For guests on Mnemba, time is measured in moments, not minutes. Yet for the island itself, the sands of time march on and conservation efforts are critical to preserving this paradise.
Sands of time
Mnemba Island’s nautilus-inspired transformation honours nature, time and barefoot luxury…
Zanzibar is a postcard-perfect archipelago of 55 tropical islands in the West Indian Ocean. Among them, &Beyond Mnemba (Swahili for the head of an octopus), is a heart-shaped private island so small and intimate, you can walk its circumference in just 20 minutes. As romantic as it is luxurious, this island nirvana is rustic and natural, blending barefoot simplicity with understated indulgence. With no windows or doors, there are no shoes required, no schedule, and indeed no worries. “Hamna haraka,” the butlers say, “no hurry”—this is island time.
An Uber, three flights, road transfer and boat ride later, I couldn’t wait to feel Mnemba’s sand between my toes again. Timed with the grand reopening of &Beyond Mnemba Island Lodge after its nearly USD 6 million rebuild, my return to this exclusive island would reveal just how beautifully it has stood the test of time. But how does one improve on perfection, especially when it comes to paradise? Mnemba’s rebuild proves that even the most exquisite can be reimagined; just as Mother Nature evolves, so too has the lodge, while forever retaining its unhurried, unpretentious island vibe.
The goal of the rebuild was to breathe new life into the lodge without disturbing its rare essence and indescribable magic. The idea was not to alter Mnemba’s beauty, but to enhance it. So, it was only fitting that this reimagining was orchestrated by award-winning designers Fox Browne Creative and Nicholas Plewman Architects, the same duo that rebuilt the original lodge in 2002.
Their vision focused on the natural rhythms, ethereal beauty and fragility of this iconic island, and paid homage to the nautilus shell, which instinctively became the creative inspiration behind the rebuild. The nautilus is an ancient pelagic marine mollusc and one of nature’s most talented architects. Largely unchanged over the past 150 million years, the nautilus is among the oldest creatures known to exist in our oceans. Its shell is a captivating natural example of a logarithmic spiral with a delicate symmetry that mirrors the timeless beauty of nature and the continuous flow of evolution.
The perfect muse for the reimagining of Mnemba Island Lodge, the nautilus symbolises moving forward, while honouring the past. It’s Mother Nature’s living metaphor for the sands of time.
Flawless perfection and natural beauty
Drawing on the quiet wisdom of this ancient sea creature, the rebuild has created a space where beauty unfolds in spirals. The guest areas, guest bandas (suites), and private beach salas have all been reconstructed with a curvilinear shape and flow. These curved spaces, right down to the spiral motifs in their Swahili carvings, all mimic the gentle spiral of the nautilus shell.
Just as the shell possesses inner and outer chambers, so too do the guest areas and bandas. The spacious sitting and split-level dining areas, and the new bar, form the gently curved entrance to the main guest area, with a romantic dining courtyard discretely tucked behind the spiral. The same goes for the bandas, with each one boasting a spacious veranda, with curved white couches, positioned at the broader part of the ‘shell’ or banda, yet tucked away for forested privacy.
Each banda’s elegant open-air bathroom curves back onto itself, like the inner chambers of the nautilus shell, ensuring privacy, while also remaining connected to nature. The delicate glass beaded shower curtains have been retained as the focal point, with the addition of weathered brass light fittings and tapware and scalloped shell-like marble basins.
Refreshingly minimalist in its design and hue, Mnemba’s gentle colour palette echoes the serenity of its shores. A beachy white colour scheme dominates, with sandy undertones and delicate hints of dusty coral rose and aquamarine. Together, these natural tones resemble the opalescence of the nautilus shell.
Mnemba Island Lodge has never attempted to outshine its surroundings; instead, it blends naturally with the forest and seascape. This is not your crystal chandelier and gold-plated taps type of luxury. It’s more of a ‘Robinson Crusoe meets a touch of Vogue’ kind of understated, natural luxury. The rustic-luxe aesthetic is as beachy and breezy, as it is feminine and ethereal. There are no windows, doors or aircon, but the tropical beach breeze and surround-sound of lapping waves are ever-present. You’ll likely spot a tiny crab scuttling across the floor or a suni grazing outside your banda. That’s the kind of open-air luxury that makes Mnemba so special. The rebuild has simply breathed new life and beauty into a place that seemed beyond improvement.
Eternal cycles repeated in nature
The symmetric spiral on the nautilus shell represents the continuous cycles in nature that perpetuate on Mnemba. Like the time and tides, there’s the constant ebb and flow of the waves and the rising and setting of the sun. From the seasons and sunlight to the moon and monsoon, there is a continuous, natural rhythm as old as time. Humpback whales repeat their migratory patterns and green sea turtles navigate the moon and tides, instinctively using the Earth’s magnetic fields to return to their exact birthplace to lay their eggs on Mnemba’s shores.
Mnemba is one of the last remaining protected turtle nesting sites in Zanzibar and its successful nest monitoring programme now spans over two decades. It is one of the longest, continuous turtle nest monitoring programmes in the Western Indian Ocean and provides crucial insight into the endangered species. Mnemba’s research reveals a natural rhythm in turtle movements, with a nesting spike occurring on the island every four years. Last year’s spike resulted in 28 nests and 1,211 hatchlings, though it’s estimated that only one in 1,000 make it to adulthood.
Mnemba is also a protected breeding ground for one of Africa’s rarest antelopes, the Aders’ duiker. With only an estimated 600-700 left in the wild, this successful breeding programme is another island cycle that is establishing healthy populations of Aders’ duiker and suni antelope. With no natural predators and an abundance of food, the antelopes are thriving in their island paradise. Since 2005, as the Mnemba populations grow, individuals are periodically translocated to Zanzibar’s Jozini Forest and surrounds. Mnemba is currently home to approximately 24 Aders’ duiker and 30 suni.
Resilient growth, adaptation and evolution
Just as the lodge has been gradually adapted over time, the island and its surrounding marine environment are also continually evolving, making conservation efforts— both on land and at sea—critical to the island’s preservation.
Mnemba is not a static island; it is forever changing shape and position due to shifting winds, waves and currents. Mature trees at the island’s core serve as an anchor, while its sands are forever shifting. This movement has its consequences, making conservation practices crucial for the island to remain resilient and adaptive to change, just as the evolving shell of the nautilus grows by adding chambers.
Research indicated that Mnemba’s southeastern shoreline was eroding at 6.3 m a year, which accelerated suddenly and exponentially to 2 m a month due to rising sea levels. To combat this rapid destruction, a massive erosion wall—a six-month, USD 1.2 million conservation initiative—had to be constructed.
Adding to the compounding island erosion, Mnemba’s invasive casuarina pine forest was expanding at 3.3 m a year. As the forest expands and trees overtake each other, some lose their ability to anchor and get washed away in the currents, which is why Mnemba’s southeastern shoreline had become overrun with a long, tangled stretch of fallen trees.
When the island closed for the rebuild, this colossal conservation project could commence simultaneously. To construct the erosion wall, first, the fallen wood had to be removed, which required government permits, chainsaws, excavators and seriously hard labour. Some of the wood was repurposed for the new lodge, while the majority was donated to nearby communities. Four thousand seedlings were then planted on the island to start the gentle reintroduction of indigenous plant species to Mnemba’s dense forest.
Once the eroding shoreline had been cleared, 1,200 UV- and salt-resistant sandbags (each measuring 2 m by 2 m and weighing 2 tonnes) were piled 4 m high to form a protective erosion wall along a 600-m stretch of precious shoreline. A mammoth project, implemented in the nick of time.
Restored life through cultivation
Dovetailing the necessary above-ground conservation work happening on the island, the Oceans Without Borders Mnemba Island Community & Conservation team has been hard at work underwater with a coral restoration project of hope. With countless contributing factors—from overfishing and overtourism to pollution and microplastics—destroying the reefs, coupled with tropical cyclones, global bleaching events and the cyclical El Niño/La Niña weather patterns, Mnemba’s coral nursery project was started in 2021. The aim of this living laboratory is to foster resilience and rebirth on Mnemba’s reefs, through the careful cultivation of coral fragments, which are then either transplanted to artificial reefs or used to form micro-colonies on degraded sections of Mnemba’s reefs.
Among the team of five, Haji Ali explains the project’s victories and learnings, and touches on some of the heartbreaking setbacks they’ve faced, including the vandalisation of one of the artificial reef structures, as well as a massive bleaching event in 2024 that destroyed more than 80% of the coral farm and artificial reefs.
When the project started, Haji and his team were met with scepticism from the local communities. “We were told it’s impossible to grow coral,” he recalls. “They said it was God’s work—that stones can’t grow.” However, once the coral did in fact start to grow, so too did community support, with some fishermen even expressing an interest in starting their own coral farms. “I can say I’m a coral doctor,” Haji beams, and you can’t help but catch a ray of hope from his radiant smile.
Like the sands of time, the cycles of nature—both good and bad—on Mnemba Island shall continue. And so, too, will the many conservation efforts aimed at ensuring this exquisite island and its marine ecosystem are constantly being restored to their natural state.
Stepping back onto the boat for the all-too-soon island departure, yet another cycle draws to a close. This one, the begrudging return of shoes to the feet and island memories etched to memory. As the Mnemba family waves goodbye, you cling to the hope that you’ll soon return to start the cycle all over again. Tutaonana tena, until we meet again.
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