Zanzibar Spice Tour - Half Day Excursion

The Activities - the Zanzibar Spice Tour

A Visit to the Kidichi Village

The Zanzibar spice tour is a 3-hours guided tour begins and ends up at your hotel via Kidichi Village, to view the Persian Baths built in 1850 by Seyyid Said bin Sultan for his wife Princess Shehrzard.

The Baths were built between 1870 and 1888 for sultan Barghash bin Said for use as public baths, and maintained this function until 1920. They are referred to as "Persian" because their construction was commissioned to Shirazi architects. The word "Hamamni" means "the place of the baths".

The building had a complex structure with several rooms, including hot and cold baths, toilets, shaving areas, and a restaurant. Hot water was provided by underground aqueducts. Entrance was subject to a fee, so that only wealthy zanzibaris could use them regularly. They were open both to men and women, but with different hours of admittance.

The Baths are not working anymore, but they are open to visitors and are a major tourist attractions of Stone Town. Visits are limited to some areas of the original complex because part of it (e.g., the restaurant) has since been adapted for private residences.

A Visit to the Kizimbani Village

The spice tour proceeds to the Kizimbani village located in the central district of Zanzibar. At Kizimbani you will visit the spice farms to see, smell and test varieties of tropical fruits and spices. The tour also offers many fresh spices including black pepper, cardamom (cardamon) spice, cinnamon spice, cloves, roots gingers, vanilla sticks, lemon grass, nutmeg and many others, and Zanzibar tropical fruits like, jackfruit, pineapples, bananas, mangos, malay apples and more are also spotted at the Zanzibar spice tour.

Zanzibar spice tour photo: Cinnamon trimming.

Cinnamon is harvested by growing the tree for two years then coppicing it. The next year, about a dozen shoots will form from the roots.

The branches harvested this way are processed by scraping off the outer bark (referred to as cinnamon sticks), then beating the branch evenly with a hammer to loosen the inner bark. The inner bark is then prised out in long rolls. Only the thin (0.5 mm (0.020 in)) inner bark is used; the outer, woody portion is discarded, leaving metre-long cinnamon strips that curl into rolls ("quills") on drying. Once dry, the bark is cut into 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) lengths for sale.

The bark must be processed immediately after harvesting while still wet. Once processed, the bark will dry completely in four to six hours, provided that it is in a well-ventilated and relatively warm environment. A less than ideal drying environment encourages the proliferation of pests in the bark, which may then require treatment by fumigation. Bark treated this way is not considered to be of the same premium quality as untreated bark.

Plants such as henna bush, ylang lang and anator are also to be seen in the spice tour. Guests shall see the locals at their pulse and have opportunity to take good spice tour photographs. Great way to keep memories of the famous Zanzibar spice tour.

Zanzibar Spice Tour Rates

Standard Option from

USD 30 p.p.

in a Group of 6 or more. Price increases as the # of people lowers!

This Price Includes

• Excursion fee
• Entrance fees
• Return transport from Stone Town
• A 500mL bottle of water

Budget Option from

USD 20 p.p.

sharing with a different group.

This Price Includes

• Excursion fee
• Entrance fees
• Return transport from Stone Town
• A 500mL bottle of water