homepage   |    about mafia   |    history & culture   |    nature   |    kinasi   |    activities   |    excursions   |    doing nothing   |    logistics & services Home :: excursions :: Picnic day trips   Picnic day trips Kua Channel Kua Channel is one of our common daily destinations for the excursion boat El Nino, which will go somewhere each day for guests who wish to sunbathe and picnic on beaches or islets. Kuwa Channel has many little bays and beaches and a feature is the Blue Lagoon, a coral grotto fed by the sea. El Nino will also often go to the Marimbani Sandbank, which stretches across Chole Bay and provides a completely private beach. The excursions programme depends on tides and weather. See the notice board near the Cocktail Bar for details.   Islands of Chole Bay Other lovely secluded picnic spots abound in Chole Bay: Miewe Island with its secluded beach and baobab trees; beaches on Juani and Jibondo Islands (by boat), Didimiza (at the end of the Nature Trail, by walking).   Villages Guided excursions are also arranged to the islands and village communities of Chole and Jibondo. The boat building on both these islands is justly famous throughout East Africa. All traditional methods are used, with hand tools and hand-forged nails to create the jahazis, dhows, mashuas and ngalawas you will see in Mafia. Ropes are hand-woven from coir (coconut finre) and sails sewn from rough cotton sheeting (madrouf). There are also ruins of early settlement on Chole, which was the "capital" of Mafia until the early Twentieth Century.   On Chole Island and at the mosque near Kinasi the giant flying fox (Pteropus) can be seen in roosts.   Kua Ruins The Kua Ruins, across the Bay from Kinasi, is an archaeological site from the 12th Century, established by settlers from Kilwa. The principal mosque, with its superb mihrab and the Great House are interesting features. There are many giant baobab trees throughout the area. All over the ruins you can readily dig up pottery sherds, some dating hundreds of years to Chinese and Persian origins.   Kisimani Mafia At Kisimani Mafia an old town has been submerged. This was fully excavated in the early 1970s and details can be found in our library, along with a description of Kua Ruins and the reports on the archaeology of Kilwa. Kisimani Mafia is at the far south-western tip of Mafia and is an all-day excursions by boat.    [ Top of page ] picnic at Marimbani [+]   live cowrie off Marim... [+]   Where is Kinasi Gallery CONTACT US Prices and Special Offers Enquiries & bookings Useful Web Links SIte Map