Unguja Ukuu
Unguja Ukuu is, for now, a place where Zanzibar’s tourists rarely if ever set foot. Its inhabitants are generally friendly and open, but nonetheless it has an otherness about it. As one of Zanzibar’s most fertile places, its profusion of forest makes it feel like a place where spirits and magic reside. For now the village offers only one hotel, but boasts a sweeping beach set on a bay and unspoilt activities for those willing to hunt them down. If you ask around, you can go canoeing in the mangroves in a local boat, or you can ask for a guide to take you for a tour of the abundant caves of the area and tell you about their legends (more formal cave tours are due to launch soon and Mambo will make this information available when this happens).
If you like things to be a little more planned, you can organise in advance with a tour operator to go out on a boat and snorkel on the isolated reefs near Niamembe and Miwi islands, where you are likely to only see local fishermen.
You stand some chance of spotting dolphins – not the guarantee that you get in the other southern village of Kizimkazi, but if you see them here you will likely be the only people watching and the dolphins you see will be wild and free of the stresses of being chased by tourist boats (but keep it this way, urge your boat captain not to pursue the dolphins but to let them come close if they choose). These tours also usually include a lunch of fresh seafood and tropical fruit.
Find out more about the historic village of Unguja Ukuu in Mambo's In Deep feature
