Chole Mjini has six tree-houses set high up in baobab trees and made from mangrove wood, as well as one ground-level suite. Links at the bottom of the page will take you to pages with more details of the individual houses, with a few pictures of each.

Meanwhile, although these tree-houses are all laid out differently, they all share many similarities. All were built by the villagers of Chole from natural materials. These skilled craftsmen make sea-faring dhows entirely by hand – so their woodwork is simply outstanding. All the tree-houses are accessed up wooden staircases, which usually lead into the main bedroom.

The smooth wooden floors used in all of them are dotted with colourful makuti mats made by the local women, and brightly-coloured fabrics adorn the huge double beds, which are swathed in large, walk-in mosquito nets.

All the tree-houses are open on all four sides – there are waist-high wooden railings all around, and curtains can be pulled around all sides of your tree-house for increased privacy. That said, all the rooms are fairly widely spaced and cleverly angled so that you can seldom even see a neighbour's tree-house; so privacy is seldom an issue.

Most of the tree-houses command wonderful views through the trees, out to the sea beyond. They have high thatched roofs, and two of them have another, smaller, “tea-house” floor upstairs. These are ideal for families, as twin beds can be made up there for children.

Storage space for clothes is built-in, with sturdy poles and rope made from coconut fibre. This provides quirky yet very practical storage for your personal items. Each tree house also has a useful, large lock-box for any valuables.

Each of the tree-houses at Chole Mjini has its own private shower and toilet, which are down the stairs, on the ground level.

The shower has its own large enclosure, walled by a palm-leaf screen, and is very quirky – but we wouldn't expect anything less from Chole Mjini! For hot water you first need to light a little paraffin burner – which has an ingenious way of heating the water up. In a matter of seconds, you have a lovely hot shower, which lasts as long as you want it to! This is a particularly clever piece of 'intermediate technology'; it works really well, and is very environmentally sound!

The toilet for each tree-house at Chole is set in its own room. It is a long-drop compost toilet – however these are always incredibly clean and even have seats crafted out of wood.

(Note that the ground-house, #6, is different, in having a flushing toilet on the same ground level – it's part of the main house.)

Click here to return to the main page on Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No1 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No2 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No3 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No4 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No5 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No6 - Ground-house at Chole Mjini Lodge
Or for the No7 - Tree-house at Chole Mjini Lodge


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