice and it was quite interesting to see where they come from and hear what there medicinal values are. The guide cut a root from the cinnamon tree and it smelled of vicks. How interesting. You boil the roots and capture the vapor, also if you boil the roots and do something else with it, that’s where the gel comes from. Wish I can go back and do it properly so that I can give you decent feedback :)

We had another fruit tasting after the brief spice tour. This time the new fruit I tasted was the custard apple. Very interesting, slimy weird texture, but absolutely delicious! I never even know this existing. For the first time in my life I also ate fresh grapefruit and actually enjoyed it.

We bought some spices and then went to the nearest coconut tree to watch a local climb all the way to the top. WHAT A JOKE? It was a matter of seconds and the guy was at the top looking down at us singing Jumbo – a famous local song.

At the end of the tour the locals have made all of us bracelets, rings, earrings, crowns and necklaces. It was such a cool experience, one that I will have to complete someday when I’m on holday :)

All the Zanzibari’s are so friendly, it just makes me want to go back for sure… and hopefully soon as well.

Lunch was at Mbweni Ruins. We showed the clients the jetty and the ruins for an offsite dinner for the group. They loved it! It’s truly beautiful, you can’t not love it. Lunch was in a semi-dirty restaurant, definitely not a place you take your clients to. Fail on my behalf. However the food was delicious! I had a chicken curry that was just the right kind of mild and very very good.

That afternoon was once again spent on a dhow on the way to prison island. A prison was built on the island, hence the name, but the prison was never actually used. There is a tortoise sanctuary on the island where they breed them. The oldest tortoise is 182 years old. At the moment they have 70 on the island. I’m not sure what to make of it, cause it’s there for the tourists to look at and feed, but the tortoises never make it off the island. It’s a good thing that they are breeding them, but surely you need to release them back into the wild?!


Our last evening was spent at the hotel, exhausted! We had dinner at the Pavillion and enjoyed a real Indian buffet. All the food on the island is fresh and delicious! For dessert I enjoyed a jummy pancake with bar one sauce  The diet starts Monday 