Tours

Now away from Africa, we are eager to get back. The whole trip was perfectly organised. Everything was there when we needed it. There were small, breathtaking planes with professional pilots. Departed on time, arrived on time from Dar es Salaam to Mafia Island and our luggage was not lost! The scenery, the beautiful turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean, the mangrove forest and coconut palm trees of the island, impressed us from above. The small airport is decorated with flowers. People smile and welcome us.
The Kitu Kiblu camp, founded by Prof Jean de Villiers and his wife Anne for the sea-
biologists, divers and sea rescuers, is set in a beautiful tropical forest on the ocean shore.
Monkeys scurrying in the trees, birds flitting about and making all sorts of interesting noises, and on the ground millipede caterpillar-like creatures scuttle about. All this with such naturalness that one is immediately
you feel at home. Our houses on foot were quickly occupied, and we learned to lock the toilet, which is the the entrance to the room, which is surrounded by a small wall made of reeds, by crossing it with a rope made of coconut, that it was occupied. We heated the hot water with kerosene. Some of the family members preferred the cold water but in the 30 degree heat it was more refreshing than unpleasant. We got used to the all the curses of civilisation, a wonderful place without lights, neon signs, city noise, TV etc.
Our stay at the Chole Mjini Treehouse Lodge on Chole Island was even more special, as it was there was virtually no electricity. A truly calming, wonderful lap of nature.
We had so many activities every day. We arrived early the next morning to find a small and we set off for the shark watching. It was exciting and full of anticipation right up until the the biggest fish in the world appeared… The team, my kids, my husband, our friend’s daughter Emil and her little girl
all jumped into the water as one and went after the animal, which swam majestically, so well that it was we could observe it. I took some pictures and videos and then jumped in after the group. In the water to see, to swim face to face with such a creature is an indescribable experience. Of course I had Emil and Hatibu – the Tanzanian the confidence and instruction of our tanzibu guides. Without them we would never have thought of swimming together in a with a shark. But they are very peaceful animals. We heard more about this in Emil’s educational presentation.
In the afternoon, we harvested mangroves and collected them, so that the next group of would arrive, the little seedlings would have sprouted and could be planted. Mangroves are the real a real lifeline for the islands, protecting the soil from erosion and the most potent CO2 eliminator. That’s why we plant it.
Another rescue operation for marine life was the creation of a coral nursery. Our diving buddies brought up small live corals from the beautiful coral islands, which we cut into small pieces and strung on ropes.
The divers tied these ropes to wooden beams on the sea floor, where the little coral babies start to grow. In a few months they grow so big that they can be glued back together to places where vandalism by man or climate change has killed the coral.

We watched the whole thing with a snorkel mask. The action was led by Jean. About the corals Pap Lili, an ocean biologist friend of ours, we learned a lot.
Between the activities we also visited the villages of Kilindoni and Chole. We met the lovely people who live there people who were happy to show us the art of coconut rope spinning or chapati baking and taught us a few Swahili words and a song.
Although there was no mirror near us for 8 days, the beautiful patterned dresses of the women were a sign of femininity and man-made beauty. We couldn’t even buy pretty fabric…without buying a nice piece of cloth.
Our outlook changed a lot during the 8-day trip. We learned that perfection is not the only thing that matters, but to do what you can for the environment, for the Earth. If everyone just a little bit in the right direction instead of polluting and damaging the environment, then maybe even we can save the Earth. Thank you to Emil Karáth, Jean de Villiers PhD for for the organisation and the opportunity.