Zanzibar Spice Farm

Zanzibar Spice Farm

Dole, Zanzibar 2017 40 photos

A morning at a spice farm in Dole, in the green heart of Unguja — the finale of the October 2017 safari. Coffee berries and clove buds, nutmeg split to its crimson lace of mace, annatto pods that paint your skin, vanilla vines, green peppercorns, turmeric-stained fingers, and a cacao pod passed around for tasting — each plant introduced by its hand-painted Swahili sign.

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Coffee berries ripening red along their branch Ripe and unripe coffee berries held in an open palm A guide's hand holding freshly picked coffee berries A nutmeg fruit hanging pale and round among the leaves Nutmeg split open, crimson mace laced around the shell Half a nutmeg fruit showing seed and scarlet mace Split nutmeg presented in an open hand The polished nutmeg seed freed from its mace Spiky red annatto pods on the lipstick tree A cluster of bristly crimson annatto pods Annatto pod cracked open to its orange-red seeds Annatto seeds ready to paint skin the colour of lipstick A clove branch with green buds — Zanzibar's signature spice Panorama across the green plots of the Dole spice farm Vanilla orchid vines climbing their host tree A panorama of vanilla vines strung through the plantation Hand-painted sign for vanilla, Vanilla planifolia A strand of green peppercorns laid across a hand Hand-painted sign for black pepper — mpilipili manga Hand-painted sign for jackfruit — mfenesi Hand-painted sign for lemon grass — mchaichai Aloe vera growing wild beside the farm path Cutting into fresh ginger root A sliver of ginger offered on the knife blade Turmeric rhizomes unearthed on the forest floor Hand-painted sign for ginger — tangawizi Hand-painted sign for the henna tree — mhina A broken turmeric root glowing orange in the palm Hand-painted sign for galangal root — tangawizi mwitu Hand-painted sign for sweet basil — mrehani Turmeric staining the guide's fingertips orange The vivid orange of fresh-cut turmeric Hand-painted sign for cinnamon — mdalasini Hand-painted sign for Indian plum — mchongoma A cacao pod cracked open to its white-fleshed seeds Sweet white pulp cradling the cacao beans Passing the opened cacao pod around for tasting Tasting fresh cacao straight from the pod Cacao pod halves, seeds nested in their pulp Cacao seeds showing their purple hearts