Zanzibar Wildlife

These are just a few of the wonderful creatures I have seen since visiting Zanzibar, with a brief bit of information about each of them.

Birds
Lilac breasted roller – With its mixture of pink, blue, turquoise, yellow and white body, the lilac breasted roller is the perfect spotting for birdwatchers and novices alike.

Insects
Dragonflies – Dragon flies in all kinds of different colours and sizes hover above garden and beach areas around Zanzibar. It is a beautiful sight to see when there are ten or more dragon flies together.
Praying mantis – I have only saw one of these in Zanzibar so far, but it was a great sight. I tried to get closer to it to take a picture, but it flew straight at my face – I didn't know these things had wings!
Giant African millipede – You spot these huge millipedes mostly in the evening crawling in grassier areas. They curl up in to a ball when they feel threatened and can give off a poison which can be toxic if exposed to eyes or mouth. However, they are funny things to watch.

Reptiles
Geckos – When you look up at the ceilings and walls of many places in Zanzibar (especially at night) you will see Geckos stuck to them scurrying around. These little critters are cool to watch, especially when they are catching bugs and flies that land on the walls.
Snakes – I haven't personally seen any snakes in Zanzibar as of yet, but I have been made aware that there are at least two species; the Zanzibar blind snake and the Usambara green-snake.

Misc
Tortoises – Changuu Island (nicknamed Prison Island) has many Aldabra giant tortoises inhabiting on it. You can get a boat over to this island and get a chance to see and feed the tortoises up close, which I strongly recommend doing and making a day out of it by snorkelling on the islands reef and relaxing on the beautiful beach there also.
Red Colobus monkey – In Zanzibars only National Park named Jozania Forest, the rare red Colobus monkey can be seen. This monkey is said to be native to Zanzibar and there are less than 2,000 of them left in the world.

By: Thomas Powell

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