After four nights at a boutique hotel on Uroa Beach on the east coast of Zanzibar, it was time to move to a resort hotel on Zanzibar’s popular north coast. The drive looked to be over an hour, but that still left us with some time to kill between check-out in Uroa and check-in in Nungwi. I knew I wanted to visit a Zanzibar spice farm and lots of spice farm tours are offered out of Stone Town, but with only two nights planned in Stone Town, I didn’t want to spend our one full day there on a tour. This moving day between two hotels seemed like the perfect opportunity to fit in a spice farm tour and lunch en route. When I asked Zanzitaxi to add the stop to our transfer, they suggested Jambo Spice Farm and we made plans. (“Jambo jambo!” is a familiar greeting in Swahili meaning hello.)
Most spice farms in Zanzibar are north of Stone Town which sits on the west coast of the main island of Zanzibar. This meant a detour from the most direct route between Uroa and Nungwi, but that was no big deal. F-Zeen Boutique Hotel offered us a late check-out (11am instead of 10am) so we arrived at Jambo Spice Farm right around noon.
Our guide introduced himself as “Mohammed or Mr. Schneider.” When I asked him which he preferred, he said “Mr. Schneider.” He introduced his young assistant as “Mr. Capuccino.” Well, OK. Swahili names can be tricky for foreigners so I guess this was their solution and we went with it. Mr. Schneider turned out to be very knowledgeable having focused on Chemistry, Physics and Biology at university. His English was very functional, but he said he was even more fluent in German, a language he loved and a country to which he had once traveled.
Jambo “Spice Farm,” apparently like the other spice farms offering tours in Zanzibar, is really more of a place to view lots of spices in an easily walkable, relatively compact area. I knew this going in and wasn’t surprised that we weren’t walking through cultivated fields or orchards. I didn’t realize, however, how the tour area was located in the middle of a village residential area and it was fun to see groups of uniformed school children cutting through the “spice farm” paths, apparently walking home for lunch.
Lots of the spices on display are not native to Zanzibar, but are grown there. Spices are one of the three main industries in Zanzibar along with raffia and tourism. Mr. Schneider recited the culinary and medicinal uses of the plants as young Mr. Capuccino cut pods or roots, peeled bark and the like. We strolled beneath trees, seeking shade in the heat, from spice plant to spice plant. We saw and tasted cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg (with its red ribbons of mace) and more. We tasted parts of the plants we hadn’t before, sometimes surprised by the unexpected flavors or smells. For example, the root of the cinnamon tree smells like Vicks VapoRub(!) and is used similarly. The tour was interesting and fun.
Mr. Capuccino wove palm and flower adornments for us as we walked: a bracelet, a necklace, a ring, two crowns. A vendor offered soaps and perfumes from a small table, but we declined. A man climbed a palm tree singing as we drank coconut water from a freshly cut coconut and ate slabs of gelatinous fresh coconut meat. Lunch was generous and cooked in front of us: rice, chicken, plantains, delicious local stewed greens. We were offered samples of something like 7 or 8 different fresh fruits: pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, orange, watermelon, guava, canteloupe… Finally, Mr. Schneider led us to a very basic outdoor “spice shop” where we bought packets of spices at reasonable prices. I’d read some complaints about tipping, but we went prepared with small bills and, honestly, the tips were nothing to us and meant a lot to the people we tipped. We tipped Mr. Schneider and gave small tips to Mr. Capuccino, the guy who climbed the palm tree, and the fruit man. Everyone seemed happy.
The whole visit to Jambo Spice Farm including lunch took about an hour and a half. Ally, the friendly owner of Zanzitaxi and our driver for the day waited nearby while we toured with a blessedly air-conditioned van. Jambo Spice Farm was a fun stop and the perfect way to break up and draw out our transfer from Uroa to Nungwi. Note: It was hot even in the shade so dress accordingly. Also, while we saw no mosquitoes, I understand they can be an issue after the rainy season, so insect repellent may be essential depending on the season, especially considering the potential malaria risk.