Mafia

Some people might be a bit dubious about getting out here....

but we did, arriving by small plane from Dar for the Easter weekend.

The Mafia Lodge, one of only about 4 hotels on the island, is another old government hotel. It was quite lovely.

We took lots of expeditions (the best snorkeling ever!) including a trip across to Chole, a community of about 1000 people on a smaller island.

Chole, an old Arab slave trading port, was full of ruins being taken over by the rainforest.

We walked through the village, which is as close as I have seen to being what I would describe as "idyllic"

Houses were solid, yards  clean and swept, gardens well kept....

children healthy and happy looking...

There is even a village hall, where with a satellite dish, they can show movies and TV shows to the community.

Dispensary...

Lots of boat building activity - this is a traditional dhow, used for fishing and transport.

These two little boys had a fire lit, and were preparing to cook some kind of fish liver over it. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately),the fire went out....but they were quite resourceful for such little guys!

This strangler fig is taking over the baobab...

We were told  that there was no crime on the island, but we saw this "alleged" thief being tackled and tied up right in front of our verandah - hotel security was certainly on the ball!

After a lovely stay of 4 days, we had forgotten all about having to produce paperwork to get out of the Marine Park. Fortunately, Lars hadn't thrown it away, and was able to find it with only a little effort (note the completely unpacked bag!)