Zanzibar Spice Tour & Cooking Class

Zanzibar, Tanzania

5 hours (approx.)
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Most visitors to Zanzibar settle for just eating the local cuisine at the archipelago's hotels and restaurants. Go deeper with this market, spice farm and cooking experience that peels back the layers of regional culinary traditions. Learn about locals’ favorite ingredients on a guided visit to Stone Town’s Darajani Market, tour and enjoy tastings at a spice farm, and finish with a cooking class with a local cook, prepping and then savoring some classic Zanzibari dishes.

Delve into Zanzibari food on a market, spice and cooking class tour
Get under the skin of local cuisine rather than simply eating it
Shop at a food market, visit a spice farm and take a cooking class
Relax: choice of start times with Stone Town hotel transfers included

Sample Menu

Main

Main dish

Rice, chapati, Ugali or zanzibar pizza

Main

Main sauce

Curry veggie - fish - beef or chicken

Dessert

Coconut banana, or sweet dumpling (kaimati)

What's Included

Air conditioned transportation
Guide
Cooking class
Spice farm tour
Local market tour
Lunch
All cooking ingredients

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Old Fort
Mizingani Rd, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Meeting point is OLD FORT MAIN ENTRY DOOR Once you arrive, walk to the entry door and stand beside Kindly be on time 9:00 am Regards

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.9:00 am

What To Expect

Stone Town

Darajani Bazaar

Zanzibar Island

Zanzibar City

Zanzibar Archipelago

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Nigel_D

The spice tour waa at a community farm and we saw a lot of different spices and fruits and got to taste most of them. Professionally handled and very informative. Lutfia & Rashid were excellent hosts (as well as cooks) and it was really a fun time to shop in the market for the ingredients, help cook them and of course eating the delicious meal!

Reviews

4.4

based on 87 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Amazing. Great. Unforgettable

JeanBernard_M, Oct 2024

After buying goods at the market, visit of a spice farm. Azusa Spice Farm. Then cooking a 4 plates meal. Marvelous with a lot of tips to prepare rice pilau for exemple ou banana. The lady who gave the cours was exceptional. Warmly recommended.

Spices, tropical fruits and Zanzibar cooking

Nigel_D, Jan 2024

visit to a farm for spice tour and cooking class

patty_h, Feb 2023

this tour was very well orchestrated...from pick to drop off. loved shoping with her, cooking with her..food was good. it was an enjoyable day...

Great tour and cooking class

AnnaSofie_P, Sep 2022

This tour was so good! We were the only people on this tour so we got sweet Latfiya all to ourselves, and she took really good care of us. The spice tour was fine, but it was the cooking class that made the tour exceptional. Latfiya made sure that we only used ingrediens that we liked and the meal was lovely, but the most interesting thing was actually just getting to talk with Latfiya and her friends while we were cooking. They were all very kind and open and we felt we really got to know what it is like to live on Zanzibar. We learned about traditions and how the locals do in their everyday life and we talked about the diferences between our country and Zanzibar. We even got invited to meet the drives family but unfortunately we had plans the next day so it wasn't possible to go. All in all we had a great time and would really recommend the tour to other!

Completely unprofessional!

Kmelbour, Jul 2022

The operator did not arrive at the location at the appointed time. We attempted to contact her with all the numbers provided with no response. Our driver went looking for her with no luck. We contacted Viator and they were also unable to reach her. We waited 40 minutes and even agreed to reschedule; she still was not there. When we proceeded with our day and requested a refund, she denied it. I am sure the spice farm tour is a wonderful experience but do not do it with this operator. Also at this point I would not even recommend viator as they did nothing to help us obtain our refund.

Stressed and ignored

Jim_H, Apr 2022

The host arrived late to pick us up. We told her we were very pressed for time because our flight was that evening. She assured us we would make our flight. Then we went to a market, which was interesting, but she spent a lot of time speaking swahili to the vendors, joking and socializing, ignoring us. When we told her we don't like okra, she said, "you will like this okra." She asked if either of us were vegetarians, and when I told her I was, she said, "well, you will try the meat anyway." When we arrived at the farm, she told us we would take a walk and learn about the spices grown there. This "walk" took over an hour, and should have been omitted from the experience. After the "walk," we were given the hard sell to buy soap and spices. ( I bought the overpriced soap, but it dissolved after 2 washes in the shower). Finally, with about 1 hour left until we needed to leave for the airport, the host had us start cooking. There were some of her male friends lingering around, (one was napping where we were working, and the other was outside, popping his head in occasionally, to see if the food was done, and to chat with our host in Swahili) and she spoke in Swahili with them most of the time. She seemed completely uninterested in speaking with us. She made octopus soup for her friends and then offered us some. Then we finished the food prep and cooked the food. By the time the food was finished cooking, it was past time for us to leave for the airport. We had to beg her to let us go and to take us back. She kept telling us "Hakuna Matata", but we were very stressed and rushed. By that time, we just wanted to leave without trying the food, so we insisted that she return us to the airport. She insisted we wait for her to wrap up some food for us to eat in the car on the way, plated food and ran us to the car. The driver raced to get us to the airport while I choked down spiced rice and my husband ate some of the meat and rice. We didn't like the okra, and wished our host had listened to us and just left that out. We made it back to the airport just in time, but the driver was going so fast and furious (which we appreciated), that he hit something/someone with his side mirror and broke it. This was not a pleasant experience and I hope the host will listen to her guests and interact with them in the future. Finally, the host promised to send us the recipes, but we never received them.

One of Our Highlights Of Zanzibar....

Marie_C, Mar 2022

Lutfia was warm, friendly and knowledgable, the spice tour was highly informative and interactive with our guide going above and beyond to explain things to us.

OK, aber kein Wow Effekt

Melanie_L, Oct 2023

Ich würde die Tour nicht unbedingt empfehlen. Der Guide war sehr freundlich, allerdings eher mit sich und seinen Begleiteten Kollegen beschäftigt als mit seinen Gästen. Auf der Farm war man zuerst freundlich, als ich jedoch nichts kaufen wollte würde man zunehmend unfreundlichen. Am Ende wurde ich auch etwas unfreundlich a gegangen. Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnfür mich nicht gegen.

Erlebnisreich! Empfehlenswert!

Linda_B, Sep 2023

Die Gewürzfarm war mega schön und der Guide hat alles super gut erklärt und gezeigt. Und der Kochkurs war eine Erfahrung wert. Eine andere Art zu kochen als in Europa ;-) Wir fanden das super gut und das Essen war hervorragend!