about 6 km off the coast of stone town, zanzibar, is the fascinating little island of changuu. the first use of the island was as a prison for zanzibar. later, in the 1800s, it was used as quarantine facility for travelers during cholera and bubonic plaque outbreaks. (btw, did you know there was a bubonic plaque outbreak in india in the 1800s that killed over 10 million people?)
you can easily hire a boat from stone town to the island for about $5-10, about a 30 minute trip. the prison is interesting to explore. even more exciting are a population of large tortoises, the oldest of which are 180 years old! they were initially brought to zanzibar from the the seychelles, and when they started to be stolen, were retired to the island for their own protection.
