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Chole Mjini is a treehouse lodge on a tiny island off an island called Mafia. Mafia and Chole Islands are about 100 Kms south of Zanzibar, offshore from the Tanzania mainland’s Rufiji Delta.
There are 7 rooms at Chole Mjini, all but one having been built as treehouses on stilts and all are very private from each other. They are simple and rustic, but very comfortable. All are individual in style and some are doubles, some family and some twins. Hot water is on demand and very quick to heat up. The rooms at Chole Mjini face north and stay cool with open sides for cooling breezes. They are furnished inside with 4-poster beds and have a ‘day bed’ lounge area too. They are a great place to sit in the early evening watching the birds come home to roost in the trees all around Chole Mjini. There is no electricity, but oil lamps are left on overnight, and reading torches are provided. The bathrooms, with open-air shower and composting toilet, are downstairs.
Chole Bay, Mafia’s protected deep-water anchorage and the original harbour, is studded with islands, sandbanks, reefs and beaches. The clear, protected waters offer wonderful snorkelling, diving, sailing and swimming. Outside the Bay unbroken reef runs the length of the island, from Tutia in the south to Ras Mkumbi at the northern tip. Mafia Island Marine Park is a protected environment for coral reef and other ecosystems and the SCUBA here is some of the best in the world - the lodge has it's own qualified intstructors, dive school and selection of boats. Bird-watching is excellent and very different to the mainland parks. The tidal flats and mangroves are always alive with coastal and sea birds and there are many colourful woodland and forest species. There are also roosts of the unusual and fascinating giant Madagascan fruit bat to see on Chole Island.
Food is all locally caught seafood and –there is no meat on the island. Fruit and veg is flown in to Chole Mjini from mainland twice a week. Since there is no refridgeration for food it is all freshly prepared, using local recipes and lots of variations on Japanese, Thai, etc. They bake their own bread daily. Cooked breakfasts are not offered, so it's mainly bread and fruit with home made yoghurt, honey and eggs.
When you arrive at the boat point to transfer to Chole Mjini, you should be prepared to get wet –so wear clothes you can lift up and waterproof shoes / sandals!
Activities
You will be asked each morning what you might like to do, so that boats and equipment can be organised for you.
- Boat trips: Chole Mjini has 5 boats , and boat trips are included in the all inclusive rate.
- Snorkelling here is fantastic. NOTE Tides do affect the swimming from Chole. so you can be taken by boat to the sand banks for swimming / sunbathing. Swimming from lodge only when tide is in. All lodges on Mafia have this in common.
- Diving: There is a dive centre on site with 2 instructors (the owner, Jean, is one). The best diving is from October to about mid-April. Chole is half way to the main dive sites off Mafia so in a better position to get there first over the other lodge boats! A max of 4 boats are allowed in the diving bay at any time and they usually stay away from each other, so Mafia is much less crowded than the other islands for diving. Whale Shark season Dec –mid April.
- Walking on Juani island: this is a large forested island and supports loads of birds and wildlife. There are very good ruins here too.
Chole Mjini is closed from April to end of June.
The lodge is very child friendly, although no children under 2 are accepted.
Fair Trade / Responsible Travel
$10 per person per night from Chole Mjini goes to the village.
Constructed in partnership with the local villagers, a proportion of the income generated goes back into the village supporting projects beneficial to the community.
Owners, Jean and Anne de Villers, have undertaken many projects in the village, and recently held a fund raising event in the UK (backed by The Tribes Foundation) for the next development project to be organised by the owners of Chole Mjini.