I have been dealing with African Synergy for a few years and they have a fantastic portfolio of properties. African Synergy provides the link between hotels & lodges and the travel trade and they specialise in luxury properties in Africa, coupled with established relationships in the local and international tourism industry.
They have recently published this in-depth look at Vamizi……a beautiful place in Mozambique…enjoy!
Background: There has been some confusion about the Vamizi Island accommodation offering lately, so thought we would provide some clarity after we were lucky enough to have visited the island recently. Vamizi Island opened the main lodge in 2005, which has been extremely successful over the past decade.
Earlier this year, Vamizi closed the main lodge, known as “Vamizi Island Lodge” until further notice in order to re-develop it and re-launch the lodge. This decision was taken after the announcement of the closure of Macimboa da Praia airport (north of Pemba), which served as an international airport and proved a popular access point for inbound flights from East Africa.
There has been no planned date for re-opening of the main lodge at this stage, however in the meantime, six luxury villas are available for exclusive use. These beautiful villas offer an unparalleled stylish, yet an incredibly homely, private island experience for exclusive island travellers. The main lodge communal areas, such as the PADI Dive Centre and the main bar, have remained open for villa guests to enjoy.
Getting there: The current international access point is Pemba Airport, where we flew to with compliments of Airlink who provide a daily and reliable flight from Johannesburg. Vamizi has a dedicated ground handler at Pemba Airport, called Ali, who will meet and greet Vamizi guests and guide them from arrival to the connecting charter flight. CR Aviation provide a charter service from Pemba to Vamizi Island. The reservations team at Vamizi will assist with the charter booking, so the booking process is stress free! The flight time from Pemba to Vamizi is approximately 50 minutes.
After a very scenic aerial view of the Quirimbas Archipelago, we touched down at Vamizi on their landing strip East of the island. We were welcomed by refreshments, fresh fruit skewers and a beaming smile from our very own dedicated Villa 4×4 driver, Stephen, who was ready to whisk us away to our villa. The drive from the airstrip to the villa is approximately 20 minutes and the island-style energy breezed through our city souls.
The Villas: The Villas offer something we have never experienced before in term of the rustic luxury, peacefulness and what felt like limitless space. An incredible offering for multi-generational travel/groups of friends or a few families that like to travel together.
The Villas are located on the North of the Island, which is safe from prevailing winds for most of the year. They are spread widely apart giving ample privacy and the impression that you are on the island alone, yet are situated close enough to the main lodge to walk to it, if one prefers not to drive. Looking east to west, it is hard to fathom the size of this private island. You can only imagine that this would be a high profiled celebrities’ perfect holiday….
Each villa has its own distinct personality and we loved asking everyone on the island which their favourite was, as although the general concept of what each villa offers remains the same, the design and the atmosphere of each one provides a varied experience. Every villa promises an exceptional beach in front of it, although they are all set back a few metres, with some of the natural island vegetation between. It was designed this way to respect the conservation of the turtles that frequently lay their eggs on the shores of Vamizi, as any distortion of the natural light can have a great effect on their survival ratio as they follow natural light paths to the sea. Another common feature through all the villas are their upstairs communal areas or “towers”, of which some villas feature tree houses, some offer stargazing decks, and some a Mediterranean influence. There are no glass windows allowing free flow of island air through the villas, which naturally cools them, as there is no air-conditioning on the island. Surprisingly enough it never gets much hotter than 30 degrees year round. All the villas have a vegetable and herb garden, where each villa team grows their own fresh produce.
There is a service team for every villa, including a personal driver, chef, and villa host, making you feel very important! However it is still the type of place that you can treat like your very own home, without feeling that you are being “watched” and that to us was one of the best aspects, which makes Vamizi unique. Your own private villa on a private island, without the pretenses of a formal hotel. The staff are superb and genuine, yet not invasive. they can read the personalities and expectations of the guests. The most important thing is that you feel like you are at home.
It was interesting to see our reactions to each villa as we experienced them and how each one seemed better than the last. Casa Marjani (that we stayed at) became for us the most homeliest of them all, but we get a sneaky suspicion that this will be the case in each villa experience.
There are 6 Villas all individually named as follows:
*Casa Marjani (5 Beds) * Suluwilo (5Beds) * Kipila (5 Beds) * Tartaruga (Beds) * CasaMina (6 Beds) * Papilio (6 Beds)
Here is a description of each villa with a few images of our own and some from their website to give you an idea of the look and feel of each one:
For more information on the Villas, visit African Synergy for more information and fabulous photos.
