Hamisi M.
Stone Town history & spice farms
EnglishSwahiliItalian
12 years guiding
Know before you go
Everything you need to arrive in Tanzania feeling like you've been before
Seasons and tides, visas and insurance, where to sleep on the island and on the mainland, the facts that make a safari click — and enough Swahili to make people smile.
When to come
The seasons, honestly explained
There is no bad time — only different trips. Here is what each part of the year actually feels like on the island and out on the plains.
Zanzibar island
Jun – Oct · Long dry
PeakCool breezes, almost no rain, 27–29 °C. Best diving visibility and the busiest beaches — book early.
Dec – Feb · Short dry
PeakHot, still and blue, 30–33 °C. Christmas and New Year sell out months ahead; February is the sweet spot for snorkelling.
Mar – May · Long rains
GreenWarm downpours, usually in bursts. Half-price rooms, empty beaches and the greenest spice farms of the year.
Nov · Short rains
ShoulderShort afternoon showers, long sunny mornings. Excellent value and easy availability.
Tanzania safari
Jun – Oct
Best game viewingDry season on the mainland. Animals gather at water, grass is short, and the Mara River crossings peak from July to September.
Jan – Feb
Calving seasonHalf a million wildebeest calves drop in the southern Serengeti — the most intense predator action of the year.
Mar – May
Green seasonLush, dramatic skies, superb birding and the lowest lodge rates. Some remote tracks get muddy.
Nov – Dec
ShoulderShort rains freshen the plains, the herds move south, and camps are quiet before the festive rush.
Entry requirements
Visas, insurance and the paperwork
Tanzania e-visa (covers Zanzibar)
- Zanzibar is part of Tanzania — one visa covers the island and the mainland.
- Apply online before you fly at the official immigration e-visa portal.
- Ordinary tourist visa: USD 50, single entry, valid 90 days.
- US passport holders: USD 100 multiple-entry visa, valid 12 months.
- Processing usually takes 5–10 working days — apply at least 3 weeks ahead.
What you'll be asked for
- Passport valid 6+ months beyond arrival, with two blank pages.
- Passport bio-page scan and a recent passport-style photo.
- Return or onward ticket and your first night's accommodation.
- Yellow fever certificate if you arrive from, or transit through, a yellow-fever country.
- Some nationalities need a referral visa — allow 4–8 weeks for those.
Travel & health insurance
- Mandatory inbound travel insurance applies to visitors entering Zanzibar — buy it before arrival or at the airport counter.
- Choose a policy covering medical evacuation — serious cases fly to Dar es Salaam or Nairobi.
- If you'll dive, kitesurf, quad or climb Kilimanjaro, confirm those activities are named in the policy.
- Safari trips: check cancellation cover — camps have strict deadlines.
- Keep a digital and a printed copy; ask us and we'll store one on your booking file.
Rules change. We verify current requirements for your nationality before every trip — ask us below and we'll confirm in writing.
Let us do it for you
We'll handle your visa application
Send us your details and our Stone Town office prepares and files your Tanzania e-visa, checks your documents against current immigration rules, and follows up until the approval lands in your inbox. We can arrange your mandatory inbound insurance at the same time.
- Document check before anything is submitted
- Filed through the official immigration portal
- Status tracked and chased on your behalf
- Inbound travel insurance arranged on request
Where you'll sleep
Types of accommodation
Beachfront resorts
All-inclusive or half-board, pools, dive centres and kids' clubs — Nungwi, Kendwa and Kiwengwa.
Boutique villas
Six to twelve rooms, private chef, plunge pools. Michamvi and Matemwe do this best.
Stone Town heritage houses
Carved doors, rooftop breakfasts and courtyards inside the UNESCO old town.
Eco-lodges & bandas
Solar, thatch and coral-rag walls in Jambiani, Pongwe and Fumba — barefoot and low impact.
Guesthouses & apartments
Family-run, honest prices, kitchens and long-stay rates. Great for a month on the island.
Things worth knowing
Facts your guide will be impressed you know
The island
- 01
Zanzibar's real name is Unguja — 'Zanzibar' comes from the Persian zangi-bar, 'coast of the blacks'.
- 02
The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 lasted 38 minutes: the shortest war in recorded history.
- 03
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in 1946.
- 04
Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper made the island the 'Spice Islands' — Zanzibar was once the world's largest clove producer.
- 05
The Zanzibar red colobus monkey lives nowhere else on earth; about 6,000 survive around Jozani Forest.
- 06
Stone Town's carved doors advertise the owner's trade — brass studs came from India to stop war elephants.
- 07
At spring low tide the east coast sea retreats up to a kilometre, and women farm seaweed on the exposed flats.
- 08
Zanzibar keeps time by the Swahili clock — 7am is 'saa moja', the first hour of daylight.
The mainland & safari
- 01
The Serengeti migration is 1.5 million wildebeest plus 300,000 zebra moving in a 1,000 km loop, all year, every year.
- 02
Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact volcanic caldera — 260 km² with around 25,000 large animals inside.
- 03
Tanzania protects roughly 38% of its land, more than almost any country on earth.
- 04
Ruaha holds around 10% of the world's remaining lions; Nyerere is bigger than Switzerland.
- 05
Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 m — and you can see it from a Serengeti balloon on a clear morning.
- 06
Olduvai Gorge in the Ngorongoro highlands produced fossils that rewrote human origins.
- 07
Tarangire has the highest elephant density in northern Tanzania during the dry season, plus baobabs a thousand years old.
- 08
Around 1,100 bird species have been recorded in Tanzania — bring binoculars even if you came for cats.
Our people
Guides who speak your language
Our guides are licensed Zanzibaris working in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Swahili. Tell us your language when you book and we pair you with the right person — at no extra cost.
Asha K.
Jozani Forest & village culture walks
EnglishSwahiliFrench
8 years guiding
Juma S.
Mnemba snorkelling & dolphin trips
EnglishSwahiliGerman
10 years guiding
Speak a little
Swahili that opens doors
Vowels never change: a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in or, u as in flute. Stress the second-to-last syllable and you'll be understood everywhere.
Zanzibar runs on greetings — never skip them, even in a shop.
Jambo / Hujambo
Hello / How are you?
JAM-boh / hoo-JAM-boh
Sijambo
I'm fine
see-JAM-boh
Habari?
What's the news? (how are things?)
hah-BAH-ree
Nzuri
Good / fine
n-ZOO-ree
Mambo? — Poa!
What's up? — Cool!
MAHM-boh — POH-ah
Shikamoo — Marahaba
Respectful greeting to elders — the reply
shee-kah-MOH — mah-rah-HAH-bah
Karibu / Karibuni
Welcome (one / many)
kah-REE-boo / kah-ree-BOO-nee
Kwaheri
Goodbye
kwah-HEH-ree
Introducing Swahili Pal
Learn Swahili by chatting with a real person, not a robot
Swahili Pal pairs you with a Zanzibari conversation partner — a real human who greets you, corrects you kindly and talks about ordinary things until the language stops feeling foreign. Twenty live minutes a day, on video or voice, at a time that fits your life.
A real pal, not an app
Live human partners from Stone Town and Paje.
20 minutes a day
Short, daily and easy to keep up with.
Chat, don't cram
Conversation first — grammar arrives on the way.
Speak it on arrival
Greet, bargain and joke by the time you land.
Swahili Pal · how it works
Basic Swahili — 20 live minutes a day
Enrol, tell us when you're free, and your pal messages you on WhatsApp to set the first chat. Eight guided sessions take you from your first greeting to holding your own in the market — with free conversation practice in between.
$20
one-off enrolment
$5
per 20-min session
- One-to-one with a real Swahili pal
- Book only the days you're free
- Free starter ebook on enrolment
- Sessions unlock as you progress
The eight-session path
1Session 1 — Sounds & greetings
Swahili vowels (a-e-i-o-u never change), greeting ladders and the respectful shikamoo.
2Session 2 — Introducing yourself
Names, countries, jobs, family and the verb 'to be'.
3Session 3 — Numbers, money, markets
Counting to a million, prices, bargaining lines that actually work.
4Session 4 — Directions & transport
Getting around Stone Town, taxis, daladalas and boat times.
5Session 5 — Food & ordering
Menus, spices, dietary needs and Forodhani night-market Swahili.
6Session 6 — Present tense verbs
Ni-na-, u-na-, a-na- — building your own sentences for the first time.
7Session 7 — Safari & nature vocabulary
Animals, weather, landscape and talking with your guide in the field.
8Session 8 — Free conversation
Twenty unscripted minutes with your tutor — no script, just talking.
Enrol with Swahili Pal
Enrol first — your downloadable starter ebook unlocks straight after. Email and WhatsApp are required so your Swahili pal can reach you and set your first chat.