11 January 2024

Jozani Forest, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa


During our second day on Zanzibar, we visited the small Jozani Forest, which is in Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park on the east side of the Island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania.

The forest is famous for the Red Colubus monkey, which only lives here. As you can see, its coat is a reddish-brown. When we visited on 15 November 2023, the monkeys were highly active.


We hired a taxi from the information booth near the dock. A contact led us through the maze of cars, trucks, hand carts, and motorcycles to a driver. The contact attempted to extort a higher fee but we said no and moved to exit the vehicle. The driver perked up and insisted he accepted the agreed upon fee so, off we went winding through alleys and muddy tracks, which caused us some concern given the dodgy start. However, I did have mobile service and we seemed to be headed in the right direction.


Our tour began at a visitor's centre where you can purchase drinks and use the toilets before joining with other arrivals for a guided tour. The local guide was quite knowledgeable and he spoke excellent English.


The weather was hot and humid and, no surprise, it rained in the rain forest. The guide asked us to wait when it began tipping down. He sprinted toward the visitor's centre and returned with umbrellas for everyone.


Other monkeys are here too. We took a lot of photos--here' is one of the better ones.


After we left the area where the monkeys hang out, we walked along a boardwalk amongst the mangroves. There is a mangrove kingfisher but I did not get a photo.



On the way back to the docks, our driver stopped to buy us a local treat-- cocoanut and bananas.





It turned out to be a good day thanks to the guide and the driver. We returned to our ship and left for the next port on our African voyage.


Our next stop was Mamoudzou on Mayotte.


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Google Map of Jozani Forest


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