A working light, not a monument
The lighthouse on Chumbe Island was built in 1904, during the British protectorate, when the Sultan of Zanzibar ruled locally. It is a five-stage square tower of coral-rag stone, 34 metres tall, and it is the tallest thing on the island by a very long way.
It is still in service. The light is owned and run by the Zanzibar Ports Corporation rather than by the island’s managers, and it has a focal plane of 37 metres, a single white flash on an eleven-second cycle and a range of sixteen nautical miles. It has been automated since 1926, when it became the first lighthouse in Zanzibar converted to an acetylene system with a sun valve, and it still carries its original fourth-order Fresnel lens. In 2013 the ports corporation replaced the gas system with a solar one, fixing photovoltaic panels to the external balustrade; the eleven-second flash has not changed since 1926.
Lighthouse registers have not all caught up with the 2013 conversion and still list the 1926 acetylene installation as current. The island’s managers are the better source on that point.
Climbing it
Visitors can climb, on a guided tour, coming out through a trapdoor onto the top gallery. The island’s managers give the count as 132 steps. The figure of 131 is widely repeated and traces to a magazine article from the lighthouse’s centenary year.
Group sizes are small — the management plan gives a maximum of six in one place and eight in another, so expect roughly that. Like everything on Chumbe it is part of an arranged visit rather than something you turn up for; the island caps visitor numbers and is booked in advance.
The mosque beside it
The small mosque next to the lighthouse dates from around 1906. It was built by Zanzibar’s Indian community for the first lighthouse keeper, who was of Indian descent, with materials provided by the British administration — and it is Indian in architecture, not Swahili, which its managers describe as making it one of very few such mosques in Zanzibar. Descriptions of it as a small Swahili mosque are common and are contradicted by the people who look after it.
It remains in daily use by Muslim staff on the island. Non-Muslim visitors are asked not to enter unless invited, and that is a request to take at face value.
What was restored and what was not
A point worth having straight, because the island’s conservation reputation gets attached to the wrong buildings. The restoration carried out when the coral park was established applies to the lighthouse keeper’s house, which became the education and visitor centre, with its original mosaic bands restored and a crumbled wing left as found. The historic mosque and the lighthouse itself were left untouched. Works on the tower have been the ports corporation’s: a repaint in 2002, the solar conversion in 2013, and a month of structural rehabilitation in March 2016.
One historical footnote attaches to the island rather than the tower: the German cruiser Königsberg sheltered behind Chumbe before sinking HMS Pegasus off Zanzibar in September 1914. The lighthouse itself was never German — Zanzibar was a British protectorate, not German territory, and descriptions of a German-built light here are simply wrong.
Common questions about the Chumbe lighthouse
How old is it and who built it?
Built in 1904 under the British protectorate. It was never German; Zanzibar was not German territory.
Can I climb it?
Yes, on a guided tour, exiting onto the top gallery through a trapdoor. Its managers give 132 steps; the 131 in circulation comes from a centenary magazine article. Groups are small, roughly six to eight.
Does it still work?
Yes. It is run by the Zanzibar Ports Corporation, shows one white flash every eleven seconds with a range of sixteen nautical miles, and has been automated since 1926. It was converted to solar in 2013 and retains its original Fresnel lens.
Is the mosque Swahili?
No. It dates from around 1906, was built by Zanzibar’s Indian community for the first keeper, and is Indian in architecture — one of very few such mosques in Zanzibar. It is still in daily use, and visitors are asked not to enter unless invited.