Tanzania Zanzibar Spice Tour Cycling

Stone Town · Tanzania

Easy7 daysAfrica~£800 est.

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Overview

A bicycle is the perfect speed for Zanzibar. You thread out of Stone Town's coral-stone labyrinth - past carved Omani doors, the old dhow harbour and the night food market at Forodhani Gardens - and within half an hour you are on red-earth lanes under mango and jackfruit, waving back at schoolchildren. The spice farms around Kizimbani explain the island's history better than any museum: crush cloves, cardamom and vanilla between your fingers on the island that once supplied most of the world's cloves. The north road ends at Nungwi, where dhow-builders still shape hulls with hand adzes and the swimming is ludicrously turquoise. Riding is flat to gently rolling and distances are short, with 30 to 50 kilometre days leaving time to snorkel the Mnemba atoll reefs or walk Jozani forest among endemic red colobus monkeys. Heat and humidity are the real opponents: ride at dawn, rest at noon, and skip the March to May long rains - June to October is dry-season perfection, with December to February a good second window. Dress modestly through villages and carry small notes for fruit stalls. A week with a local guide, guesthouses and bike hire is about £800 excluding flights.