Ras Mbisi Lodge

If you want mini bars, room service and satellite TV, Ras Mbisi Lodge is NOT going to be the place for you. However, if you want barefoot, chilled out heaven in the middle of nowhere for the ultimate chill out, this is your spot.

Mafia Island is possibly the most unspoilt in this archipelago. South of Zanzibar and a short flight from Dar es Salaam, there are no banks, ATMs, tarmac roads and souvenir shops.

As a bonus, the food is delicious, staff more than kind and helpful.

Produce is locally sourced and it's very much an eco lodge on the beach.

You stay in large "bandas" just a few steps from the ocean. They can organize boat trips, diving (which is a must here), beach picnics and snorkelling trips. Go while Mafia is still so special.

We stayed for two nights in Ras Mbisi Lodge last january. It was recommended by a friend of us who said it was somewhat different but a fantastic place to stay.

The place indeed is wonderful. The comfortable cottages are just a few steps away from the beach. The food is great and surroundings are beautiful.

When we arrived the high season had ended and we were the only guests.

The cottages are somewhat different from usual.

Lifted from the sand and standing on poles you find a large wooden platform with a traditional high roof.

Because there are no high walls you can see the ocean from anywhere in the cottage except the bathroom.

If you don't want people looking in there are curtains all around to give you privacy.

The food served in the restaurant (or on your own front porch) is great and plenty.

The staff is helpful and friendly although in our case a little to much around since there wasn't much to do as we were the only guests.

The beach is very nice and stretched for a large part (which you don't really have on the other side of the island where most lodges are).

We absolutely loved Ras Mbisi and I simply don't have enough of a vocabulary to speak highly enough of it without using the world 'amazing' in ever sentence but I'll try to convey how much we loved our stay there.

Ras Mbisi is an eco friendly resort and if you are expecting a standard hotel experience it's best if you look for other accommodations. The bandas are open air.

Open air means there is no a/c. However there is the ocean breeze. Also the electricity is from a generator which is turned off at 11PM.

Flashlights are provided however. I brought a little book light for my Kindle and it was great for reading in bed.

I simply can't speak highly enough of our time at Ras Mbisi. It will forever standout as a 'best find yet' in all of our travels.