What if we told you: Take off your shoes and learn to live off your own wit and skills!
Ah, we would be joking, but here you could learn how life would be without shoes! Oh, so comfortable! The sun, the crystal blue water, fishes and birds and a whole island to yourself, what else do we need in life?

And here your contribution has allowed us to keep a fantastic 11 km of intact coral reef.

Thousands of migrant birds that rest and feed, green turtles that lay their eggs, hundreds of dolphins that roam the seas as well as humpback whales that pass through in their migrations have given the community an alternative to consumptive utilization of the resources.

Nobody lives on Fanjove, except you and our dedicated staff, as we have rented the whole island from the near-by village of Songosongo and also contribute 3% of our income to the social development of the community. We are proud of our achievement and we want to keep doing better and better and keep the island natural so that we can all learn what life is all about!

You will fly to Songosongo island, and you will be able to explore the community life of the fishermen from the time “long ago”, and then you will have a short boat ride to Fanjove Private Island, accompanied by a pod of Bottle Nosed dolphins, if you are lucky.

Songo Songo Archipelago comprises a group of 5 islands and 20 patches of reefs, 140 kilometres south of Dar es Salaam. Approximately 40 kilometres of fringing reef protects the island and the patch reefs within from the full force of the open ocean. Songo Songo Archipelago is an extensive and varied coral reef habitat, with high coral cover and diversity, and an ecologically important area for nesting sea turtles and marine birds.

Fanjove is one of Songo Songo Archipelago’s Islands, touched by the warm and crystalline Indian Ocean’s waters: with a temperature that ranges between 26°C and 29°C, these waters are perfect habitat for a rich and colourful ecosystem.

Conservation of the reef:

together with the Songo Songo community, Fanjove Island planned a conservation project with a sustainable usage of the marine resources of Fanjove’s reef, in the attempt to reduce invasive fishing methods. Supporting the project of the creation of a BMU , Beach Management Unit, with SongoSongo community we are also raising awareness of alternative economics.

The project of conservation of the reef involves:

- closing of half of the coral reef to any consumptive fishing activities.

- donation of the 3% of our income of Fanjove Private Island to Songo Songo community for social development projects.

Fanjove Lighthouse

The lighthouse on Fanjove Island is one of the rare surviving 19th century buildings erected by the Germans in Tanzania.

Quick recommandation to our Guests:

• respect the Island wildlife, keeping a distance so as not to disturb;
• tap water is not drinkable; a flask of drinkable water is provided in the Banda and refilled daily;
• be sensitive on water consumption;
• cover against the sun:
• local hats are provided in the Banda;
• always have the sun cream with them;
• we advise to wear a t-shirt or a lycra suit while snorkeling;
• wear sandals when walking on the Island paths during the hottest time of the day. Be aware of the possible presence of sharp shells or thorns hidden in the sand;
• be careful to avoid injury when walking in shallow water: in the water in front of the dining area hidden in seaweeds there might be sea-urchins or sharp shelled mussels (called locally pangapanga). We advise to walk just on sandy substratum while in water.

Winds
Kaskazi: wind from north - from December to April
Kuzi: wind from south - from June to October

Diving and snorkeling will let you discover Fanjove underwater wildlife: a life endemic of the eastern Indian Ocean.

Groupers, Snappers, Sweetlips, black Trigger, Butterflyfish, Parrotfish, Unicornfish, Moorish idol, Pufferfish, Angelfish, Clownfish, Scorpionfish, Lionfish and Barracuda. Passage of pelagic is very common to observe.

Hawksbill and Green Turtles are present.

Depending on your luck, a school of a hundred of Spinner dolphins can be spotted in the surroundings of the Island.

But life in Fanjove is not just restricted to the world below the surface:

Crabs

The Island hosts a small but still vital population of Coconut Crabs, Birgus latro: the biggest terrestrial crab on earth, fascinating for its feeding habit on coconuts. Our aim is to protect them as they disappeared from most of East African Islands due to their conservation being under threat.

Be amazed at night by the crowd of hermit crabs will walk on the island: an alive and mobile collections of shells!!

Birds

Weavers, egrets and herons are resident on the island, visible all year around. Egrets and Herons have the exclusive use of a small cliff island north-east: where they nest and spend the night.

For other species Fanjove represents an essential retreat to recover energies during long migrations: some of them will spend few days on it; others, in big numbers, will spend the whole wet season. Seashore birds such as coconut plovers, whimbrels, ruddy turnstones, grey plovers, Terek sandplover (just to mention few) will feed in low tide and will rest on the beach in high tide: we ask you to respect their right to be on the island: a peaceful cohabitation is possible!

Butterflies

An incredible number of butterflies appears magically from January and colours the Island: common diadems, painted ladies, acrea sp., common leopards, yellow pansy, vagrants and orange tips just to mention some.

Seasonal events

Humpback Whales passage: from May to October.

Turtles eggs hatches: they occur between April and July. Green Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle are both present. Fanjove staff have been trained by SeaSense organization: every nest receives the right protection and data is recorded in order to monitor the condition and development of the eggs (www.seasense.org).

Since 2012 Fanjove staff recorded more than 600 eggs hatched successfully.

Fanjove’s beaches provide ideal nesting conditions with steeply sloping beaches bordered by grasses and scrub-like vegetation. On other Songo Songo  Archipelago’s islands turtles are no longer nesting due to the presence of permanent settlements.  The conservation of Fanjove as a nesting destination for turtles becomes essential.

Vegetation

Mainly covered by autochthon bushes, the island offers some interesting trees, most of them not indigenous. Some were probably planted centuries ago, for instance the casuarinas, and some arrived to the Island very recently, as the coconut palms. Palms have been planted from 1962 covering the main southern – eastern part of the island, in sandy soil.

The casuarinas were introduced mainly for firewood, other plants were imported for their medical and nourishing use.

Worth mentioning the beautiful Fig, on the path behind the Light House and the mangrove stand in the centre of the Island within a sea water basin connected to the sea by a subterranean tunnel.