Changu Island

Changuu Island is located 5.6 kilometres northwest of Stone Town and is around 800 metres long and 230 metres wide at its broadest point. The British First Minister of Zanzibar, Lloyd Mathews, purchased the island in 1893 and constructed a prison complex there, but no prisoners were ever housed on the island. Instead, it became a quarantine station serving all of the British territories in East Africa. The tortoises at Changuu Island are giant Aldabra tortoises, not indigenous to Zanzibar, originally gifted from the British Governor of Seychelles in 1919. Some are over 190 years old, with their ages visible on their shells. The species is considered vulnerable and has been placed on the IUCN Red List. A dedicated foundation on the island looks after the tortoises’ welfare, with adults roaming freely and juveniles protected in a separate compound. Built in 1894 by the British, the coral-stone prison structures were quickly turned into a quarantine station to stop the spread of diseases like cholera and plague arriving on ships. The rooms intended as prison cells became hospital wards, and the island served as a quarantine point for sailors and passengers arriving in Zanzibar for many years.