A dhow drawn up on the beach in Zanzibar

6 days, Tanzania

6-Day Zanzibar Beach Extension

A night in Stone Town, then four on the north-east coast within reach of the Mnemba reef

Duration: 6 days, 5 nights
Group size: 2 to 8 guests
Physical demand: Easy
From: $1,900

About this safari

This is designed to be bolted onto the end of a safari rather than flown to on its own. The connection from Arusha or Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar takes about ninety minutes, so you can be on the crater rim at breakfast and in Stone Town for dinner, which is the right way round: do the early mornings first and the doing-nothing afterwards.

One night in Stone Town, because the old town is a working port city with Omani, Indian, Persian and African layers stacked on top of each other and it deserves a walk and a proper dinner, but two nights there in the heat is more than most people want. Then north to Matemwe on the north-east coast, which faces the Mnemba atoll and has the best reef access on the island. The east coast has a large tidal range, so at low water the sea goes out a long way and the swimming window moves with the moon. We will tell you what the tides are doing in your week before you book, because it changes which beach we put you on.

Nothing here is scheduled beyond what you ask for. There is a spice farm, the Jozani forest with its endemic red colobus, a dhow at sunset and a reef that is genuinely worth the mask. There is also a hammock. After ten or fourteen days of dawn starts, most people take the hammock.

Highlights

A guided walk through Stone Town, with the old dispensary, the seafront and the former slave market site
Snorkelling or diving the Mnemba atoll reef, which is the best water on the island
Zanzibar red colobus in the Jozani forest, a monkey found nowhere else in the world
A working spice farm on the road north, which is more interesting than it sounds and always has been
A sunset dhow off the north-east coast, sailed by the people who fish from it
Four nights with nothing at all in the diary, after a safari that had something in it every day

Day by day

01
Fly to Zanzibar and into Stone Town
The connection from Arusha or Kilimanjaro takes about ninety minutes and comes in low over the reef, which is the first sign of what the water here does. Abeid Amani Karume International is fifteen minutes from the old town. The afternoon is free to walk down to the seafront at Forodhani, where the food stalls set up at dusk, and to get lost in the lanes, which everybody does and which is the point.
- Stone Town, Zanzibar
- Emerson on Hurumzi
- Dinner
02
Stone Town on foot, the spice farms, then north
A morning walk with a local guide takes in the old dispensary, the Omani fort, the Anglican cathedral built on the site of the former slave market, and the doors, which are carved differently depending on who commissioned them. On the road north you stop at a working spice farm for cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and vanilla still growing rather than in a jar. Matemwe is about an hour and a quarter from the farm, on the north-east coast facing Mnemba.
- Stone Town to Matemwe, Zanzibar
- Matemwe Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch
03
The Mnemba atoll reef
The boat leaves in the morning while the water is still flat and the atoll is about twenty minutes offshore. The reef around Mnemba is a protected marine area and the fish life reflects it, with turtle and dolphin regular rather than rare. If you dive rather than snorkel, the operators here run several sites on the atoll wall and it is easy to arrange from the lodge. The afternoon is yours.
- Mnemba atoll, Zanzibar
- Matemwe Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Jozani forest and a dhow at sunset
An hour south to the Jozani Chwaka Bay forest, the last significant patch of the indigenous forest that once covered much of the island, and the only place the Zanzibar red colobus exists. They are used to people and sit at close range, and the mangrove boardwalk at the far end of the reserve is worth the extra twenty minutes. Back on the coast for a sunset dhow, sailed by the crew who fish from it the rest of the week.
- Jozani Chwaka Bay and Matemwe, Zanzibar
- Matemwe Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
A day with nothing in it
Deliberately unscheduled. The tide runs a long way out here twice a day, so the swimming happens in a window and the rest of the time the flats are worth walking, which is where the village seaweed farmers work. Kitesurfing, a second dive, a village walk or a massage can all be arranged on the morning. Most people, after two weeks of dawn starts, choose the hammock.
- Matemwe, Zanzibar
- Matemwe Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Back down the coast to the airport
The transfer to Abeid Amani Karume International takes about ninety minutes from Matemwe, longer if the coast road is busy, and we build in the margin rather than cutting it fine. If you have a late departure there is time for a last swim or a room held until the afternoon. Direct flights leave Zanzibar for Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Doha and several European cities.
- Matemwe to Zanzibar airport
- Departure day, no accommodation
- Breakfast

What is included

Five nights on the board basis shown at the properties named, or comparable alternatives
All island transfers in a private air-conditioned vehicle with a driver
The guided Stone Town walking tour with a local guide
The spice farm visit, including the tasting and the farm fee
A half-day Mnemba atoll snorkelling trip by boat, with equipment
The Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park entry fee and guide, for the red colobus
A sunset dhow sail on the north-east coast
Bottled water in the vehicle and on the boat trips
Zanzibar airport meet and greet on arrival and departure
All government taxes and the Zanzibar infrastructure levy

What is not included

Flights to and from Zanzibar, including the connection from Arusha or Kilimanjaro
Tanzania visa, and note that Zanzibar requires its own compulsory travel insurance policy on arrival
Travel insurance for the rest of the trip, including medical evacuation from the island
All drinks, and all lunches and dinners not shown in the itinerary
Scuba diving, kitesurfing, deep-sea fishing and any other watersport beyond the snorkelling trip
Tips for your driver, the guides, the boat crew and the hotel teams
Laundry, spa treatments and anything else charged to your room account