Swimming with Turtles | Nungwi, Zanzibar

Swimming with turtles in Zanzibar was the gutsiest thing I have ever done, and remains my absolute favorite highlight of 2019.

We arrived in Zanzibar around 3am on Saturday morning. Our flight had been delayed, and we arrived about 2 hours later than we had expected.

I had been bestowed the honor of planning our itinerary, and I had chosen to book our first two nights in Nungwi Beach – which was a yaay on the departure day but a yikes on the day of arrival.

We had about an hour long drive from the airport to get to Nungwi, and it was drizzling, but so humid and hot.

I had liased with the hotel on what excursion activities we were interested in. I had been looking up YouTube vlogs on what to do in Zanzibar, and what caught my attention the most were the turtles. I really wanted to see the turtles.

Saidi, the hotel market manager told me that we could see the turtles at Prison Island, which is about a 30 minutes boatride from Stonetown.

In the morning, I met up with him to plan the days activities. We were supposed to go to Kizimkazi to go see Dolphins, but were told that Kizimkazi is in fact a 2 hour drive from Nungwi, past Stone town. It is basically on the opposite side of the Island from Nungwi, and the Dolphins can mostly be seen in the morning hours, meaning we would have to leave for there at 6am – which I found insane.

I asked him for what other activities we could do, and he recommended the aquariums. He mentioned that there was one where you just view, and there was the Baraka Natural Aquarium where you can swim too.

I did not know what to expect, but he said swimming, and I was game.

We were given a Masaai tourguide, Joseph, who escorted us to the aquarium, about a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

We arrived at the aquarium, paid $15 at entry, and proceeded to the aquarium. I had not expected to see turtles there, and I was so pleasantly surprised.

Initially, I was so scared to get in the natural pool, I wonder why – given they are so gentle and lovely.

You’d have to be careful, of course, as their teeth are very sharp and can scratch you. I have a small love bite on my thigh from my little friends.

On the second day, we went on a spice tour, then proceeded to stone town and ended our day in Prison Island.

Changuu Island (also known as Kibandiko, Prison or Quarantine Island) is a small island, 5.6 km northwest of Stone Town, Unguja, Zanzibar.

The island is around 800m long and 230m wide at its broadest point. It saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s, and also functioned as a coral mine.

The British First Minister of Zanzibar, Lloyd Mathews, purchased the island in 1893 and constructed a prison complex there.

No prisoners were ever housed on the island and instead it became a quarantine station for yellow fever cases. The station was only occupied for around half of the year and the rest of the time it was a popular holiday destination.

More recently, the island has become a government-owned tourist resort and houses a collection of endangered Aldabra giant tortoises which were originally a gift from the British governor of the Seychelles.