Mafia Island

While the neighbouring island of Zanzibar is well known in international travellers’ circles, tiny Mafia Island, lying 160 kilometres to the south remains almost unknown. This tiny archipelago of islands lies in the Indian Ocean, around 20 kilometres from the mouth of the Rufiji River, and consists of a group of islands and sandbars, surrounded by spectacularly beautiful coral reefs and underwater wildlife. The islands themselves consist of stands of tidal mangrove thickets, muddy inlets, and the occasional stretch of fabulous white beach. Inland, the bush is home to birds, small antelopes, and even a small population of pygmy hippotami! These may have crossed from the mainland or were washed to the island by floods of the Rufiji River system. They have been on Mafia many years, since one Dr Baumann recorded their presence here in 1895. Other island fauna includes a colony of flying foxes, several species of bushbabies, a type of pygmy shrew and a monitor lizard known as kenge. Monkeys and squirrels are common, as well as over 120 species of bird.

The people of Mafia are mostly fishermen and farmers, with Islam being the dominant religion, alongside Christian worshippers originally from the mainland. Mafia’s people still maintain traditional religious practices such as coming-of-age ceremonies for boys and girls, and rituals linked to the lunar cycle.