amanimaendeleo
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 29, 2015
- 251
- 75
While on a helicopter flight off the usual flight path to Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania, the tide was low and I spotted an unusually shaped formation in the water. The formation was quite far in the distance and I took a photograph and then blew it up as seen above. Geologically speaking Mafia Island is a sand island. There are no rocks in the area. Neither are there barrier reefs and the formation appeared highly unusual.
On a previous trip passing through the same area in 2001, by boat on route to free dive the north east side of the island, we saw reef in the water and stopped the boat. The visibility was very poor. I put my head over the side of the boat into the water and saw reef with little growth on it, but it looked to me like a wall. Not expecting a wall in the area we resumed the trip. With the memory of what looked like a wall and the image above, we decided to visit the area.
The area around the formation is fairly remote and difficult to access. Mafia Island is the southernmost and least known large island off the Tanzanian coast. It is some 48 km in length and 15 km in width. It has some fantastic world class scuba diving sites and you can read about diving on Mafia island here.
The name has no connection to anything Italian and the island was known to the Portuguese and British as Monfia in precolonial times. After Germany took control of the island under treaty in 1890, the spelling changed to Mafia Island. The original name is thought to originate from the Arabic word morfiyeh meaning group of islands.
There are known old ruins on Mafia Island in the south west point of the island, at Ras Kisimani, which date back at least to the 12th Century but possibly earlier. This settlement is assumed by most people to be a subsidiary of the famous much larger settlement at Kilwa which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
There are more ruins on Juani Island on the east coast which adjoins Mafia Island. These are known as Kua and the consensus seems to be that these are old Shirazi ruins. There are reports of Roman artifacts being discovered on Juani island.
There are further records of a Portuguese post on the west coast of Mafia Island. Marco Ramerini an expert on Portuguese settlements , did some research which revealed the following, from a manuscript written by Bocca in 1636.
“… nesta ilha (Monfia)…. o Capitao de Mombaça tem nella seu feitor e hum forte pequeno a borda da aguoa da banda de loeste onde, estando de guerra, asistem dez ou doze oldados portuguezes, que vao de Mombaça, con que se sustenta esta jurdicao que Sua Magestade tem nella. O dito forte nao he mais que hua caza sobradada de pedra e cal, sem outras armas mais que espingardas que levao os soldados, que pera a gente de terra sao bastante.”
Roughly translated this states that there was a small fort or factory very near the sea, on the west coast of Mafia island, manned by twelve Portuguese soldiers from Mombasa.
Carl Peters the German explorer visited Mafia Island in the early 1890’s and mapped the island. A copy of his map can be seen here and this map mentions the Portuguese fort as having been washed away by the sea. For several years we have been looking for the fort in this area without success.
Also in the vicinity but undiscovered is the legendary city of Rhapta , mentioned in chapter 16 of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea; dated to 50 AD; which describes Rhapta as the southern most trading post of Azania. A translation of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea can be seen here.
The city of Rhapta is also mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy the Greco-Egyptian writer, in his work ” Geography”. He recites an account of Diogenes, a seaman on the India trade, blown off course who visited Rhapta. There are also reportedly Roman accounts of Rhapta but these are difficult to trace. Various experts place Rhapta in many different areas of the Tanzanian coast and there seems little consensus at to where it was.
After several unsuccessful attempts to find the formations due to low water visibility, with the help of Athumani Bakari from Ras Mbizi Lodge, we managed to find them on a spring low tide. Logistically Ras Mbizi lodge is the closest geographical point with boats and dive equipment and the area is fairly remote.
These images were taken on the lowest spring tide of the year and what can be seen is usually underwater. The water temperatures have also been very high in the area resulting in bleaching of both hard and soft corals in the area. Bleached and dead soft corals can be seen in the images, on and alongside the blocks.
Underwater City off Mafia Island, Tanzania – Seaunseen
On a previous trip passing through the same area in 2001, by boat on route to free dive the north east side of the island, we saw reef in the water and stopped the boat. The visibility was very poor. I put my head over the side of the boat into the water and saw reef with little growth on it, but it looked to me like a wall. Not expecting a wall in the area we resumed the trip. With the memory of what looked like a wall and the image above, we decided to visit the area.
The area around the formation is fairly remote and difficult to access. Mafia Island is the southernmost and least known large island off the Tanzanian coast. It is some 48 km in length and 15 km in width. It has some fantastic world class scuba diving sites and you can read about diving on Mafia island here.
The name has no connection to anything Italian and the island was known to the Portuguese and British as Monfia in precolonial times. After Germany took control of the island under treaty in 1890, the spelling changed to Mafia Island. The original name is thought to originate from the Arabic word morfiyeh meaning group of islands.
There are known old ruins on Mafia Island in the south west point of the island, at Ras Kisimani, which date back at least to the 12th Century but possibly earlier. This settlement is assumed by most people to be a subsidiary of the famous much larger settlement at Kilwa which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
There are more ruins on Juani Island on the east coast which adjoins Mafia Island. These are known as Kua and the consensus seems to be that these are old Shirazi ruins. There are reports of Roman artifacts being discovered on Juani island.
There are further records of a Portuguese post on the west coast of Mafia Island. Marco Ramerini an expert on Portuguese settlements , did some research which revealed the following, from a manuscript written by Bocca in 1636.
“… nesta ilha (Monfia)…. o Capitao de Mombaça tem nella seu feitor e hum forte pequeno a borda da aguoa da banda de loeste onde, estando de guerra, asistem dez ou doze oldados portuguezes, que vao de Mombaça, con que se sustenta esta jurdicao que Sua Magestade tem nella. O dito forte nao he mais que hua caza sobradada de pedra e cal, sem outras armas mais que espingardas que levao os soldados, que pera a gente de terra sao bastante.”
Roughly translated this states that there was a small fort or factory very near the sea, on the west coast of Mafia island, manned by twelve Portuguese soldiers from Mombasa.
Carl Peters the German explorer visited Mafia Island in the early 1890’s and mapped the island. A copy of his map can be seen here and this map mentions the Portuguese fort as having been washed away by the sea. For several years we have been looking for the fort in this area without success.
Also in the vicinity but undiscovered is the legendary city of Rhapta , mentioned in chapter 16 of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea; dated to 50 AD; which describes Rhapta as the southern most trading post of Azania. A translation of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea can be seen here.
The city of Rhapta is also mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy the Greco-Egyptian writer, in his work ” Geography”. He recites an account of Diogenes, a seaman on the India trade, blown off course who visited Rhapta. There are also reportedly Roman accounts of Rhapta but these are difficult to trace. Various experts place Rhapta in many different areas of the Tanzanian coast and there seems little consensus at to where it was.
After several unsuccessful attempts to find the formations due to low water visibility, with the help of Athumani Bakari from Ras Mbizi Lodge, we managed to find them on a spring low tide. Logistically Ras Mbizi lodge is the closest geographical point with boats and dive equipment and the area is fairly remote.
These images were taken on the lowest spring tide of the year and what can be seen is usually underwater. The water temperatures have also been very high in the area resulting in bleaching of both hard and soft corals in the area. Bleached and dead soft corals can be seen in the images, on and alongside the blocks.
Underwater City off Mafia Island, Tanzania – Seaunseen
