For centuries, there had been introductions and exploitations of different forms of spices between the Zanzibaris and the other civilizations of the Indian Ocean basin. Spices were traded along this coast with the Egyptian Fatmid and Mamiukian dynasties and later with the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. The industry provided a source of the wealth and increased trade and economic growth of the middle east in the middle ages.

An interesting route for the spice tour begins at the Anglican Cathedral which was constructed to commemorate the end of slavery in East Africa. The monuments and relics for the past are deeply moving and the building itself is the physical commemoration of one of the greater moments in human history. To pass from this Cathedral through the spice farms and on to the slave caves at Mwangapani, where hundreds of people were packed into a horrible hole to await death or a lifetime of slavery, is a Journey from our finest ideals back to our darkest, cruelest depths.

A side tour, which is very rarely taken is a trip to Grave Island. The cemetery is dedicated to those people who lost their lives fighting against the slave trade. We hope that someone will one day write a book, based on the personal tragedies of the men who lost their lives in that fight.

This is not just a delightful tour of the senses, but also of cultural and universal historical significance.