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Chole Mjini, Mafia Island | Timbuktu Travel
Mafia Island

Chole Mjini

Travel and Leisure Worlds Best Awards for number 1 tour operator in the world 2024 and number 2 tour operator in the world 2025
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Named three years running in Travel+Leisure World's Best, including No.1 in 2024

About Chole Mjini

An original, back-to-basics lodge in a heavenly Indian Ocean setting
A charmingly rustic eco-lodge (built before the term became a catchphrase), Chole Mjini is one Tanzania's most original small lodges. It lies on Chole Island, near Mafia Island, and is a peaceful and charming hideaway in an area off the tourist highway. Despite the isolation, though, there's a wonderful community atmosphere, some fascinating historical sites nearby and that blue, blue sea to explore. The rooms are charming, but don't expect much in the way of mod cons – the toilets are long-drops – but if you have a yearning for a Robinson Crusoe-esque experience, you're in the right place.
Mafia Island , Tanzania
From $440 per person/per night
Beach
7 Rooms
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Property details

The property

The communal areas, made from natural materials (apart from the polished floor and a few sofas of concrete strewn with cushions), include a large open-sided lounge and dining area with views through mangroves to the sea. Overhead, in the rafters of the thatched roof, is a bar with more sofas and, incongruously, an old-fashioned bicycle attached to a cross-beam. Mealtimes are flexible (dinner is three-course) and the food is splendid. Chill afterwards with the staff, playing bao, the local board game.

The rooms

Chole Mjini has seven rooms, six of which are set on platforms high up in baobab trees. The seventh, slightly more conventional, is at ground level, with an en-suite bathroom and the island's only flushing toilet. Each tree house is different (some are two-storeyed), but all have storm lanterns instead of electricity, a shower heated by an effective paraffin burner, composting long-drop toilets and no aircon, although small solar panels provide for fans beside the huge and very comfortable beds.

Activities

Take a dhow trip to a remote sandbar, where you can relax on a beach surrounded by the sea. Snorkel, dive the shallow marine park or, for more advanced divers, head out on a dhow to explore outside the bay, where the reefs and wall dives descend to about 30 metres. Explore the island's ruins and mangroves alone or with a guide (take a late-afternoon walk to see a huge colony of fruit bats rousing themselves for the nightly foray to Mafia Island).
Trips

Mafia Island Tours & Trips

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Remote bush & beach in southern Tanzania
Tanzania

Remote bush & beach in southern Tanzania

11 nights from $6.6K per person

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How to book Chole Mjini

How do I book Chole Mjini?

Chole Mjini can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made Tanzania trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended Tanzania trips featuring Chole Mjini or get advice and suggestions from one of our Tanzania specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.

How much does it cost to stay at Chole Mjini?

Stays at Chole Mjini start from around $440 per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.

Chole Mjini

Tanzania

Mafia Island

A barefoot beach break with some of the world’s best diving and a good selection of eco-chic lodges.