Kate and Simon, London UK

Men's Health Best Life magazine

From	To	Description	Price per room/night	Booking
04-Nov-2009	31-Dec-2012	Beach Chalet - from $515 Please note rates are quoted in USD and are all inclusive of accommodation, all meals, house wines and local brand drinks, laundry, non-motorised watersports and marine reserve fees.	£332.23 what's included? Kind Points:74
Included in the price: Accommodation

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Medjume Island is perfect for diving. The coral reefs surrounding the Island of Medjumbe are one of Mozambique's best-kept secrets. Bordered to the east by the coastline of Northern Mozambique and to the west by the Mozambique Channel, these waters hold an astounding diversity of marine species and are all within close proximity to the resort. Dolphins are often encountered around the Island and on journeys to and from the dive sites. Humpback Whales on their annual migration are frequently sighted between August and October.

In choosing a holiday with Rani Resorts, you can rest assured that you are also doing good. In every area that we operate in, our tourism operations support a wide range of community development projects. Furthermore, our tourism activities are designed to make a deep and enduring commitment to our natural environment. So no matter how self-indulgent you feel, your holiday is helping us to make Africa a better place - for its environment, its wildlife and its people.
At Rani, we are committed to ensuring that our operations are sensitive to the needs of surrounding communities. Around most of our establishments we have implemented specific social and economic programmes in order to make a real difference to the communities.

On Bazaruto and Matemo Islands we have built community centres, implemented AIDS and malaria prevention programmes, provided transport facilities and access to water for local islanders and stimulated the establishment of community market gardens in order to supply fresh produce to our lodges. We also focus on the education and training needs of local people and have helped with the building of local schools, as well as initiating adult literacy and capacity building programmes.

At all of our resorts, we encourage respect for local cultures and welcome our guests to visit local villages in a culturally sensitive way. By organizing cultural tours and promoting the manufacture of local crafts, we are not only generating revenue for the islanders but promoting pride in their culture and heritage. In support of the local faith on Matemo Island, we have built two mosques to serve the needs of the islanders and we sponsor individuals from around Matemo and Medjumbe to travel to Mecca each year.

We work actively to conserve the integrity and bio-diversity of the natural environment. Not only do we liaise with government authorities to ensure sound conservation practices, but we provide environmental education and encourage the sustainable use of natural resources around us.

Our wildlife and marine destinations offer close-up viewing of many animals, birds and marine species that is unrivalled almost anywhere else on earth. Most of our properties are set within proclaimed parks, such as the Victoria Falls and Niassa Game Reserves and the Bazaruto and Quirimbas Marine National Parks. We help actively to protect the flagship species that occur here - species such as the endangered black rhino and African wild dog, the near-extinct Dugong sea mammal, four different species of marine turtle and dolphin, as well as whale sharks, Southern Right, Minke and Humpback whales. The presence of these species acts as a flag for the health of the natural environment and we take care to ensure that the overall bio-diversity is kept intact.

Around many of our properties, we have implemented conservation programmes in conjunction with Government, wildlife authorities and NGOs. On Bazaruto Island, we formed such a partnership to conserve the local ecosystem and we assist by providing National Park staff with transport, communication and health care facilities. On Matemo and Medjumbe Islands we monitor the location of turtle nesting sites, teach the importance of conserving local marine life and work with the authorities to counter illegal fishing activities. We also implement a strict tag and release policy for all of our fishing activities and actively support the tagging programme, from Durban's Oceanographic Institute (ORI).

In the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve we run the Wisdom 4 Wildlife programme in conjunction with Shearwater Adventures and the reserve's safari guides. This involves local school-pupils interacting with wildlife, learning to identify flora and fauna and taking away important conservation messages. We have also been involved here in the re-introduction of endangered black rhino and in 2006 four rhino were relocated into the Victoria Falls Reserve after an absence of nearly 50 years.