|
|
Mafia is in the truest sense a perfect island retreat for adventure divers, game fishermen and those seeking simple feet-up relaxation. Chole Bay, Mafia's protected deep-water anchorage, is part of a protected marine park. Its natural horseshoe shape is studded with lovely beaches. Outside the bay an unbroken reef runs the length of the island. The diving here is amongst the most spectacular in the world and includes colorful coral gardens, walls at various levels and many shelves and coral heads. You can fly to Mafia directly from Dar es Salaam, the Selous Game Reserve or Zanzibar.
The island was a regular stop for two thousand years for Arab and Persian dhows plying the coastal waters from the Gulf to Madagascar and Mozambique. Mafia is little changed from ancient times and retains a traditional, friendly culture. Chole Bay and its surrounding forests and islands are now within the protected Mafia Island Marine Park, supported with assistance from the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Bird watching on the island is excellent and very different to the mainland parks that visitors may have visited. The tidal flats and mangroves on our doorstep are always alive with coastal and sea birds and there are many colorful woodland and forest species.
For the fisherman there is big-game fishing, light inshore sport fishing, and bottom fishing from fully equipped boats. The fishing grounds include Mafia Island, Songo Songo islands, the deep-sea crescent east of Mafia, Nyuni and Njovi Islands, and in the channels from the Rufiji Delta south to Lindi.
Visits to the island villages, historic archaeological sites, coastal forests, coconut plantations, traditional boat-building yards, and other parts of Mafia Island complement the sea activities and add much more interest to a holiday, and will familiarize you with the lives of the people of Mafia, who are artisans, farmers, fishermen and sailors. The farmers on Mafia are smallholders, growing plots of cassava, rice, pigeon pea, pineapples, paw paws and beans; it is typical to also find cashew, coconut and mango trees on each household's land.
|