The prison Island which is also known as Changuu Island is located about 5.6 kilometers northwest of stone town with about 30 minutes of boat transfer.
It was uninhabited until the 1860s when it was given to two Arabs by the first Sultan of Zanzibar – Majid bin Said. The Arabs used the Island as a prison for rebellious and troublesome slaves before selling them at the Zanzibar slave market in Stone town or shipping them abroad.
When Zanzibar became a British protectorate in 1890, Lloyd Mathews, the British – appointed first minster, bought the Island inn1893 from its Arab owners on behalf of the Zanzibar government with an intention of putting up a prison on it which was meant to contain violent criminals and recidivists from the part of the African mainland that was under the control of Zanzibar.
Despite the construction of the prison and its completion in 1894 however, it never housed any prisoners because the British authorities were worried about the epidemics affecting stonetown which was the main port then and hence decided to turn Changuu Island into the quarantine Island for all of the British colonies in East Africa.
The prison was turned into the Island’s hospital and renamed in 1923 to Quarantine Island. Patients would be taken from ships and monitored at the Island for 1 to 2 weeks before they could proceed and Yellow Fever was the main disease.
Considering that ships came only between December and March, the Island remained empty without any cases for the longer part of the year and thus became a popular leisure resort for Europeans and local Zanzibar residents alike and a building was constructed to facilitate the holiday makers in the 1890s and named the European Bungalow although the number of visitors there was limited because of the limited fresh water as the only source was the harvested rainwater stored in the underground tanks.
The British governor of Seychelles donated 4 Aldabra giant tortoises from the Aldabra Island to Changuu Island and these quickly multiplied to 200 in number but were then stolen for sale abroad and keeping as pets. Aldabra tortoises are one of the largest tortoises in the world and endemic to Aldabra Island in Seychelles and now in Prison Island.
The numbers continued to shrink to just seven tortoises in 1996. A large compound was built with help from the World Society for the protection of Animals and the numbers began to increase by year 2000 to 17 adults and 50 juveniles.
The Aldabra giant tortoises are now on the IUCN Red-list and considered as vulnerable species but there is a foundation on the Island now dedicated to their welfare and more are being brought in for conservation.
On your day visit to Prison Island, you will explore the Island, visit the original prison which now provides shelter for the tortoises, watch and feed the tortoises and snorkeling.