Matemwe Retreat

Mirroring the pale beaches and turquoise ocean, the Retreat’s 4 villas beautifully reflect their surroundings, blending tasteful modern elements with traditional Zanzibari features. Each villa features a spacious and airy double bedroom, an en suite bathroom with a sunken bath, shower and double basins, and a private bar area. Your outdoor lounge will let you make the most of the tropical environment and cool sea breeze. From your rooftop deck you can bask in the scenic views of the coast and cool off from the day’s heat in your sparkling blue plunge pool.

Enjoy a delicious blend of gourmet-style cooking and traditional Zanzibari cuisine, all sourced locally and ethically. With your own personal chef you can arrange your menu each day and decide where you’d like to dine. Packed lunches can be prepared if you’re planning a trip out. You can also visit the restaurant at Matemwe Lodge if you’re fancying a bit of a change of scene.

There are lots of fun things to do while staying at Matemwe Retreat to make the most out of your time in Zanzibar. Do as much or as little as you like! Being by the coast means you can dive in with a great selection of marine-based activities such as boat trips, kayaking, diving and snorkelling. Mnemba Island and its renowned coral reef is just a 30 boat ride away and offers some of the best snorkelling and diving experiences in the world. You can talk reef walk where you can learn about the marine life of Zanzibar’s north east coast, or on a cultural tour to the historic Stone Town or Prison Island. Then, of course, the pool and the beach are always there for a lazy day!

Asilia understands that nature and humans are inseparable partners. They endeavour to support local areas, projects and communities through revenue and awareness created through tourism. Every year Asilia releases a report on the Positive Impact projects to show how these efforts have come to fruition and made real changes. Over 2018 and 2019, Positive Impact made contributions to:

• Offsetting 1,505 tonnes of CO2
• 44 scholarships
• Chimpanzee Habitation protection
• Community and Conservation projects
• Training local staff
• Developing economies

Asilia’s Twende Porini programme welcomes children from local communities so they can get a taste of what a safari is all about and learn the importance of conserving natural environments and wildlife. Most of the children live near conservation areas but don’t fully understand why tourists travel from all over the world to see the animals that they see practically daily. Safari favourites such as lions, buffalo and elephants can actually be very serious threats to local villages. By taking children on safari they get to see the animals in their natural state and can learn the importance of each animal in the ecosystem.

The population of lions in Africa has decreased by around 50% in the last 25 years as a result of factors like human-lion conflict, bushmeat poaching, and habitat loss. The Lionscape Coalition was formed in 2019 by the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) for the benefit of lion populations and local businesses. Through the initiative, Africa’s top tourism operators can take a more active role ‘to support on-the-ground conservation work and encourage clients to support the future of lions’. The goal of the Lionscape Coalition is not only to protect lion populations but to also raise awareness of the role lions play in ecosystems and the suffering they’ve experienced as a species.

In 2010, the Serengeti Lion Project (SLP) expanded from the south-eastern Serengeti to work on lion conservation in the parts of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) inhabited by Maasai people. Coexistence has often been difficult as lions will disturb and attack Maasai herds, and the Maasai will retaliate by killing lions. Growth in human populations has also created a barrier for the lions in the area, meaning that they have become isolated and increasingly inbred. The NCA hopes to foster coexistence between lion and human populations and to help enable this they have launched a large water project. Competition over water sources is often what brings herds and wild animals into close contact and creates conflict. By removing this competition, therefore, human-wildlife conflict will be reduced.

Due to the loss of natural habitats and other factors, population of lions have been declining and remain under threat. The Tarangire Lion Project (TLP) has been working to monitor lion prides, mitigate human-wildlife conflict, and to educate and raise awareness about lion conservation among local communities. Asilia supports the TLP, helping to provide equipment for tracking and monitoring lions, staff operations and training. By keeping track of the lion prides the TLP can implement the most effective conservation strategies, especially in the long-term. They are also working with local communities to set up predator-proof bomas so that livestock herds are protected and there is much less retaliation against lion populations.

The grasslands of the Maasai Steppe’s Simanjiro Plains, on the outskirts of the Tarangire National Park, are crucial grazing areas for both wildlife and for the cattle herds belonging to the local Maasai. Factors such as hunting, farming and human population growth have infringed on the balance of grassland available for both pastoral herds and wildlife. In 2004, a group of tourist operators with concerns for the integrity of the ecosystem enlisted the help of the Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) to help them engage with Simanjiro villages. The easements resulted from several agreements to keep large parts of land unfarmed so that there are areas where wildlife can graze safely and undisturbed.

The Southern Tanzania Elephant Project (STEP) is an elephant conservation programme that aims to conserve elephant populations and habitats, and to enhance human-elephant coexistence. Their 3 main initiatives are:

• Monitoring and research – mapping elephant distributions and trends, expanding elephant databases and evaluating effects of poaching to inform management and policy decisions
• Protection – defending elephants against ivory poaching through aerial surveillance, ranger patrols and law enforcement
• Human-elephant coexistence – working with farmers/landowners to reduce damage done by elephants, helping to diversify livelihoods not dependent on farming, working with local authorities to show what drives human-elephant conflict and help resolve it, and helping facilitate safe elephant migration routes

Established over 30 years ago by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), this project monitors ant changes in the birth and survival rates of cheetahs. With approximately 210 cheetahs in the ecosystem, the research done ‘provides invaluable insight into the challenges facing cheetah’ populations and makes huge contributions to planning out conservation strategies that will benefit them. Pictures of cheetahs taken by guests staying at one of Asilia’s camps can directly help the project because it helps them keep track of cheetahs in the area.

The Honeyguide Foundation is committed to empowering local communities so they can shape their futures and runs ‘community-based conservation initiatives across nearly 1.2 million acres of wilderness in Tanzania’. These initiatives have 5 key areas – enterprise development, management and governance, communications, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and wildlife and habitat protection. Asilia supports 2 of their projects, the K9 Unit and the Chimpanzee Habituation Project.

Honeyguide established the K9 Unit in October 2011 to provide operational assistance to anti-poaching teams and in every area where dogs were used elephant poaching decreased dramatically. A K9 Unit was allocated to the Kilimanjaro region and within 2 years, all elephant poaching ceased. The Chimpanzee Habituation Project was first created by Professor Bernhard Grzimek of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, who released rescued chimpanzees onto Rubondo Island. The project hopes to introduce the chimpanzees to a human presence in a non-threatening way as they are fully habituated into the area.

Each year, Asilia identifies students who have incredible potential but whose families would not be able to afford supporting them through higher education and provides them with funding for a scholarship. Assistance is given for courses that fall under tourism and teacher-training, and job opportunities are provided on completion of study.

At the heart of Asilia’s goals is to create a positive and lasting impact on the places they operate. They have been the largest local employer in Matemwe for the past two decades and had lots of involvement in community development projects. Their Matemwe properties support the local economy by sourcing food and resources from the community. Funding is given to the local school and for scholarships for promising students.