Excursions

Stone Town

With its fruit and spice market, narrow winding streets, museum, hand-carved wooden doors, and the old Anglican cathedral built on the site where slaves used to be sold, the city reflects the diversity of its inhabitants, a unique melting pot of cultures, now distinctively Zanzibari.

Spice Tour

See the spice plantations and experience astounding natural beauty; visit a local village. Ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla don't grow in bottles. Do you know which comes from leaves, bark, fruit, roots or seeds? Discover the secrets about how these and other plants are used in the Spice Islands. Take some home if you like

Boat Trips to Small Private Islands

We are ideally situated for excursions to the small islands near Imani, by motorboat or traditional wooden sailboats (larger dhows or ngalawa outriggers): especially to CHANGUU ISLAND where you will enjoy a variety of wildlife, including giant tortoises (‘changuu’) from which the island gets its Kiswahili name; or to CHAPWANI ISLAND, where dik dik (tiny gazelles) roam free; or BAWE ISLAND, where you can scuba dive or snorkel amidst the delightfully colourful fish of the coral reef, and not to forget CHUMBE ISLAND with ‘one of the most spectacular coral gardens to be found anywhere in the world’.

Snorkelling/Diving

Zanzibar is a fantastic location for snorkelling and diving with good visibility (20 - 60 metres) and a year-round average water temperature of 27°c. We can organise snorkelling and diving trips for you, ranging from accommodating first time snorkellers, right up to experienced divers wanting to dive the best and most expensive areas. There are some good wreck dives in the Stone Town area, and good reefs - (to name a few; Murogo Reef, Boribo Reef, Pange Reef, Turtles Den) - and we are ideally situated to be able to organise day trips to Chumbe Island Coral Park, superb for snorkelling. Our location is also ideally suited to organise trips to Bawe Island, a 20-minute boat ride from Imani. In addition, we can organise trips to the reefs around Pemba and Mnemba Island.

Dhow cruises, fishing & other ocean pursuits

We can arrange dhow cruises and fishing trips with local fishermen, or boatmen. This not only provides an authentic experience for our guests, but also provides locals with a source of extra income. A dhow sailing trip at sunset is an experience not to be missed! We would also be able to help to arrange a much more extensive deep-sea fishing trip for interested parties. We can help to arrange other ocean pursuits also, which may include kayaking, Catamaran sailing, water-skiing and windsurfing. These can be organised at ‘Mangapwani Serena Beach Club’, only 10 km north of Imani.

Local Places of Interest

Next door to Imani is Salomes Gardens, a 19th c. country house where Princess Salome lived, daughter of Sultan Said. Princess Salome wrote an account of her life in the royal court of Zanzibar in the 1800's. It is considered to be a very important work because it is the only one of its kind. Normally it is possible to organise a short tour of the house and grounds where she lived. In Stone Town, the Palace Museum has a room dedicated to her, with photographs, and excerpts from her book as well as a sample of her typical wardrobe.

The Kidichi Persian Baths are only 2.5 km away, built in 1850, they once formed part of a palace. The baths have ornamental stucco decorations, depicting lotus flowers, peacocks, cloves, coconut palms and dates. Kizimbani Persian Baths are also close by, but are not in as good condition as the Kidichi Persian Baths.

Mangapwani Beach is only 10km north of Bububu, where there is an historical slave site, as well as a lovely stretch of beach. You may also like to visit ‘Mangapwani Serena Beach Club’, where a restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. The club has a water sports centre which offers canoeing and catamaran sailing amongst other activities.

Safaris

Various excursions on the Tanzanian mainland can be organized. The international staff will be glad to help and suggest tailor-made itineraries.