While in Stone Town, we like to relax at our hotel’s beach and enjoy the cool breeze. During this time, I was chatting with some of the waiters from the restaurant and one suggested we take a tour of Prison Island (Changuu in Swahili). The cost of an organized tour was $50 per person…so for us a total of $200. I said I thought the price was pretty steep, but if he could find us a fishing boat to take all of us over for $40 we would do it for sure.
It wasn’t long before our very own “Captain Morgan” came and picked us up from the beach. His boat was appropriately named “Jambo” and he was a fun and energetic fisherman who loved going to the island.
On the way over James told us that originally, the island prison was built to house rebellious slaves. The building was completed, but no prisoners were ever sent there. Instead, it was used as a place for quarantine from diseases such as malaria, cholera, and yellow fever. The ruins are still there and have been turned into a hotel, restaurant and a great place for tourists.
After a beautiful trip over to the island, we were able to see the famous protected tortoises that roam freely. It all started with 4 original tortoises that were a gift from the Seychelles government – now there are over 100 of them. The ages of the tortoises are painted on their backs in blue. The oldest is 191 and can live to an age of 500.
We also learned the tortoises love to have their necks massaged – they feel like wrinkly elephant skin!
We met the owner of the attraction and he said that the turtles eat up to 500 kg of spinach a day! They are very friendly creatures, but if your fingers are in the way when they are eating – watch out!
We were even able to see the baby turtles who were about the size of our hands. We thought it was interesting they were locked up in cages with very fine mesh, (so we couldn’t take pictures). The owner told us he has to do this because the turtles are protected and monitored by the government. The babies have a tendency to eat their way through the fence and then swim off the island. They actually have police who patrol the island and return any of the babies who manage to escape! Who would want to leave this place – not us – it’s absolutely gorgeous!
We left the beautiful island and returned back to Zanzibar and our hotel. During the course of the ride we saw a number of fishing boats heading out for their evening catch, along with a neat floating restaurant.
The sunset was lovely over the water and we arrived on shore to see the locals playing football/soccer.
It was a lovely time on Prison Island and Zanzibar….now we head back to mainland Tanzania and on to our next stop….India!
Comments
10 responses to “Prison Island”
Katina, sometimes when I read your posts I have to remember to breathe, and this is one of those times. I had a question for you this time, but you partially answered it in this post… Did you pre plan all of your stops/ tours/side trips or did you allow for “Let’s see what happens when we get there ?” I realize that you cannot fully answer in a post, but I will be most interested when you get home. Has internet access been available in most places?
Re THIS post, I love the pictures of the turtles, especially the close-ups of them eating the spinach. What they are doing on this island is a good thing. My nickname is ‘Turtle’ ( gets there in the end) so I am interested in all things turtle. Safe travels to India. Margaret W. Is stopping there as part of a cruise. Jill will be here on Feb.3 for a visit, so we will chat about YOUR trip.
Hi Herta,
To answer your question about preplanning and tours, I would have to say it is a bit of both. Before we go to any of our locations, my role is to read up on the place and find out what there is to do. I check all the “organized” and paid tours to see their itineraries, read reviews on Trip Advisor of the tours and see what people think. From there, as a family, we decided what are the “must sees”, and what would be “nice to see”. For the “must sees”, we might book with a paid tour company if we want the expertise of a guide and use it for educational purposes, but in this case with Prison Island, it was a “nice to see” place that I did not feel we needed to pay for an organized tour and that we could do it on our own. What we needed was transportation and many locals are willing. In this case, our “captain” turned out to be a very knowledgable guide and we really lucked out. We also prefer to give money to a local over a company if possible. In many cases, there are self guided tours available on the Internet where people have written up about local tourist sites….we usually download them to our tablet and when we reach our destination we simply read as we go. This helps us save money, and we expect the girls to give us a tour every now and again. For our trip, the Internet is essential for our trip and tour planning which is why we select our accommodations very carefully – we need great wifi to do what we need to do. So far, we’ve done okay – but I would have to say that has been our biggest challenge on the trip thus far.
Cheers!
K:)
Thank you Katina for your thoughtful answer. I am saving your posts for a time when I can re read and think about all of your adventures and experiences and ( hopefully) put them all to good use for future planning…
Looks amazing. How awesome to visit with such incredible animals up close and personal. Safe travels in India!
Hi Kim,
The turtles were beautiful and you should hear the sound they make. Have you ever heard a turtle before? It was my first time and it was really neat:)
K:)
Hi Kat,
My goodness those turtles are so large! They almost take up the whole walkway! That was great that you got to see this island! Love Mom
Hi Mom,
The turtles were huge! It was fun to see them roaming the island – they were everywhere. They move a lot faster than I expected, so it was neat to see them in action!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hi, Katina, since I am a bit late, I also get to read the comments and your answers, and many of my questions are answered that way. I enjoyed reading this post very much, and the turtles are totally amazing, I can’t even imagine. Love the photos. Did any of you get seasick? The boat looks soooo tiny in that big ocean. And as always, I just love to see pictures of you all. Hugs to all
HI Oma,
The turtles were really cool and their skin was funny to massage:)
We were fine on the water – the fishing boat was lots of fun for all of us and helped keep us cool from the hot sun. The ride along the water was a special treat:)
Cheers,
Kat:)
[…] we visited, we saw many giant tortoises. They reminded us of the ones we saw in Zanzibar on Prison Island, except the turtles here had a lot more space. We also saw the enclosure which used to house […]