Mafia Island
Tues 30th  Interesting day. Started with a couple of door knocks at 04:30 and voice calling out ‘mister’, ‘mister’. I was awake anyway as it was a travel day and my alarms were set for 05:00 anyway. I opened the door wearing my kikoi and there were about 5 people outside, one of whom definitely immigration.
He wanted to see my passport of course, and there were questions along the lines of …. What am I doing here. Where have I been since arriving. Why am I here. Why didn’t I register my arrival at immigration. What could I say…I’m on holiday. Lindi was recommended to me. It never occurred to go to immigration on arrival as I’ve not done that anywhere else in Tz. Pics were taken of some passport pages, and it was all over in about 10 minutes.

I showered and packed and left for the bus stand at 05:40. But I kept wondering…Did Saidi at Coast report me ? Otherwise, any informer could’ve followed me and seen the guesthouse I was staying at and looked at the register.
There was a guy acting fairy suspiciously at the beach a couple of days previously. He was wearing a light blue shirt,  (although that’s not a cause for suspicion)!! He was sitting on the tree line, and when I moved, he moved. Then he stopped to have a pee..fine. Some metres on he stopped to have what seemed like another pee. Well,ok. He stopped on the tree line again when I went for a shallow wallow. As I came out of the water he started down the beach again. As I walked down the beach I noticed he’d stopped again and this time he stripped totally naked. Well, I kept walking not daring to look back..!!! So, who was acting suspiciously..??!!!

Anyhow, back to Tuesday. I was at the stand before 06:00; at least it’s easy walking distance in the middle of town. The Tashriff bus came in after 06:30 and we left soon after. Not much to see just undulating terrain) during the 5 hours to Bungu, apart from crossing the Rufiji river…the biggest and longest in Tz and possibly the biggest river in E Africa.  And it feeds into the biggest mangroves forest on the whole coast of Eastern Africa.

A comfortable journey on Tashriff. I got off at Bungu and knew where to go for the shared taxi to Nyamisati. I asked the guy in the driver’s seat if he was the driver…he said ‘no’…and I said. ‘Good, because you’re drunk ‘ !!!
After nearly half an hour we headed off. The fare was 5,000 (2 yrs ago 3,000) and there were 10 of us crammed into the car. It took nearly 2 hours to do 42 kms. What were we doing…15 miles per hour  ?? But it was an old car and it was very heavy and the road was very rough. There were a couple of muddy patches which we just managed to get through.
Immediately we arrived Nyamisati just after 14:00, I checked on the ferry.  Luckily it wasn’t leaving until 16:00 so I bought my ticket for 16,000 (just over £5). I found a hoteli where I had 2 beers and a very nice chips mayai.  The chef wanted 4,000 but I said I’ve never paid more than 3,000…and he accepted 3,000.

We boarded a very small ferry compared to the one I travelled on before, but after leaving at about 16:45, we arrived in Kilindoni 5 hours later. I was kind of at the back on the side, so was able to lie down for much of the journey. It took me a while to find my way in town….so disorientating in the dark…even though I’d been to Mafia before. After missing the turning a couple of times, before going to Ibizza (where I stayed a couple of years ago) I checked at Classic. The last room available was the most expensive room for 25,000, which was much cheaper than the 40,000 it would’ve cost at Ibizza…so I went for it. Was happy with that, and at about 11:30 I could have a shower and relax. It took me a while to get to sleep, as my mind was processing the days events and I was excited at having made it successfully.

Wed May1st. I had a good sleep. There were excuses for there being no breakfast available; I didn’t mind. Freddie made up for it by hooking up my phone to WiFi at Dream htl next door so I could continue uploading my pics/vids to Google photos.

As I had got in late the day before, I had a very relaxing day. Breakfast was just around the corner. In fact it was the same breakfast every morning of a black tea and a chapati. I revisited the restaurant I got to like a couple of years ago, right on the edge of town (called Viva I think) and had rice,beans, veg and a tiny bit of meat. I learned another word for wali (cooked rice) was mbabwa and everyone found my attempts to pronounce it, amusing . I went to the same place for lunch every day; it was a nice walk of about 15 minutes to get there.

I wore my jeans and shoes ( and shirt obviously) in case of mosquitoes, to go down to the fishing port. I just watched all the boats load up and prepare for their departure around 17:30 for all night fishing. Incredible how many tasks/jobs there are to be done, because each boat had about 15 crew. They would return around 06:00.
I watched the sunset across the harbour and the long jetty; the jetty must be at least a kilometre long. Depending on tides, the ferry leaves from either the end of the jetty or from near the sea shore. I went to one bar on the way to the airport for one drink and Ibizza hotel just around the corner from my hotel, for another drink, then retired to my room for the night.

Thurs May 2nd. Breakfast and lunch were the same. I  bought more internet bundles. I checked at the airport the cost of a flight Mafia to Dar and it was about $150…too much for me..
I kept following the main road for about 20 minutes and eventually found smaller roads that took me to a path down to the beach. The path was quite steep, but a combination of deliberately place rocks and naturally growing big tree roots made it quite easy to climb down. I walked back along the beach with its mix of mangroves and interesting tree sculptures, in the direction of the jetty and town.
I popped into a new lodge, not far from the jetty, of 4 cottages and very nice views. I changed for the evening and went back towards the port for a lovely sunset. I stopped at a newish place called Cosovo where I had one drink, but the music was way too loud.
That was almost it for the day. A drink at the bar on the way to the airport then one at Ibizza, then to my hotel for the night. I forgot to mention that the TV is better than most and shows the Al Jazeera news channel, with some music and a little bit of football.

Fri 3rd. As I thought I’d sorted my phone memory problem out, I retraced my route to the beach so that I could take a few more interesting pics. Then there was lunch at Viva…an absolutely delicious pilau for 2,000 (65pence).
I bought my 16,000 ferry ticket for Saturday. A few days earlier the crossing was at 04:00 but on Saturday the crossing was to be at 01:00. It’s amazing what difference a few days makes, and how the tides determine the sailing times. And at Kilindoni the tides dictate whether you board from the end of the jetty or near the shore.
I was keeping an eye on the weather as cyclone Hidaya was passing close to Mafia and might impact on my ferry crossing. The wind had certainly picked up a lot.
I had 2 cups of tea down near the jetty. There was a quick rain shower; maybe that was a portent of what was to come later. I had a little walk around the back of Classic  and Ibizza. There is a nice sign for Mango Eco lodge, but the project itself is far from complete. I had an afternoon drink at Ibizza.
For the evening I went to either Sunset Maweni or Maweni Coral Bay, depending on whether you believe the barman or Google maps.!! There wasn’t going to be a sunset as it had been cloudy all day, but it was only a couple of hundred metres from the jetty so I could easily get an update on whether there would be a ferry crossing or not.
I think the lodge was only completed at the end of last year…not big, only 4 cottages, but a nice location. I discovered that 4 of the people I was on the ferry with were staying there but had gone out for the day. I lingered over 2 small beers for an hour and a half. It was dry and there was absolutely no wind so I assumed the crossing would take place. But at about 8pm there was a loud announcement to say that the ferry was cancelled.

I finished my drink and passed some people at the jetty who confirmed the ferry was indeed cancelled. I went to my usual bar on the way to the airport and then for my usual nightcap at Ibizza.
By the way, in case it seems as though I’m drinking a lot of beer, let me point out that all the bottles in the south of the country are the small 330ml ones..!! I think it was around 10p.m., but the wind was picking up again and there were some drops of rain.

Sat 4th May.  In the early hours of the morning I was woken up by a howling gale outside. In fact it was Cyclone Hidaya. There had been a couple of days of warning that it was heading towards Tz/Ke from out in the Indian Ocean. A couple of big corrugated sheets on the roof next door were being lifted up and bent backwards and the big branches of the palm trees were being blown to a 90° angle.

That all lasted about 6 hours, and after 09:00 I was able to go outside. I don’t know how close we were to the centre of the Cyclone, which I believe was a Cat 1, so the weakest possible. The hoteli next door where I have my breakfast was under a foot of water. Huge puddles everywhere; I had to walk through the water to reach the main road.  And even half of the main road was submerged.
The ferry booking office was closed, and in fact it remained closed all day. I had a nice tea…black of course…and 2 vitumbua at the restaurant across the road from the booking office. The lady in the kiosk near the jetty said the next crossing might not be until Wednesday.

I heard about Maisara beach lodge the previous day, so I decided to find it. It was quite sunny by now. The place was easy to find, just not a pleasant walk to get there.  Basically, straight along the beach passed the fishing boats, the old and non usable boats, the fish drying nets. There was a tricky little stream to cross with slippery stones in the stream bed and water up to my knees. I think it took half an hour to get there. Nice gardens and cottages, but a bit expensive and you need transport to get there.
The way back was a slightly different route and a bit better, but I still had to cross that stream. I had visions of slipping and falling in, but I made it. The area where the fishing community live is smelly and dirty, but maybe that’s an outsider’s viewpoint.

I went to my usual lunch venue and had a large helping of rice and beans. From there I did my rounds of Sunset lodge and the other place. Mainly I stayed at Ibizza to watch the English football, although the generator ran out of fuel after the early games. I subtly complained and it took a while to get their act into gear, but after the later kick off the picture was restored. It didn’t help that there was a prolonged power cut. I got talking to an army guy stationed on Mafia, then went to my room.

Sun 5th May. Well, torrential rain. Even heavier than on Saturday. When it got to about 11:00 I just had to brave it. My little umbrella provided me with sufficient coverage. Of course I had to walk through huge puddles of water before I noticed a simple place right across the road. They sold potatoes, bananas and squash; I had the squash with lots of chilli sauce and 2 cups of tea.

After the rain subsided I walked to the ferry booking office and found there was to be a 01:00 sailing; at least I knew I had to be packed and ready to go. I still gave Freddie 20,000 for the day.
I walked to my lunch restaurant but they were closed due to all the rain. I walked back and decided to give the Hong Kong restaurant a try. I had a very delicious rice and beans and greens; the beans had a lot of coconut in it.
My breakfast place was submerged again.

I went to Ibizza hoping to watch one of the 16:00 kick off UK games but there was a Tz game that took priority….which I totally accepted. However they did show the 18:30 game,  and although my team lost against Liverpool,  it was enjoyable to watch.
I passed away a couple of hours in my room on my phone until 22:30 when I made my way towards the ferry. Earlier I found a little side alley that was dry and avoided all the large puddles. I dawdled over 2 beers at the Cosovo bar, having plugged my ears with tissue paper because the music was so loud.
I got down to the jetty just after midnight. I spoke a bit with a Canadian couple who had only been to Tz a couple of times but had already bought a couple of plots and were going to build a school for pre school kids. I thought they were a bit naive about what was in store for them, but maybe they had lots of money.

An interesting 2nd visit to Mafia Island. My planned 4 day visit was extended to 6 days because of Cyclone Hidaya. It actually made landfall on Mafia before losing its strength and moving on to the Tz coast/mainland. There was only a little bit of sun while I was there, so the temperature was pleasant.