Zanzibar - Unguja Island & Stone Town botanical & tourist map, created in 1996 by Giovanni Tombazzi, distills the essence of the archipelago into an exuberant, information-rich celebration. Conceived at a time when Zanzibar’s profile was rising on the world tourism stage, Tombazzi’s pictorial approach unites crisp cartography with radiant illustrations of spices, blossoms, and reef fish. Clear labeling guides the eye across Unguja and into Stone Town, while a tidy legend helps identify the flora and fauna that have shaped the island’s identity as the famed Spice Island. The result is both a guide and a keepsake: a map that entertains as it informs, inviting the viewer to trace beaches, villages, and coral shallows even as they savor the artistry that makes Tombazzi’s work so instantly recognizable.

On the Unguja side, Tombazzi maps the island as a necklace of luminous coasts and living reefs, punctuating the shoreline with carefully marked beaches, recommended hotels, and points for game fishing. Northern Nungwi and Kendwa glimmer with broad sands and dhow-dotted horizons; to the east, Paje and Jambiani unfurl along trade-wind shores favored by swimmers and sailors; in the south, Kizimkazi faces dolphin-rich waters and quiet coves. Inland, vignettes of clove, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg—alongside baobab, breadfruit, mangrove, and coconut palm—register the botany that built Zanzibar’s prosperity. The sea teems with color: parrotfish, butterflyfish, and angelfish sweep past coral heads, each species crisply identified in the legend. It is a cartographic promenade that doubles as an ecological primer, alive with motion, flavor, and salt.

Turn to Stone Town and the mood tightens into an intimate, character-rich city plan, every alley and arcade threaded with stories. Streets are clearly named and the great landmarks step forward: the waterfront and Forodhani Gardens; the Old Fort; the House of Wonders; bustling Darajani Market; historic places of worship; and the Anglican Cathedral raised on the former slave market. The plan embraces hotels and museums, ferry piers and seafront promenades, arranging them within a fabric of coral-rag houses and shaded courtyards. Rather than flatten the city, Tombazzi lets it breathe—ornamenting edges with small scenes, yet keeping the geometry legible—so that a traveler can trace a morning from the fish market to sunset on the quay without losing the thread.

Giovanni Tombazzi’s hand is unmistakable. A master of the modern pictorial map, he blends disciplined, readable geography with painterly wit, using saturated color, playful vignettes, and crisp type to compress a place’s soul into a single sheet. Here, his method becomes a kind of field guide: spices bloom in the margins like botanical plates; fish glide in profile with naturalist clarity; hills, beaches, and villages are modeled with gentle shading that suggests relief without clutter. Yet the design never sacrifices function—labels are lucid, icons consistent, and the hierarchy of information intuitively stepped from island to hamlet to landmark. Tombazzi’s gift is empathy: he draws what visitors hope to find and what residents know by heart, then reconciles both in elegant cartographic harmony.

Historically, the map captures Unguja and Stone Town at a threshold: mid-1990s Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, poised between centuries of Indian Ocean cosmopolitanism and a brisk new era of travel. Tombazzi records not only where to go—Nungwi, Kendwa, Paje, Jambiani, Chukwani, Kizimkazi—but why: dhow-building beaches, spice-scented hinterlands, tidal flats alive with crabs, and reefs that burst with fish. By celebrating flora as cultural heritage alongside touristic wayfinding, it reframes the island’s biodiversity as living memory and daily economy. The result is a document of place and moment: a bright, learned companion for wanderers of the 1990s, and today a richly evocative artifact that still guides the imagination along sunlit roads, through Stone Town’s maze, and out over the reef edge.

Cities and towns on this map

• Stone Town
• Chukwani
• Jambiani
• Paje
• Nungwi
• Kendwa
• Kizimkazi

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Detailed illustrations of local trees, plants, and spices
• Marine illustrations showcasing different species of tropical fish
• Clearly marked tourist attractions, including best beaches and recommended hotels
• Stone Town depicted with labeled streets and significant landmarks
• Legend for identification of flora and fauna
• Points for game fishing and other recreational activities

Historical and design context

• Double-sided pictorial “botanical & tourist” map created in 1996 by Giovanni Tombazzi
• One side emphasizes Unguja Island with tourist landmarks and natural attractions; the reverse presents a character-rich city plan of Stone Town
• Pictorial design with colorful illustrations, clear labeling, and artistic depictions of local plant species and marine life
• Themes include flora, tropical fish, and tourism points of interest, highlighting the region’s cultural significance through botanical diversity
• Geographical focus: Unguja Island, part of Zanzibar (a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania)
• Captures the 1990s tourism landscape of Zanzibar, documenting natural beauty and biodiversity during a period of growing interest
• Tombazzi is known for vibrant, illustrated maps that blend artistic expression with informative content

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.