How to get there
Upon landing at Zanzibar International Airport, you will be met by a representative from &Beyond's Mnemba Island who will chauffeur across the island. The driving time across the island is approximately one hour and introduces you to local life and the beauty of the island.
Mnemba is located off the North east tip of Zanzibar. When you arrive on the beach you will be met by the boat captain who will help you with your bags onto the boat for the short transfer across to Mnemba, towards your ultimate island adventure experience.
The boat ride is a approximately 15 minutes and ends directly on the beachfront as there are no jetties. Expect to get a little wet as your wade your way from the boat to and from Mnemba Island Lodge.
Safari news from the mainland:
Two young cheetahs are still together with their mother although they are grown up now and no longer cubs. It is as if they feel that there is nothing more important in this world than to be close to their solitary "single parent" mother. Look at them - they have grown to become big boys! Of the whole triggerfish family, the Clown Trigger is probably the most difficult to spot here in Mnemba. This is quite surprising as they have such colourful patterns! He is indeed quite shy and tends to hide as soon as we get in the area. Interesting fact: He is called Triggerfish because he has a retractable dorsal fin really similar to the trigger of a gun! (Photo credit: David Jackson) For the last month, we've had this beautiful orange frogfish (also called anglerfish) moving around our dive sites. Usually meant to use camouflage as a technique to hunt little fishes passing by, I bet this fluorescent one has a hard time hiding. From us anyway! (photo credit: David Jackson) After hearing over the radio that a pride of lions had been spotted feasting on a buffalo, together with my friends. the Knowles family, we made a decision to drive to the sighting. At around 8:30 in the morning, a small group of onlookers had already gathered. We stopped to get a good look at the pride of lions fifty or so metres away from us. As we got a closer look with our binoculars, it became clear that this was either a very large buffalo or something else entirely—it turned out to be a hippo. It was my first time ever to see lions on the crater floor feasting on a hippo. It was not certain what might have killed the hippo that looked to be fully grown. Usually the crater lions go for smaller kills, up to full size buffalos and elands. This was the first time I had actually seen it. We were thrilled and fascinated as we watched the lions sticking their head into the carcass to get at the meat. Of course, they weren't the only ones who wanted a meal. We came back to the carcass a couple of hours later after lunch and noticed that in that time, nearly every carnivorous animal in the crater had discovered the feast. Jackals tentatively approached the hippo but were easily scared away by the pride. Meanwhile, hyenas used a stealthier tactic, and slowly crept toward the carcass from all angles. However, they wouldn't dare to go much closer, seeing as there was an intimidating male lion in the pride. Even the vultures and Marabou storks in the area did their best to get a piece of the coveted hippo. Lacking the patience of the jackals and hyenas, we did not see the result of their efforts, and drove away with much less memory on our cameras, and a wonderful story to tell.