Orangozinho island is cut across by a network of canals sneaking through mangrove woods. Fish eagles may be seen both on trees and in the air. We drifted on a boat, looking for hippopotamuses (it is the only place in Africa where they live in the ocean) but we did not manage to find them.
Cabras – a small island situated near Roxa island. We have visited the only village inhabited by about 100 people. Tourists are very infrequent guests in the village, thus it was the only island from the Bijagos archipelago where all the inhabitants wanted to see the photos of them. Usually, it is only children who ask for this.
Roxa island – I reached the shores of this island five times a week. Some of the places I have visited include Inore, Ancutum and Ponta Barel. I saw a number of magnificent beaches but I found the villages most interesting. All very poor, without healthcare and running water. The inhabitants do not starve; they grow vegetables, raise chickens and pigs. As on the islands of the Bijagos archipelago, they are amicably disposed to visitors. What I found most amazing is a complete lack of interest in fishing despite perfect conditions. All the villages are situated deep inside the island, usually an hour’s march from the ocean.
The Bissagos Islands or Bijagós Archipelago are a group of some eighteen major islands and dozens more smaller ones in the Atlantic Ocean with an area of 2 624 km2 and a population of 30,000 (2006). They are a part of Guinea-Bissau.
The population mostly speaks Bijago and has a considerable degree of autonomy.
The islands include: Bolama, Bubaque, Carache, Caravela, Enu, Formosa, Galinhas, João Viera, Maio, Meneque, Orango, Orangozinho, Ponta, Roxa, Rubane, Soga, Unhacomo, Uno and Uracane.
They constitute a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, known for animals including marine turtles and monkeys and are mostly forested.
Pate island or Paté island is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the largest island in the Lamu Archipelago, which lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga, close to the border with Somalia.
From the seventh century, Paté island was an early site of Arabic colonisation. It long vied as a Swahili port with Lamu and with Takwa on Manda Island and came to prominence around the fourteenth century, but was subjugated by Lamu in the nineteenth century.
There is no motorized transport on the island. The main administrative centre on the island, with the police station, is Faza.
Lamu Island is a part of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya. Lamu Old Town, the principal inhabited part of the island, is one of the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa. Built in coral stone and mangrove timber, the town is characterized by the simplicity of structural forms enriched by such features as inner courtyards, verandas, and elaborately carved wooden doors. Lamu has hosted major Muslim religious festivals since the 19th century, and has become a significant center for the study of Islamic and Swahili cultures. The island is linked by boat to Mokowe on the mainland and to Manda Island, where there is an airport. There are no roads on the island, just alleyways and footpaths, and therefore, there are few motorized vehicles on the island. Residents move about on foot or by boat, and donkeys are used to transport goods and materials.
A port was founded on the island of Lamu by Arab traders at least as early as the fourteenth century, when the Pwani Mosque was built. The island prospered on the slave trade. After defeating Pate Island in the nineteenth century, the island became a local power, but it declined after the British forced the closure of the slave markets in 1873. In 1890 the island became part of Zanzibar and remained obscure until Kenya was granted independence from Great Britain in 1963. Tourism developed from the 1970s, mainly around the eighteenth century Swahili architecture and traditional culture.
Lamu Old Town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001 base on 3 criterion:
Manda is an island of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya, known for the prosperous 9th century ports of Takwa and Manda town. The island is now linked by ferry to Lamu and is home to Manda Airport, while Manda Toto island lies to its west. The island is separated from the mainland by the narrow Mkanda channel.
Both Manda town and Takwa were probably abandoned due to lack of water in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1960s the Kenya Department of Agriculture recommended building several concrete catchments called jabias to capture rain water on the island. Two jabias were built and many families moved onto the island, farming maize, cassava, simsim and cotton.
Zanzibar (pronounced /ˈzænzɨbɑr/) is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Zanzibar was once a separate state with a long trading history within the Arab world; it united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964 and still enjoys a high degree of autonomy within the union. The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City, and its historic center, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.
Zanzibar’s main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzania’s Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands (a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Zanzibar’s ecology is of note for being the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus and the (possibly extinct) Zanzibar Leopard.
Usually I do not recommend the hotels. I will make exception for Mafia Island. I recommend Shamba Kilole Lodge: www.shambakilolelodge.com. Beautiful rooms, great food and the owners make you feel like at home.
Mafia Island (“Chole Shamba”) is part of the Tanzanian Spice Islands, together with Unguja and Pemba. As one of the six districts of the Pwani Region, Mafia Island is governed from the mainland, not from the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, of which it has never been considered to be a part.
According to the 2002 Tanzania census, the population of the Mafia District was 40,801.The economy is based on fishing, subsistence agriculture and the black market. The island attracts some tourists, mainly adventure scuba divers, game fishermen, and people wanting relaxation.
The Mafia archipelago consists of one large island (394 km²) and numerous smaller ones. Some of these are inhabited, such as Chole Island (2 km²), with a population of 800. Chole Bay, Mafia’s protected deep-water anchorage and original harbour, is studded with islands, sandbanks and beaches. The main town is Kilindoni. The stretch of water between the deltas of the Rufiji River and the island is called Mafia Channel. There are popular rumours of pygmy hippo on the island but there are zero confirmed sightings.
On Juani Island, one of the largest and most characteristic islands in the archipelago, are the ruins of the ancient city of Kua, whose decline, as yet unexplained by archaeological and historical, is the object of many legends. The island’s fauna is quite unusual and includes wild pigs, monkeys and small antelopes (blue duiker). The southern point of Juani Island is divided in two by a long channel linking the big inland bay with the open sea.