Zanzibar Travel Guide
Spices in Zanzibar: Where to See Them, What to Buy, What You Can Take Home
Quick answer
Where can you see spices in Zanzibar, and what can you take home?
A spice-farm visit is the way to see Zanzibar’s spices growing: about an hour’s drive from the east coast and three to four hours on site. The place to buy them is Darajani Market in Stone Town, about 1h15 from the hotel by car, and whether you can take them home depends on your own country’s plant-health rules.
Photo: Kennedy Bundi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. This is the practical guide to seeing, buying and carrying spices. The history of the name and each plant in detail are in our blog post on the Spice Island.
| Cloves in 2011 | Eight percent of the world’s supply came from Zanzibar and Pemba, behind Indonesia and Madagascar (Aramco World, 2011) |
| Spices on a farm tour | Clove, nutmeg and mace, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass |
| A farm visit | About an hour’s drive from the east coast, three to four hours on site |
| Best place to buy | Darajani Market in Stone Town, about 1h15 from the hotel by car |
| Booking a farm tour | Local operators; the butler team helps you arrange it |
| Taking spices home | Check your country’s plant-health rules before you pack |
| Last verified | 15 November 2026 |
Background
What is the clove story behind the farms?
Cloves are the crop behind the farms you visit. Aramco World (Charles Cecil, March/April 2011, read on 15 November 2026) says that Zanzibar and Pemba once led the world in clove production and that in 2011 they supplied eight percent of the world’s total, a distant third behind Indonesia and Madagascar. It adds that Sultan Said ordered his subjects to plant clove trees or face confiscation of their property.
The history of the name and of each plant is in our blog post on the Spice Island. The slave trade, which is part of Stone Town’s story, is covered in our Stone Town guide, including the Slave Market memorial.
Picture credits: the top picture is Spice stall at the market in Stone Town, photo: Kennedy Bundi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The nutmeg picture is Fresh nutmeg in Zanzibar, photo: Baptiste Vauchelle (Babacrash), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Both were only scaled to 2,000 pixels wide.
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What grows
Which spices grow on Zanzibar?
Nine spices make up the usual farm tour: clove, nutmeg and mace, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, turmeric and lemongrass. Almost none is native to Zanzibar; the table shows where each one grew first. Clove built the island’s fortune; the others are the supporting cast of a farm visit.
| Spice | Part you use | Where it comes from originally | On Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clove | Dried flower bud | Maluku Islands, Indonesia | The crop behind the farms; see the clove story above |
| Nutmeg and mace | The seed (nutmeg) and its red covering (mace) | Banda Islands and neighbouring Maluku islands, Indonesia | One fruit gives both; see below |
| Cinnamon | Inner bark | Sri Lanka | The bark dries into sticks; the leaves go into cooking and tea |
| Black pepper | Berries | Believed southern India (Western Ghats); not settled | Black, green and white pepper are the same fruit at different stages |
| Cardamom | Seed pods | Southern India | Whole pods have the strongest flavour |
| Vanilla | The cured pod | Tropical America, from southern Mexico | Pollinated by hand on plantations (see our blog post) |
| Ginger | Root (rhizome) | Southeast Asia; no wild ancestor is known | Thrives in the island’s climate |
| Turmeric | Root (rhizome) | Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia | Thrives in the island’s climate; the root stains fingers yellow |
| Lemongrass | Leaf stalks | South and Southeast Asia | Thrives in the island’s climate |
Native regions come from Wikipedia, a secondary source, read on 15 November 2026; the Kew database POWO could not be opened that day. Notes follow our blog post on the Spice Island, checked 14 September 2026.
Tamarind is the one major spice native to Africa. If you want the botany of each plant, the blog post has it.
Nutmeg is native to the Maluku islands of eastern Indonesia (Brixius, British Journal for the History of Science, 2018), with the Banda Islands as its historic centre; it is not an Indian plant (Wikipedia, Nutmeg, citing Flora of China, read on 15 November 2026). It is not native to Zanzibar either: a traveller in 1872 (Burton, p. 226) wrote that “the late Sayyid” planted cinnamon and nutmeg trees (we read this as Sultan Said, who died in 1856; Burton does not name him), and we found no record of the exact year it arrived.
One fruit gives two spices: the seed is nutmeg and its red, lacy covering is mace. Each tree is male or female, and a young tree takes about seven to nine years to give a first harvest (Wikipedia, read on 15 November 2026; Burton says nine years). Nutmeg is a safe flavouring in food, but eaten in large amounts it can poison (Netherlands Journal of Medicine, 2015), so enjoy it in cooking and not by the spoonful.
The visit
How does a spice-farm visit work?
A spice-farm visit is a guided walk through a working plantation, about an hour’s drive inland from the east coast and three to four hours on site (our day-trips guide). The guide walks you along the paths, picks or cuts each plant, and lets you smell it, rub it between your fingers and, where offered, taste it, explaining how it is harvested and dried.
The farms are run by local families and operators. Boutique Hotel Matlai does not sell these tours as its own product: the butler team can recommend an operator and help you arrange the day, and you agree the details with the operator. We state no farm prices here because we do not set them.
- Before you go, ask what is included: pick-up time, time on site, lunch or fruit, and the price in writing.
- Expect a shop at the end. Prices there are set for visitors; for buying, see the next section.
- Wear closed shoes and bring water; the paths are earth and the walk is in the open.
Is it worth it? If you like to see how food grows, yes. It is educational and, honestly, touristic as well. With only three days on the island we advise skipping the spice tour and keeping Stone Town; the how-many-days guide explains why.
Buying
How do you buy spices well?
Buy whole spices at Darajani Market in Stone Town, about 1h15 from the hotel by car, and compare with the farm shop before you decide. Our Stone Town guide puts Darajani at the highest daily turnover on the island.
- Whole beats ground. Cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and peppercorns keep their aroma far longer than powder.
- Smell before you pay. A good clove, cardamom or cinnamon smells strongly the moment the bag opens; a faint smell means old stock.
- Cloves should be whole dark-brown buds with their round heads. Vanilla pods should be soft and flexible; brittle pods are dry.
- Blends are fine as gifts. Read the ingredient list on the pack and ask the seller what is in it.
- Agree the price per weight before the bag is filled, and buy small amounts of several spices rather than one large bag.
To pack, put each spice in its own sealed bag or jar and wrap the packs in a second bag, so a split pack cannot flavour your clothes. Buy on your last Stone Town day so the spices travel fewer days. More gift ideas are in our souvenir guide.
Going home
Can you take Zanzibar spices home?
Check your own country’s rules before you pack, because the answer depends on where you land. For the European Union, the Your Europe site (last checked 21 October 2026, read on 15 November 2026) says plants and plant products from a non-EU country need a phytosanitary certificate, a plant-health certificate that confirms they are free of certain pests. It does not name spices, and its advice is to ask the relevant national authority.
We have not checked the rules of the United Kingdom, the United States or Switzerland, and we do not guess them. Ask your own customs or plant-health authority, and do it before the trip, not at the airport.
Do not buy live plants, seedlings or seeds as souvenirs after a farm visit: plants and plant products are exactly what these rules are about, so buy processed spices and ask first about anything else.
My own rule is simple: buy only what you will use within a year, keep the packs sealed, and keep your receipts from Darajani with you.
In the kitchen
How do spices show up in the kitchen?
Whole cloves and cardamom pods are usually left in a dish for flavour, so push them to the side of the plate rather than chewing them.
At Zatiny, our one restaurant with two kitchens, the butler team can tell you what is in a dish. Drinks are charged; water is free. The restaurant page has the hours and the menus.
The Bustani spa in the hotel garden uses the same ingredients: its menu lists a floral spice bath with dried flowers, sea salt, clove and cinnamon, and a body scrub you can choose in Zanzibar spice. The spa page has the full menu.
Where these facts come from
Official sources
- Aramco World, Charles Cecil: Zanzibar: Cloves and Stone (March/April 2011): Zanzibar and Pemba once led the world in clove production and supplied 8 percent of the world's cloves in 2011, a distant third behind Indonesia and Madagascar; Sultan Said ordered clove planting.
- Dorit Brixius: A hard nut to crack: nutmeg cultivation between the Maluku islands and Isle de France, British Journal for the History of Science 51(4), 2018: The Maluku islands are where nutmeg was indigenous (the paper does not name Banda or India)
- Richard F. Burton: Zanzibar; City, Island, and Coast (1872), p. 226: Cinnamon and nutmeg trees were planted by "the late Sayyid" (Burton does not name him; read here as Sultan Said); no year of arrival given.
- Roeters van Lennep et al.: Unintentional nutmeg autointoxication, Netherlands Journal of Medicine 73(1), 2015: Nutmeg is normally used in small amounts to flavour food; in large amounts it can cause toxic symptoms.
- Wikipedia: Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), citing Flora of China (read 15 November 2026): Nutmeg is native to the Banda Islands, the historic centre of the nutmeg trade, and is not an Indian plant (secondary source)
Checked on 15 November 2026. We link to the bodies that set the rules, not to summaries of them. Rules change: check the page itself before you travel.
Good to know
Questions travellers ask
These are the questions travellers ask us about spices before and after a farm visit.
Where can I see spices growing in Zanzibar?
On a guided visit to a spice farm, about an hour’s drive from the east coast. The guide picks or cuts each plant and lets you smell it and, where offered, taste it. The butler team can help you arrange the visit with a local operator.
Which spices actually grow on Zanzibar?
The usual farm-tour list has nine: clove, nutmeg and mace, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, turmeric and lemongrass. Almost none of them is native to the island.
Does Zanzibar still produce a lot of cloves?
Aramco World reported in 2011 that Zanzibar and Pemba together supplied eight percent of the world’s cloves, a distant third behind Indonesia and Madagascar, after once leading the world. The name is history more than statistics.
How long does a spice-farm visit take?
Plan on about an hour’s drive from the east coast and three to four hours on site, so most of a morning or afternoon. Ask the operator about pick-up, lunch and the price before you go; the butler team can help you arrange it with a local operator, as we do not sell the tour ourselves.
Where is the best place to buy spices?
Darajani Market in Stone Town, about 1h15 from the hotel by car. Our Stone Town guide describes it as the market with the highest daily turnover on the island; compare what you are offered there with the farm shop before you buy.
Can I take spices home with me?
It depends on your country. For the European Union, the Your Europe site (last checked 21 October 2026) says plants and plant products from a non-EU country need a phytosanitary certificate and does not name spices, so ask your national authority before you pack.
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Why guests book Matlai
- A team of butlers on call, 07:00 to 22:00. One message and it is arranged.
- Half board with a chef’s menu that changes daily: three courses, plus two à la carte kitchens at every table, Zatiny (Indian Ocean fusion) and Duyên (Vietnamese).
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- Bustani, the garden spa; the sandbank in front of the hotel at low tide; a quiet beach lined with small, family-owned hotels.
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