Exciting times

So much happening it's hard to know where to start! We've got Wedding's booked; so lovely, the person booking came here last year for her birthday loved Ras Mbisi and has decided she wants to get married here, so that's a full house at the end of February for 4 nights. She wants a simple elegant theme with drift wood, and only off-white, pale green and chocolate brown for her colour theme.

Lots of other stuff too, editorials in major UK magazines, one due out early next month. I'm doing a couple of guest blogs elsewhere (will post details here once they are up) and a couple of bloggers writing about us on their blogs (again will post details once they are up). Add to that some fab tripadvisor reviews and I'm having a pretty good month.

Looking forward; World Travel Market (WTM) at ExCel in early November, will be good to catch up with the operators that do so much to encourage people to visit Mafia, I have some amazing material for them this year, including 'the film' which I will be handing out on DVD. Looking forward to catching up with friends and family too, not to mention my new 'friends' who thus far I have only 'met' virtually - yes @exmoorjane i'm talking to you!!

Early start

Roused even earlier than normal this morning, and not by a little voice calling 'mama' ever more urgently. This morning it was our regular fisherman with a massive haul of tuna, kingfish, snapper and grouper. So, sashimi for bar snacks tonight, and I think some spicy tuni maki rolls as well. We are so lucky with all the fresh produce here, our own eggs - which have the most orangey yolks I have ever seen, people coming from safari or even just other lodges are always amazed as the typical egg served here in Tanzania has a yolk so pale it is barely distinguishable from the white! Vegetables straight from the garden, not all admittedly as many things simply will not grow and after more than 4 years experimenting I now go with what I know will grow, we do bring in a small amount from Dar es Salaam but we certainly haven't gone the route I have heard others boasting about and flown them in from Kenya! Tanzania grows amazing vegetables why not eat them! All this freshness means our menus are full to bursting with new ideas every day, I have never managed to do the rotation menu here, every morning we design the days menus with whatever is good and fresh that day - it can be a bit 'fly by the seat of your pants' at times!

Support us?!

It's hard work keeping up an internet presence, someone commented to me the other day, she wanted to know how I found the time. The truth is, at the moment I barely do. The business has only been up and running for just over 2 years and we are still at the point where we do pretty much everything. We do need to change this as we are both being stretched too thin and new projects are also on the boil. But we do appreciate all the support we're getting from friends, family and our lovely, lovely guests, it's what keeps us going, especially when we've just completed another 20 hour day and the baby will be awake in under 3 hours!



Want to support us? Ras Mbisi is active in the following places http://www.twitter.com/ as @RasMbisi so do follow, on http://www.facebook.com/ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8953691954 so please join, on http://www.flickr.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/47145710@N03/ do view, new photos being added. Those of you that have visited can show support by placing a review on http://www.tripadvisor.com/ http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g317083-d672607-Reviews-Ras_Mbisi_Lodge-Mafia_Island.html