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Zanzibar Excursions |
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Gallery Tours have a range of excursions to
suit all interests. Whether your conference
is an exercise in team building, an
opportunity to reward top performers or
entertain clients, our excursions are an
essential component of your itinerary.
Gallery Tours can also organize cultural
talks from local experts, on topics as far
ranging as Zanzibar history, art and marine
life. A selection of our most popular tours
are outlined below. |
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Green Tourism | Blue Tourism | Cultural Tourism | Theme based events |
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Green
Tourism
Sultan Panorama Tour
The Sultan Panorama Tours is ideal for
visitors with little time who want to
experience a bit of everything Zanzibar has
to offer. It’s a full day excursion,
starting in Stone Town, covering the history
of the sultans, slave trade and invasions
that shaped Zanzibar’s history. Your guide
will give you a broad overview of the
island’s history and current affairs and
you’ll pass by many historic sites and visit
the Slave Market. A stop at the vibrant
Darajani Market helps you to experience city
life, with all the hustle and bustle, smells
and noise. You’ll be driven to a spice farm,
and given the opportunity to taste seasonal
spices and fruits as your guide describes
their properties and uses. Throughout the
tour, you can sample local delicacies and
local staple foods. Your next stop is at a
local village for a slice of Zanzibari
culture and life. Cooking, weaving, building
houses and playing with the children, you’ll
have chance to see what life is like for
Zanzibaris. An informative and action packed
day, this tour gives a taste of everything
found in all other Zanzibar excursions.
Zanzibar Spice Tour
In days past, Zanzibar was known as a spice
island, exporting cloves, vanilla, nutmeg
and cardamom across the world. The spices
were brought over from Asia and South
America and flourished in the tropical
climes. Nowadays the plantations are a
tribute to the island’s past, swapping
spices for tourism, combining both in a
spice tour, one of the most popular
excursions on the island.
Walk through the spice farm with your guide.
Touch, smell and taste different spices and
tropical fruits. Try to guess which is
which, from the crushed leaves, the fruit,
shoots and vines and creepers crawling up
the trees. Learn about their properties,
their origins and their use as medicines and
in food and drink.
A visit to a spice farm village gives you an
insight into local life and gives you the
opportunity to try some Swahili dishes,
taste the fruits in season and try some
spiced tea. An optional lunch is available,
a special menu, prepared with the best of
the seasonal fruit and spices introduced to
you during the tour.
Depending on the season you are visiting,
you can find anything from vanilla,
cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, lemon
grass, cloves, ylang ylang, cumin, garlic,
ginger, coriander, pepper, allspice,
tamarind, chilli, oregano and more! Fruits
can include banana, pineapple, jack fruit,
custard fruit, oranges, star fruit,
tangerine, passion fruit, mango, avocado,
pear, papaya, grape fruit and many others.
Stone Town, Walking City Tour
Follow the trail of the sultans, slaves
and explorers in the winding streets of
Stone Town. Your guide will captivate you,
retelling the events that shaped Zanzibar,
leading you through the buildings where it
all happened, the former Slave Market and
Anglican Cathedral, the House of Wonders and
the Sultans’ Palace Museum, the Old Arab
Fort and Dispensary.
While tracing the steps of the past, the
walking tour provides you with a window into
modern life in Stone Town. Explore the
markets, seafood and fish piled in the fish
market, fresh loaves of bread in wicker
baskets and the neat stacks of fruit and
vegetables as traders sell their wares from
their stalls. Children play in the streets
in the residential areas, mamas sit out and
gossip while the men play board games. An
optional stop at the Zanzibar Coffee House
provides a rest from the heat and hustle and
bustle. A selection of cold drinks, coffee,
tea and local sweets & seasonal fruits act
as the perfect pick me up, for you to
continue your tour.
The City Tour is very flexible and can be
adapted suit your interest and time frame,
if you’re a shopaholic, culture vulture or
history buff. If you want to hunt for
antiques and souvenir shop, follow David
Livingstone’s time in Zanzibar and walk the
path of the slave trade, your guide can
recommend and develop routes and itineraries
that will optimise your time and get the
most out of your excursion.
Jozani Forest Tour
In the south of the island, Jozani
Forest is a wonder and delight, with tales
of Zanzibar leopards, medicinal cures and
stunning scenery. Currently under
consideration to become Zanzibar’s second
World Heritage Site, the Jozani-Chkwa Bay
area is a hotspot of biodiversity. The
forest is home to a number of endemic
species, including the Zanzibar Red Colobus
Monkey.
Your park ranger will take you on a nature
trail, lined with eucalyptus and mahogany
trees and explain the medicinal properties
of various plants and tell you about the
animals, birds and reptiles that make their
home in the various habitats of this
tropical rainforest.
Troops of Zanzibar Red Colobus monkeys can
be found scrambling from branch to branch,
in search of food. The monkeys have become
acclimatized to people and allow you to get
close to them to take photographs as they
eat, play and jumping from the treetops.
The mangrove boardwalk takes you above the
swamp, where, depending on the tide, you can
see tropical fish flitting between the
mangrove roots and crabs scuttling across
the mud. Mangroves play an important role in
environmental conservation and as a resource
for villagers and community life. Your
ranger will explain the different species
found in the swamp and their uses. |
Blue
Tourism
Sunset Dhow Cruises
Enjoy a sunset dhow cruise with Gallery
Tours sister company, The Original Dhow
Safaris. Our three dhows can cater for
incentive groups of up to 48 people. Sail
along the Zanzibar coast in a traditional
sea faring dhow, serenaded by local
musicians. A butler serves drinks and
canapés as the sun slides below the horizon.
Sandbank Picnics
For a Robinson Crusoe experience, sail out
to a deserted sandbank for a picnic. Bask in
the sunshine on golden sands, swim in bath
warm crystal clear water or snorkel and
explore the nearby reefs. The Zanzibar
Serena Inn lays on a delicious picnic lunch
and then sail back to Stone Town with the
sun at your back.
Full day in Menai Conservation
Bay/dolphin safari
Dolphin safaris to Fumba on the south coast
of the island, sail from Stone Town, the
perfect starting point to explore Menai Bay,
an official conservation area. Home to
beautiful, uninhabited islands, this
stunning area is frequented by humpback and
bottlenose dolphins. Day trippers will have
the chance to snorkel the pristine reef and
enjoy a sumptuous lunch prepared by the
culinary experts from Serena Inn. A magical
day!
Mangapwani and beach lunch at Serena
(full day excursion)
Not only does Serena Inn offer five-star
luxury in Stone Town, but also at their
beautiful Beach Club and Restaurant on
Mangapwani Beach. Leaving from the Serena
Inn, Stone Town, you will head up the west
coast to Mangapwani where your dhow will
drop anchor on the coconut fringed palmed
beach. Over the course of your day, you will
explore the nearby Mangapwani Slave Chamber,
once used to hide and smuggle slaves
illegally, after slavery was abolished. You
will then be served a barbeque seafood
extravaganza. Relax on the beach with after
lunch drinks and a dip in the crystal clear
waters for some snorkeling or just relaxing,
before setting sail back to Stone Town.
Sunset cruises and candlelit dinner at
Mbweni Ruins
Set sail for Mbweni Ruins, an hour by sea
south of Stone Town, framed by the ever
stunning African sunset. On arrival, you
will be escorted down the jetty of Mbweni
Ruins Hotel to the ruins themselves. There
enjoy fine dining in the light of a thousand
candles, set in these magical, historical
ruins. An evening you will never forget.
Deep Sea Fishing
Professional deep sea game fishing is
available on the northern tip of Zanzibar
with the potential to catch Marlin, Yellow
Fin Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo, Barracuda and many
more. Spend either a half or full day out at
sea with professional anglers and enjoy
refreshments on deck. Either catch & release
or secure your own dinner. Our fishing
partners are environmentally responsible and
exercise measures to ensure the
sustainability of marine life. |
Cultural
Tourism
Be a Zanzibari for a day
Scratch beneath the surface and experience
life as a local Zanzibari with Be a
Zanzibari for a day. Ride the dalla dalla
buses, taste the local food at a lunch with
a local family, try your hand at weaving
ukili baskets and climbing coconut trees.
You’ll be given local traditional outfits,
with men dressed in white kanzus and women
wrapped in colourful khangas. Get henna
patterns or drink coffee and play draughts
on the street barazas and spend time with
Zanzibaris.
Ngalawa Race
An ngalawa is a local dug out canoe used for
fishing. For the more adventurous, choose a
canoe and start paddling as your race along.
Ideal for team building, the winning crew
wins a prize and bragging rights. If you’re
not feeling active, local teams can be
assembled and you can choose a team to root
for and cheer along as they fight it out for
first place.
Made in Zanzibar
A Zanzibar shopping excursion highlights the
best the island has to offer. The
archipelago is home to many co-operative
groups who make a living from the arts and
crafts they create. You can buy hand carved
furniture by Zanzibar craftsmen, stylish
kanga clothing with a Western twist,
Zanzibar pearls, local jewelry, colorful
handmade cushion covers and throws, woven
baskets and rugs and much more. This
excursion offers a slice of local culture
and the chance to support local arts and
crafts, as well as unique souvenirs to bring
home.
The Slave Routes of Zanzibar
Princess Salme trip
Swahili Cookery Lessons
Visit to Zanzibar Village
Lectures by Historians |
Theme Based Events
Out of Africa Dinners
Swahili Theme Nights
Massai Evenings
Freedy Mercury nightout out at Mercurys
Acrobats show
Culture bands and performances
Bike Dude performance
Dhow weddings on sand banks
Zanzibar is certainly one of the most
romantic islands in the world and offers the
perfect setting for an unforgettable
wedding. The idyllic location for such an
occasion is one of the many deserted
sandbanks around the island. Styled for
barefoot luxury, a wedding dhow will sail
the wedding party to the romantic
destination where our expert wedding
coordinators will have organised everything
down to the finest detail, leaving you to
concentrate on your loved one on the most
memorable day of your life. Entertainment
ranging from a selection of local musicians
to having the world renowned Zanzibari
legend, Bikidudi Baraka join you on your
special day to entertain you and your guests
into the night with local folk tales and
songs. We can arrange the reception at a
selection of stylish and romantic hotels
around Zanzibar Island and have packages to
suit your specific needs. Please contact us
for more information, we would love to be a
part of your special day. |
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Venues |
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