Perfect Stay- Excellent activities, accommodations, food, and can't say enough about how helpful Peter was during COVID! – BTW- excellent place for new years eve, they go out to a sandbar to celebrate with music, dancing, fireworks with the other lodgers and locals! We would highly recommend… Read more.. Kinasi Lodge to everyone…and we don’t say that about many things…so please read on….
WHY WE STAYED HERE INSTEAD OF…..First, in planning our trip for two weeks of safari, we decided to stay at Mafia Island because of the whale sharks & were so very glad we stayed here instead of the very crowded Zanzibar (see our Mafia Island Marine Park review) Our goal was to relax, see the whale sharks, and snorkel and we were not disappointed…and Peter was very instrumental in that! We compared Kinasi with Pole Pole and Chole Mjini….we eliminated Mjini because it was not on the main island and didn’t have much of a beach. We tried to stay at Pole Pole but they weren’t very responsive and once they did respond said they didn’t have availability for our entire week, their property is next door to Kinasi, and once we got here, we were very glad we were at Kinasi instead!
BOOKING WAS EASY, great communication from Kinasi! Our safari provider, Easy Travel, was glad to book Kinasi for us, but we could get a better deal booking direct, so Easy Travel’s Amina booked our flights and we booked the package directly…they would’ve booked our flights, but there wasn’t availability, probably because Amina was holding our seats! So the booking process was super easy with Kinasi and someone answered my email every day if I had questions. We could pay with credit card online with an additional fee. Abdul and Peter were always available to thoroughly answer our questions!
ARRIVAL WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING, BUT THEN WE LEARNED WHY….we arrived at the airport and there wasn’t anyone there with a sign for us, but someone who looked kind of official asked us where we were going & put us in a vehicle. We then started driving out of town and stopped at a gate with everyone else where we were supposed to pay our park fees. We were confused, because our park fees were included in our package and already paid for, but we just had to check in and our names were already on the list, our driver then took us to the lodge, we didn’t have to pay him either as the transfers were included in our package as well. Come to find out, there wasn’t a specific person with a sign and vehicle when we arrived because their vehicle, with the sign in it, was in the shop because someone had hit it just the other day! This was the only ‘off’ part of our experience, but completely understandable once we knew why & what to expect.
FOOD: First of all, we have to say that Antonella does such a fabulous job with the kitchen and menus, we kind of dreaded staying somewhere for a week thinking the food would get monotonous, but it totally wasn’t…there was such a delightful variety, desserts were delicious…especially that chocolate thing!! and there was plenty of food, and always lots of cooked and fresh veggies. Breakfast was also delicious with fresh baked breads, homemade yogurt, an enormous fresh fruit plate, and made to order eggs, bacon, and sausage….On our whale shark trip, they packed us waters and fresh pineapple that was so delightful at the end of the trip. We took a day snorkel trip where they prepared fish over a fire and that meal was also absolute fabulous…wow, the food was so good! Thank you, Antonella!!! and the dining staff was always smiling, so very helpful, and always trying to understand your needs/wants and accommodate you with a smile!
DIVE/SNORKEL STAFF: We snorkeled several times here on half day trips and one full day trip with the campfire cooked fish lunch. At first, we must confess, we were a little irritated that we didn’t know exactly what and when everything was going to happen, but then you realize things are so tide dependent and weather dependent, you rely on Peter’s expertise, and then you see how he was right all along & you should’ve just chilled! This happened more than once…for instance one day we needed to go get a COVID test (more on this later) but we also wanted to snorkel, Peter told us not to go out in the morning so we wouldn’t miss the test (another family went out & missed it, had to spend extra money to fly a different way home!) so we stayed, got tested, and then he sent us straight out to snorkel when we got back, it was fabulous! We really wanted to see the whale sharks, it was the reason we went there, but Peter kept putting us off because of weather and lack of sightings, he timed it just perfectly, our last day we went out and that was the first day they sighted them the whole week we were there…so we got to see them before going home! All I needed to do was chill, go with the flow, and let these guys who totally know what they’re doing do their thing…and at mealtime they’ll tell me to show up at the boat at the right time! Kiwani (I think!) was our snorkel guide most of the time. Several times it was just our family, but we also went with another large family once. Our guide was very good about understanding we wanted to go slow and look closely at things and when we see something interesting we want to hang and watch a while. He made sure to have us swimming with the current and drop off/pick up if there was a swift current so we didn’t have to swim back. He was good at identifying and spotting and we saw another family with us with a young boy where one guide held his hand the whole time, pointing things out, paying attention to what the boy wanted to do, while another guide led the rest of the group…they also swapped out a mask strap for us. Sometimes there are things they might not think to do (we had to go to Peter to get the strap switched, but they did take care of it) but they are glad to do it once they figure out what is wanted/needed and that they can do something about it!
ROOMS: Cottages dot this property, we stayed in two of them, they are spaced far enough apart that you can’t hear your neighbors. They are solid construction and they open the window slats during the day to keep things cool. Around 4-5 pm they close these and light the incense which really helps minimize mosquitoes, though you’ll still need your net at night. We didn’t have tons of mosquitoes, but they’re definitely a few around! The room is well thought out and constructed, the only odd thing was how well you could see out the window from the shower…a little ducking for tall people and we left the light out when showering at night! The fan over the bed was a must and worked great!
LAYOUT: This property is beautiful! Peter is quite the plant enthusiast…he came to Tanzania some time ago as a coconut expert, and he has since started landscaping and his love for plants is obvious on the property and makes it such a serene setting! He is also very eco-design conscious, with plants in the drip lines, proper building orientation, trying to be eco friendly with his building products, and water production, etc. Our cottage and several others are at the top of the hill on the property overlooking the ocean. The spa (which we visited a couple of times and really enjoyed our Thai-combo massage!) is at the bottom of the hill at the beach.
The dining/bar/lounge (lots of books and games in the lounge and plenty of places to sit, just lovely that everyone congregates here before dinner!) is at the top of the hill with lovely ocean views and breezes!
COVID: Well, we highly recommend visiting Tanzania during COVID, on safari things were at about 10% capacity, which means you shared major serengeti sightings with 5-9 other vehicles instead of 50-90! Kinasi was pretty full most of our time here, but there was plenty of room to space out if that is what you wanted. When we arrived, Peter asked if we needed a COVID test to depart, at which time the answer was no. But a few days before we were supposed to depart, KLM announced that to transit through AMS you had to have a test, Peter already knew and was working on it before we even mentioned it! He was working with local medical people, medical in Dar es Salaam, and government officials in Dar to get COVID testing quickly enough for us and others at Kinasi. He personally drove us to the hospital and waited with us (entertaining us the whole time with more of his amazing stories!) and then was what sapping us nonstop up to the last minute that we got our test results in hand. He personally followed them up and managed to get them to us in time to check in for our flight…it was close, but he totally delivered. We know we wouldn’t have made it home then if it hadn’t been for him….so thank you thank you thank you! IT should be noted, people from other lodges started showing up because they found out he could get this done…I’m not sure where that went, but I’d stay at Kinasi if I needed a COVID test to get back home!
Well, Peter and Antonella are another part of our extended world-wide family now! We hope we get to go back and stay with them again and in the meantime, we highly recommend you go! The snorkeling was fabulous (see our reviews on the marine park) the lodging really nice (by the way, if you’re worried about bugs or crawly things, Africa is probably not for you, bugs are kind of a part of it…you’re going to run across a few while you’re here and they might even be in you room sometime, but just roll with it, you are bigger than they are after all!) the food uh-mazing…what a perfect way to relax for a week…and we do recommend a week!
One thing to note: there is a nice sand beach here, but not always ocean water to cool off in. When we were here, water was at the beach for this purpose by around 4pm. Also, make sure you take water shoes for walking when the tide is out…we got a clam shell cut that required medical attention when we got home.
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