This past weekend I took a day trip to Prison Island (also known as Changuu Island, Tortoise Island or Quarantine Island) bringing my island hopping count to 3 islands in one week!
Background of "Prison Island":
Prison Island is a small island about 5km north-west of Stone Town. The island saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine. The British First Minister of Zanzibar, Lloyd Mathews, purchased the island in 1893 and constructed a prison complex there. No prisoners were ever housed on the island and instead it became a quarantine station for yellow fever cases. The British authorities were concerned by the risk of disease epidemics affecting Stone Town, then East Africa's main port. To combat this threat Changuu was turned into a quarantine island serving all of the British territories in East Africa. The old prison was converted into the facility's hospital and in 1923 the island was officially renamed Quarantine Island. Quarantine cases would be taken from the ships and monitored on the island for between one and two weeks before being allowed to progress with their journey.
The Giant Tortoises:
More recently the island has become a government-owned tourist resort and houses a collection of endangered Aldabra Giant Tortoises which were originally a gift from the British governor of the Seychelles. In 1919 the British governor of the Seychelles sent a gift of four Aldabra Giant Tortoises to Prison Island These tortoises bred quickly and by 1955 there were approximately 200 tortoises. However people began to steal the tortoises for sale abroad as pets or for food and their numbers dropped rapidly. By 1988 there were around 100 tortoises, 50 in 1990 and just seven by 1996. A further 80 hatchlings were taken to the island in 1996 to increase the numbers but 40 of them vanished. The Zanzibar government, with assistance from the World Society for the Protection of Animals built a large compound for the protection of the animals and by 2000 numbers had recovered to 17 adults, 50 juveniles and 90 hatchlings. The species is now considered vulnerable and has been placed on the IUCN Red List by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. More tortoises, mainly juveniles, continue to be brought to the island from other locations for conservation. There is a dedicated foundation on the island which looks after the tortoises' welfare Visitors are able to observe and feed the tortoises
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| Click to enlarge and read about the tortoises |
Lisa on "Prison Island":
Around 11am on Saturday, after bargaining with the Captain for a little while, we finally got to a decent price for a boat rental and set sail in a typical Zanzibar Dhow boat arriving on Prison Island about 30 minutes later.
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| View of the island from the Dhow |
The main attractions of prison island are the giant tortoises that call it home, the beautiful beach and the amazing coral. The tortoises were definitely my favourite part, I was given some cabbage to feed them and one of the caretakers was showing me where to massage them and even tickle them! As you massage their neck they literally raise up like an elevator and if you tickle them on the bottom of their shell by the tail they start moving quickly...well, quickly for a tortoise!
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| Feeding and massaging the 150 year old tortoise |
I asked one of the caretakers how they know the age of the tortoises and he told me that they have a machine they use that measures their arm width and their body mass and from that information they can tell how old the tortoise is. He also told me that, apart from the males being larger than females you can tell them apart by the length of their tails.
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| The age of the tortoise is written on their back |
The caretaker also showed me two separate, caged off areas of tortoises. One area was for the tiny new born tortoises and the other is for young, infant tortoises between the ages of 5 to 7 years.
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| Infant tortoises |
We went on a "tortoise hunt" to find the oldest tortoise on the island, who is claimed to be 185 years old. We finally found him chilling by a tree in the shade. He enjoyed some cabbage and a nice neck massage, I'm sure he is treated very well in his old age!
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| Nice neck massage for the 185 year old tortoise...he deserved it! |
After the tortoises, there is not much else to see on on the island so we just relaxed and enjoyed the view and the beach for a bit then headed back to Stone Town in our dhow. All in all, it was a nice day and I would recommend it to travelers coming through Zanzibar.
Prison Island in Pictures:
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| View of Stone Town from Prison Island |
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| View of Prison Island from the pier |
Very nice Lisa, as always we love to hear about your work and your free time reports.
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Dad