Zanzibar’s nickname is no marketing invention. In the 19th century the Omani sultans turned the islands into the world’s leading producer of cloves, and cloves remain an important export today. Nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, turmeric, ginger and lemongrass followed.
The big plantations are not open to visitors; what you see on a “spice tour” are small demonstration farms in the villages inland and north of Stone Town, around Kizimbani and Kidichi. A guide walks you through the plot, cutting bark, crushing leaves and splitting fruit so you can smell and taste each spice at source.
Top things to do at Spice Farms
Guess the spice
Cinnamon is a bark, nutmeg hides inside a fruit wrapped in scarlet mace, vanilla is an orchid vine, and the “lipstick tree” stains your fingers red. Most visitors fail the guessing game.
Taste the fruit
Tours end with a plate of whatever is in season — jackfruit, starfruit, mango, pineapple, perhaps durian — and often a climber shinning up a palm for fresh coconuts.
Buy at source
Small packets of spices, soaps and oils are sold at the end. Prices are negotiable and they make light, useful souvenirs.
How to get to Spice Farms
- From Kendwa: the farms are roughly 45 minutes to an hour south, on or near the road to Stone Town — which is why almost every Stone Town day tour includes one.
- Best combination: the Stone Town, spice farm and Prison Island day, with a Swahili lunch at the farm.
Insider tips
- Small tips are expected for the guide, the coconut climber and whoever weaves you a palm-leaf hat.
- Wear closed shoes; paths are muddy after rain.
- Check customs rules at home before buying seeds or fresh plant material.
Best tours & tickets for Spice Farms
These well-reviewed experiences are the simplest way to see Spice Farms from a Kendwa base:
Day trip from $55 Zanzibar: Stone Town, Spice Tour & Prison Island with Lunch
Three of the island’s essential sights in a single day, and by far the most-reviewed way to do them. A long day from Kendwa — Stone Town is over an hour’s drive — but it ticks off the history, the tortoises and the spices in one go.
- A guided walk through UNESCO-listed Stone Town
- Boat to Prison Island and its giant tortoises
- Spice farm visit with a Swahili lunch
Private tour from $70 Zanzibar: Jozani Forest, Spice Farm & Stone Town Private Tour
A private car and guide for the whole day, which is the comfortable way to cover Zanzibar’s long distances from the north. Forest in the morning, spices at midday, Stone Town in the afternoon — and you decide where to linger.
- Red colobus monkeys and the mangrove boardwalk at Jozani
- Smell and taste your way round a spice farm
- Stone Town with your own guide, at your own pace
