Private Full Day Trip To Stone Town, Spice Farms And Jozani Forest

The tour guide didn’t show up for pickup. I booked and paid for the tour before coming to Zanzibar and on the day of the tour I tried to call the listed number 5 times, nobody picked up the phone. Finally I had a hotel manager call them, they finally picked up, claimed that the driver “didn’t find me”. I was in the hotel waiting for them the entire time, didn’t have a single missed call nor a message. After that I again called and wrote multiple emails asking for a refund - radio silence.

It was an amazing experience! Said, our guide and driver, picked us up right on time from our hotel. He drove safely and carefully all day. Our first stop was Jozani Forest, where we explored the mangrove area and joined a group with a professional guide to see the red colobus monkeys. The guide was friendly, engaging, and happy to answer all our questions. Next, we visited Jambo Spice Farm, which is more like a “showroom” for spices. Here, we had a private guide who took us around, letting us see, smell, and touch all the different spices they grow. You can even try climbing a coconut tree and taste fresh coconut milk! We were also offered a delicious variety of fresh fruits from the farm. You can buy locally made cosmetics and freshly harvested spices — cash is best, but card payments were also possible for us. Our last stop was Stone Town, where a private guide showed us around the old streets, the fish market, the live chicken market, and told us fascinating stories about the town’s history. It was a long but wonderful day — from 9 am to 8 pm — and definitely worth it, especially if your hotel is far from Stone Town and you want to make the most of your time without going back and forth. A few tips: wear comfortable shoes, bring cash for shopping and tipping your guides, and carry some snacks, as we had little time for lunch and didn’t want to spend the day sitting in a restaurant

Jozani forest trip is soothing, interesting and funny due to Monkeys and nature. Mangrove forest is surprising and interesting, nice exploration, good guide for both. Spice farm is the best part, staff is funny, welcoming and deserves all the tips and in-site purchases due to their hard and interesting work. You’ll be happy to support the village and meet all the local people (if you can, bring some gifts for the children like pencils and sweets). Overall, Spice Farm is a must-go for a Zanzibar travel! Stone Town tour is a bit disappointing: very crowded town, feeling of being aimed constantly from vendors doesn’t allow you to look a lot around you in a calm way, if you’re a Woman you’ll be object of uncomfortably staring and comments from the local people (especially in the fish market) and honestly that could ruin your trip. A city to visit if you can place layers and filters in your judgment and just live the pulsating heart of Zanzibar, we strongly recommend to ask and talk to guide to meet your requirement (eating, bathroom, suggestions) and you’ll be satisfied with almost no issues. However, our guide’s explanation wasn’t always very clear nor involving and sometimes dropped sexist jokes which weren’t funny. Driver was not very talkative but overall ok.

We started our tour at the jozani forest, then the spice farm and finished at Stone Town - which was great for us, as it meant we got to check out the night market in stone town. My personal favourite was the spice farm tour, we learnt so much about fruits and spices and our tour guide at the farm was friendly and charming and played a quiz with us which made the experience more enjoyable. We also got to taste lots of fruits at the spice farm which was great and received homemade accessories made from plants. The monkey spotting at the Jozani forest was cool, but you don’t need to spend a long time there once you see the monkeys. The highlight of the Stone Town tour was the restaurant we ate at called Lukmaan Restaurant; a traditional Swahili restaurant with amazing and delicious food. Though we didn’t feel the guide at Stone Town was the best at engaging with us and explaining the history. Our private driver was great for the most part, letting us know information about Zanzibar and Prison Island which we had asked about. But unfortunately the driver was a bit unprofessional at the end of our when he allowed his friend ( he did not ask our permission or let us know who he is) and tour guide to join us in the car when it is supposed to be a private transfer hire. Overall still a good full day tour.

We had a fabulous time . Driver took great care of us and we had brilliant guides at all of our stops. They all had fantastic knowledge and showed us all the highlights. We loved the Jozani forest where we found out about the various trees and we took some great pictures of the monkeys. At the Spice Farm we were shown where all the spices came from and what they looked like on the tree. Smelt nutmeg, lemongrass , turmeric, cloves etc and got a chance to buy some of them. Also had a fruit tasting session. At the end we were presented with woven headgear etc. Guides were friendly and asked what we wanted to experience. As part of the trip we visited a small African project and got to hold various chameleon s. At Stone Town we had anther fabulous guide whose knowledge was outstanding. He took us all over the town where we saw historical sites, and the markets . A memorable day packed with out standing sites which were enhanced by the superb guides and of course our driver. Big thanks to them all . We have some amazing pictures.

I would like to commend Said hosting us for a week stay in Zanzibar, from the pick up at the airport to all the 4 different days of activities, ending with drop off at the airport at the end of our stay. Said showed us the utmost hospitality, was helpful throughout the trip, the activities were the best part of the trip and we throughly enjoyed it. Whenever we needed extra stuff Said was more than happy to help and went above and beyond. I would recommend anyone coming to Zanzibar to book with Viva ocean tours and safari. Top class company and people and couldn’t have asked for more. We look forward to returning.

We had amazing experience in Zanzibar with Said, we had lots of fun at the sea bank as well as prison Island. Said is a very friendly and hospitable guide ! I highly recommend!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I recently had the pleasure of experiencing a tour guided by Said and I cannot express enough how incredible the entire experience was. From start to finish, it was an absolute delight. We did the Mnemba island and Turtle aquarium, stone town tour, prison island, Jozani forest and many more tours provided by Said. Everything went well and smooth and highly recommend choosing Said for all your tours in Zanzibar. Thanks Said, From Sammy

Together with my parents and my 2-year-old son, we got a good impression of Zanzibar. Our guide Said showed us all the beautiful places on the island. We had a fantastic time in Zanzibar! Thanks Said!!

We booked several tours, such as Prison Island, Maalum Cave, Jozani Forest, snorkeling at Mnemba Island and a visit to the Sea Turtles, with Said and they were great! Said has a lot of knowledge about the island. If you are looking for a good guide at a nice price to discover Zanzibar, you should go to him. Said, thank you, we had a fantastic time and will definitely recommend you when friends of ours visit Zanzibar.

We loved Stone town city tour, Spice Tour and Jozani Forest. I would recommend visiting Zanzibar and doing a tour of these sites. Our tour guides were punctual and knowledgeable of the area. My major concern however was that we were on an all day tour which included lunch and water. Our guide did not provide water and it was very hot. We were also tired and our guide did not check in with us for bathroom breaks or water breaks. The worse part was that they did not stop for lunch midday but took us to a restaurant at 5 pm for lunch! Then our guide proceeded to order food for us without inquiring what we wanted and ordered food that we didn’t want such as octopus soup! My suggestion: Skip tour with lunch included and go on tour only!

Great tour and well organized. He came on time and manage to see everything on that day. Recommend him as a tour guide and enjoyed the town

Said was very great to work with. He is super friendly and knowledgeable about Zanzibar and Stone Town. He helped make our trip very smooth and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. Would highly recommend!!

Said is an incredible tour guide! He has a lot of great tips, takes you everywhere safely and is always on time! He knows great local eating spots and can also be your photographer if you’re traveling solo :) I definitely recommend Said as your tourguide!

Without doubt one of the favourite island to visit 🏝️ Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by Saed , our names were mentioned on the board and we felt welcomed and with such a friendly atmosphere we had a fantastic start! The guide and tour was extremely good, very flexible (appreciate this!) and for that he deserves a special thanks. We had four great days there with great insight about the history of the island explained by Saed. Saed is such a warm personality and highly motivated guide (recommendable!). I truly enjoyed exploring the island with Saed as our guide. The scenery was beautiful and it was a relieve to explore in such a quiet and peaceful environment. The experience is so special that it really felt like home to me and my wife. respect for Saed who does a great job there; a true sample of excellent tour guide! Many thanks again and I recommend Saed to everyone visiting the island!!!

Was a very cool experience! Me and my friend had lots of fun in Zanzibar. Said came always on time. He organized all of our trips. I can only say he's the best Tourguide in Zanzibar!! Greating from Germany

I had an incredible time during my tour/trip with Said. Said is professional, friendly, well knowledgeable and extremely dedicated to ensuring we had a great time. I would highly recommend his business to anyone looking for a trip to Zanzibar.