SPICES

Zanzibar, known also as Spice Island, is home to many spice plantations. At one time in its history, the archipelago produced over 90% of the world's clove supply. Some plantations are not limited to cloves and make nice half-day trips out of Stone Town.

Without a guide, you'll never find nutmeg sitting on the forest floor or think to peel the bark off of a cinnamon tree but these are some of the fun things to do on a Spice tour. Almost like a big Easter egg hunt, visitors go from plantation to plantation and from plant to plant trying to find the spice within. A guide may use a knife to carve off a root or branch or bark and then ask you to smell or taste it to guess what it is. I was with my mom and we didn't recognize turmeric but the stain it left on her shirt was enough of a reminder to remember it forever. Nutmeg grows on a tree and is sort of the pit of an apple-like looking fruit. The nutmeg trees are huge and the under-forest is dark. Vanilla is a vine that grows on large trees and arabica trees are much taller than the variety that offer the beans that are hand-picked by Juan Valdez. Cinnamon leaves are good for chewing and pepper is hot, green and fresh-tasting before it is dried and ground to become black pepper. The guides may offer you a green coconut while you're on the tour and they're very good. Don't expect a Pina Colada. Green coconuts don't have sweet milk—it's more like subtly flavored water—and the meat is delicious. All along the tour there are kiosks where tourists can buy packaged spices including the following: turmeric, tandoori, vanilla beans and extract, masala, hot chillis, black pepper ground or whole, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks or powder, saffron (from where?), ginger, and many others that I'm sure I'm forgetting. Tours can be expensive so shop around or ask a reputable hotel to set up the guide and driver.