MAFIA ISLAND

Mafia is - in the truest sense - a perfect island retreat for adventure divers, game fishermen and those seeking simple feet-up relaxation. A 20 minute flight south of Dar es Salaam, Mafia Island was Tanzania's first marine park and is one of the most exciting diving and fishing areas in the world, home to some four hundred species of fish and five species of turtle.

The island consists of one large island (394km²) and many off-shore islands around it, inhabited as well as uninhabited, including Chole Island (2km²) with a population of 800. Chole Bay, Mafia's protected deep-water anchorage and the original harbour, is studded with islands, sandbanks and beaches. The main town is Kilindoni. The stretch of water between the deltas of the Rufiji River and the island is called Mafia Channel. Mafia Island is 30 miles from north to south, and up to ten miles in width. It is thus about half the size of Unguja (Zanzibar) Island to the north, and, like Zanzibar, is a raised portion of the continental shelf, not a coral island.

The population of Mafia was 33,000 at the last census in 1988 and is now thought to exceed 40,000 persons, located in fishing and farming villages and homesteads all over the main island, Jibondo, Juani and Chole.

Mafia, along with the other islands lying off the east coast of Africa, has shared in the long and interesting history of the area. The East Coast forms a part of the Indian Ocean littoral, and the peoples of this region have been traders and sea-farers for centuries. Throughout time, Mafia Island was never an independent polity - in the mediaeval period it was controlled by Kilwa, and later by Zanzibar. During the period of Omani Arab rule many Arabs settled in the southern part of Mafia and set up larger coconut plantations. These were run by slave labour brought from the mainland. The original inhabitants of Mafia, who called themselves Wambwera or Washirazi, were pushed into the northern half of the island, where the soil is less suitable for coconuts but more favourable for subsistence crops.

In 1890, Mafia, which had formed part of the domain of the Sultan of Zanzibar, became a part of German East Africa by being 'traded' to the Germans by the British in exchange for a strip of land known as the Stephenson Road between Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika. British troops took control of the island during the First World War, and Mafia subsequently became part of the League of Nations Trusteeship Territory of Tanganyika, which became independent in 1961 and in 1964 joined with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

The oldest ruins on Mafia are located at Kisimani Mafia near to Kilindoni. Many of them have now been washed into the sea, but the earliest strata of mosques date from around the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Today Mafia Island is known for its diverse and spectacular natural environment. It offers white beaches, superb coral reefs, tropical vegetation dominated by large palm groves, impressive baobab trees, fruit trees (mango & cashew) and mangroves. Monkeys, small antelopes, wild pigs, lemurs and a small colony of dwarf hippos live on the islands. The archipelago is also a nesting area for falcons and fish eagles and a breeding ground for Giant turtles. Chole, one of the smaller islands, has a large colony of Comoro bats, a protected species of fruit eating ‘flying foxes’.

Mafia Island possesses some of the most beautiful coral reefs on the East African coast. The marine ecosystem associated with the island is thought to contain critical seed banks for marine organisms, as well as feeding, breeding, and nesting grounds for seabirds and threatened marine species such as the dugong and sea turtles. The local economy is highly dependent on the island's rich fisheries.

Climate and note for Divers: October to the end of March are the best months for diving. But for non-divers the months between May and October offer the best weather, as January to March are uncomfortably hot and humid. The heavy rains come in March and April, and lesser rains in October to mid-December. The entire coast is at high risk from malaria, and scuba divers need to consult malaria specialists.