Vlad, OK2WX will be active as 5H1WX from Mafia Island, IOTA AF - 054, Tanzania, 18 September - 6 October 2024.
He will operate on 80 - 10m, CW, SSB, Digital Modes.
Recent DX Spots 5H1WX
5H1WX Log search QSL via I8KHC.
Ads for direct QSL:
Antonio Cannataro, Via Don Minzoni 18, Marano Marchesato, (CS), 87040, Italy.
Mafia Island IOTA AF-054 last time activated in 2019.
5H1WX Mafia Island QSL Card.
Mafia Island: when a frightening name 100% deceives expectations
In the treacherous for sailors, but very warm Indian Ocean, where the closest (160 kilometers!) stretched the southern edge of the archipelago of Zanzibar and the coast of Tanzania, cozily so nestled island with a grim name "Mafia". Actually, on this piece of land with an area of a little more than half a thousand square kilometers (to be exact, 518!), there are no more criminally minded communities than in any other place in Tanzania.
Mafia Island, Tanzania. Author - Michael Jeddah.
"What is in my name?" - the mystery of the intriguing title
In the instantly "inflamed" by the formidable name of the unsophisticated brain immediately begin, one after another, to arise unkind associations with bloody clans from Italy, such as Cosa Nostra and similar families. However, the reality does not correspond to violent fantasies inspired by memories of mafiosi.
The fact is that "Mafia" - is a literal translation, we can say - transcription - of the English "Mafia Island", and it is with a secret! The origin of the name "Mafia" has two equally realistic legends.
According to one, the word came from the Arabic "morfiyeh", banally translated as "archipelago". This is what the island is!
According to the second version, the English-language "Mafia" was taken from the consonant "mahali pa afia". Translated from Swahili, "mahali pa afia" means beautiful things: "land of health", "land of healing", "revitalizing land". Well, it is indeed possible to improve your health on Mafia!
That said, it is reliably known that the very first name of the island is not in English, and certainly not in Italian. The ancient "Chole Shamba", which we call "healing land", is the language of the Swahili people, the largest in number of speakers on the Arican continent. It is in the old Bantu language, Swahili, that the numerous tribes and ethnic groups of Africa communicate with each other.
5H1WX. Mafia Island Logo.
A little bit of history
Judging by the surviving archaeological finds of the 21st century (shards of oriental pottery), life, as they call it, was booming on Mafia in the 8th century AD. Due to its favorable geographical position, the island actively conducted trade operations with China.
The development of the economy quite naturally gave its fruits by strengthening the civilizational foundations: starting from the 12th century, the cultural center of Shiraz (Persia) settled on Mafia. The center, moved from Mafia to Juani until the beginning of the century before last, had a terrible end: the scientists were exterminated by a tribe of canibals from Madagascar
At the end of the 19th century (1890), Mafia was occupied by the Germans, who were replaced in World War I by the British, who built their military base on the island.
Mafia Island, Tanzania. Author - booniekathrin.
"We recognize heroes by sight!" - some interesting facts about the island
Shrouded in mystery and mysticism, the island is believed to be one of the ten similarly mysterious regions that exist on the globe! Officially, such an honorable status was given to the Mafia by a newspaper from England.
But if we put aside mysticism and be closer to the categories of tangible, Mafia is not any one, but a whole group of inhabited (Giuani, Chole, etc.) and deserted islands that make up an archipelago with one large island of the same name.
If you look at the archipelago from a high altitude, for example, from the porthole of an airplane, then under its wing will pass the land resembling the outline of a horse horseshoe. The natural size of this "horseshoe" is 394 square kilometers.
The horseshoe-shaped land is not the only thing the archipelago possesses! Around it splashes on the area of 822 square kilometers. turquoise salty waters of the reserve Mafia, with more than 400 species of tropical fish.
Mafia Island, Tanzania. Author - Mathias Möller.
"Nice to meet you!" - what kind of people live on Mafia
On an island that is not the largest in this part of the world, about four tens of thousands of fishermen and their families live a rural life and earn their livelihood in a peaceful occupation. But fishing (Jibondo fishermen hunt sharks) is not limited to the enterprising and hardworking islanders!
Coconut cultivation is well developed here: part of it is used for food, part - for ecologically clean and very strong fiber, by the way, the islanders make their own ropes, the old-fashioned way, by hand! The construction of fishing boats and sails to them is actively carried out, and tourist service is widespread everywhere.
So it is necessary to throw away unpleasant associations with the name - confusion, and hurry to the hospitable "Mafiosi" - this is an ideal place for a tropical vacation, where everyone is sincerely welcome!
"Revitalizing Land" - what to do to improve your health and delight your soul in Mafia
Once you fly or get here by sea, the marvelous nature of Mafia begins to have an amazingly beneficial effect on the body. The air and water here are really clean, not spoiled by man, which is so clear and transparent that it allows you to see fish and rich underwater world at a considerable depth.
By the way, thanks to the wonderful, year-round warm climate on Mafia is constantly open beach season. The beaches of the island are made of snow-white, purest sand, and the tides are practically not pronounced.
Something to delight your eyes and mind
Of course, looking at beautiful coral and bright, colorful edible and inedible tropical fish:
- flying fish;
- tuna;
- lucian;
- sharks;
- king;
- barracuda, etc.
Aquatic life around Mafia is plentiful! This is an Eden for those who appreciate first-class diving and underwater hunting! Corals are no less here: according to experts, nowhere in the world can you find such a colossal accumulation of soft and hard corals, as in the water area of Mafia.
On Mafia of coral even islands! For example, curious to consider Chole, suffered from the same insatiable cannibals, but "rose from the ashes" and turned into the administrative center of the Mafia archipelago.
Lovers of flora and fauna will not be bored on the island with a formidable name. The impression of baobabs, the trunks of which cannot be grasped by several people, is worth it! Or wild and garden fruit trees, in the crowns of which clouds of bats escape from the heat of the day.
If you want to see bigger animals, you should go to Juani, where giant tortoises roost on three sandy beaches.
