Visit Jozani forest with Paje by Night Hotel excursions 2005 in Zanzibar

Jozani forest tour
Tours and activities 2007

The Jozani forest reserve, lies between Chawaka bay and Uzi bay, closed to
Paje by Night.
It is the only remaining natural forest of Unguja and represents a very important refuge for the fauna of the island. The most interesting animals include the rare red colobus monkey, two small antilope species (zanzibar duicker and sunni)
and the small zanzibar leopard.
A day out in the Jozani forest reserve is no doubt a well worth while and
rewarding experience. The price of this excursion is us$ 25.

Learn more about the Jozani forest reserve:
The protected Jozani Forest reserve, with a surface of 10 sq. km, extends between Chwaka and Uzi bays on a bed of paleocorals, some 35 km south east of Zanzibar Town. Along with the mangroove forest going north and marshes on the way south, it costitutes a rich mosaic of the island's different habitat.
The reserve is made up of three different types of vegetation which typically characterise Unguja island (Zanzibar): the high forest, swamp forest and evergreen thicket.
There are some huge red mahogany trees and getting into dense vegetation cool shadowy areas, where the oil Palm grows, you could meet a Zibet that typically feeds himselg with oil palm seeds.
The surprising roots of the Pandanus rabaiensis support heavy trees and provide them oxygen during the Masika, the Monsoon heavy rain season, when the forest floods becoming populated of many little fauna species, like the water coleopter, the dragon-fly and the water beetles.
There's the Rafia palm (rafia farinifera), which fibre is used for a variety of purposes in textile and other trading sectors and outstanding examples of Ficus Sicomoro which powerful architectural-shaped roots perform a support function.
Other Ficus, called stranglers (ficus natalensis), interweave with the other forest's trees: it's not a form of cooperation but a silent fight for survival.
Here and there tufts of perfumed herbs and wild cardamon and mint.
Also the Lianas (Liana todalia), typical of tropical climates and belonging to the same family of the asiatic rattan, use tall trees to climb toward the sun light.
The forest is populated by the Jozani birds sings, the Akelat (Erithacus Gunningi, the east coast redbreast) the green babul of Zanzibar (Pycnototus virens Zanzibaricus) the olive-colored Nectarin and the Crowned Hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus), all together over 40 fauna species, and by sounds and callings of animals like the rastle produced by tusks of the wild boar while looking for roots and tubers or the sound produced by black pygmaean frogs moving on puddles or the calling of the red colobus monkey (precolubus kirkii).
The forest extends then towards an area of Casuarina equisetifolia: all these trees have been settled by the man after a fire caught the forest in the eightees.
All effords now tend to the restoration of disastered areas and to the protection of the still existing ancient forest.

Recommended:
Do not smoke.
Do not touch wild life unless differently specified. Some fauna species, like the little black snake, are very poisonous and hide themselves under the dense vegetation.
Use propper shoes.
Do not talk laud and avoid rapid movements which can frighten animals.
Do not feed animals.

Paje by Night Hotel & Bungalows, Paje, Zanzibar east coast, Tanzania. P.O. BOX 0000 Tel. 00255 (0)777 460710 info@pajebynight.net