NATURE & WILDLIFE

Enjoy Nature Trails & Bird Watching, Turtle Hatching and Humback Whale Watching in Mafia Island.

Nature Trails & Bird Watching

Bird watching in mafia adds a very interesting dimension to a tanzania wildlife safari, as the visitor will see many species of shorebird, including migrants such as the crab plover, and other species found in coastal thickets and mangroves that cannot be observed in the inland national parks and reserves.

From Kinasi several walks can be made to places of interest as well as to just “meet the locals”. Our principal guide is Mzee Kirobo (Mzee being a term of respect, not simply “old man”). He is extremely knowledgeable of all Mafia lore, as well as much of the history and many of the birds. A trip with Kirobo means that you will be late for your next meal !

This can also be a bird walk as many of the interesting birds are busy harassing the farmers’ crops or are more easily seen in the open farmlands. The visitor will see many spectacular rollers (Lilac-breasted) and bee-eaters (White-cheeked) between Kilindoni and Kinasi, and there are five species of sunbird in the Kinasi gardens. The black or white Dimorphic Heron is the common species at roosts in Chole Bay.

The Kinasi Nature Trail has been designed with bird-watching very much in mind.

Turtle Hatching

From july through september is the usual hatching season for the protected nests of the marine park. You will witness these tiny creatures emerge from their nests in the race for the sea. This is nature at its very core and a must-see for everyone.

We set off early from Kinasi by fast excursion boat and an early morning walk across the island of Juani brings you to the hatching beaches.

Juani Island is one of the main nesting locations for these amazing creatures, particularly the Hawksbill Turtle. We leave Kinasi by boat early in the morning at seven-thirty and enjoy the beautiful early morning trip across Chole Bay to Juani Island. A short bush-walk across the island brings us to the turtle nesting beaches fronting the Indian Ocean (shown below).

We carry drinking water and first aid, life jackets and communications on the boats and our Excursion Guide also accompanies you.

Humback Whale Watching

In september to november they can be seen off chole bay and ras mkumbi returning southwards . They pass by mafia to the north of the lighthouse as well as along the western corridor of the mafia channel.

We usually leave for the sunset cruise at around 16:30 hrs, heading for Kua Channel, which has many little bays and beaches and a feature is the Blue Lagoon, a coral grotto fed by the sea.

We visit this on the sunset cruise before sailing to the west of the Bay to enjoy the late afternoon sunset over the Rufiji Delta, usually a stunning sight. By now the crew has raised the sail so there is only the sound of rushing water along the hull and the creaking of mast and stays as our jahazi catches the wind…perfect harmony as it has been for hundreds of years.

You can make the boat excursion to catch these magnificent, friendly creatures with some of the water sports operators and you may hear them “si nging” during dives, especially at night.

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