Health, Safety and Security in Mafia
Health
Malaria is the main health issue along the coast of Tanzania, so each traveller should seek expert advice from a doctor competent and up-to-date with tropical medicine (effective drugs are changing rapidly). At Kinasi we keep a stock of malaria treatments in case of emergency and for our staff.
We have a well-stocked medical and first aid cabinet and staff fully trained in medic first aid for general application and diving incidents. We have a supply of Oxygen.
The diagnostic facilities at the Mafia District Hospital are surprisingly good and include a laboratory expert in identifying malaria, radiology and ultrasound.
Safety and security
In general Mafia has a low security risk as it remains relatively undeveloped and unaffected by tourism -and urbanisation. There is almost no chance of any untoward personal harm in Mafia, due to crime.
Happily Mafia suffers a minimum of the scourges of modern-day life in urban centres such as Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar Stone Town, where - more than anything else - the traveller is a target for scams and touts offering anything from money changing to hard drugs. However, pick-pocketing, bag-snatching and more dramatic forms of robbery do occur and the traveller is advised to get some good local knowledge on where not to be and what not to photograph. In other words, apply the normal caution you would in any area that is foreign to you, as you would going to a new city in Europe or USA.
Passports, cash and cameras are of course the favourite targets. Travellers should not carry cash and other valuable on their person and should always deposit any valuables, including passports and tickets, with hotel managers. In Zanzibar there are many cases of people being robbed on beaches and in Stone Town and - amazing as it seems - they are always carrying passports, tickets and often a great deal of cash.
Security at Kinasi
Kinasi employs day and night watchmen. They are thorough and reliable, as well as unobtrusive to guests; i.e. there is no apparent security "issue". There are four guards in total, and they are armed with traditional weapons, and serve as a very effective deterrent to security breaches.
During the day there are in excess of 35 staff around Kinasi Lodge. Any attacks during the day are most unlikely and this risk can be regarded as negligible.
At night there are the watchmen and management staff living at Kinasi. The Manager's house is sited amongst the guest cottages on the west wing. The Dive Instructor's house is situated in the east wing, so that our management is available close to all guests.
Kinasi has been enclosed with an eight-foot high cement block wall - for privacy and peace and quiet - it is attractively finished with crenellations and is painted in earthy hues. Its whole length is planted with flowering shrubs and climbers. The wall provides greatly improved privacy and security, mainly to prevent petty theft by staff.
We maintain a lockup safe for guests, who are requested to deposit wallets, tickets and any other valuables with the manager for safe-keeping. In each room there is a large wooden trunk in which guests can lock items that they are not carrying with them.
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