Mgeni Homestay — Hotel in Mafia Island

Mgeni homestay is basic, but comfortable and clean and excellent value for money. There's a kitchen you can use, but I'd recommend meals requested in advance and cooked by the housekeeper Munda. ||We stayed for three nights as a family with teenagers and this was an excellent introduction to them to Africa and Kilindoni, as this is not a luxury seaside hotel, instead an honest guesthouse. ||As we were late arriving on our first night, the housekeeper guided us to a local food place where we had egg and chips at local prices. Just across from Mgeni is a bar (they can be a bit loud), which my wife and I popped across to later that evening. They couldn't have been more welcoming, though a bit of Swahili helped. ||You can walk direct to the beach within five minutes - the Kilindoni resorts are on the other side of town, but actually this end of the beach is more interesting and charming. There are magroves, with breaks to the water, and it is fringed by tropical forest. As well as the fishermen, there are local people walking, jogging and liming in the evenings.||You can book excursions through Mgeni, but I would recommend the cheapest of them all - a walking tour of Kilindoni. It's a great way to see a very simple town at work, from the fish being landed, to being cooked in huge woks on the shore and then distributed to restaurants, to the market and just...

Mgeni Homestay was a great surprise! We booked online without many expectations and we found a lovely, clean, familiar and friendly place! The hosts, Mgeni and Bunda are extremely available and friendly and made our stay great! Initially we were supposed to stay only two nights but then we decided to extend our stay. ||The room is big and clean with a comfortable fan on the ceiling, the kitchen is free to use for the guests and there is a fresh and comfortable garden. A very nice beach is located only 5 minutes walking and the centre of Kilindoni is just 15 minutes walking. Around the house, there are many local shops and small restaurants; everything is 100% authentic and outside the touristic circuit. Mgeni offers a wide range of activities - inside and outside the marine park - at reasonable prices and is extremely available for any help or suggestion.||In addition - this was the best part - you can have a lovely dinner in the house prepared by the great chef Bunda: delightful and very cheap.||If you are looking for an authentic place, different from the anonymous and touristic resorts but with all the comforts, Mgeni Homestay is the...

I stayed in January 2023. Good price. Decent breakfast. Quiet location. Not much of a walk from the airport. Decent walk from the ferry pier though. This area is not in the national park, so you don't need to pay the daily fee. You can also walk down to the beach if you walk directly towards the beach from the hotel, and follow a path down the side of the bar -5-10 mins. The beach has some niceish spots at high tide but it is mostly mangroves and mud flats at low tide. Also in places you have to be careful sitting in the beach at night as you can get bitten by sand fleas. One foreigner had massive bites all along her legs. There are two local bars nearby the house and one had loud music until about 10pm one night I was there. Overall was a quiet comfortable stay. The are only about 4 rooms so it's not busy and you can get to know the other guests. There are usually very few foreigners on the island. When I was there I definitely stood out. It is hard to find decent places to eat in the town. The beach bungalow places generally have nicer restaurants. I didn't try the food at mgeni even though the...