In this article, we will show you this unique and natural barefoot luxurious sanctuary located in Mozambique, the Kisawa Sanctuary that promises to delight the guests.
Benguerra Island in Mozambique is the center of multiple natural gems: Virgin shorelines, freshwater lakes, savannah and forest, tropical flora and fauna, and, for sure, spectacular dive sites, and these are just some of the examples. There is the stage for a place that combines all of them, Kisawa Sanctuary which is the nature jackpot.
Mozambique Kisawa ‘s exterior
The 300-hectare beachfront resort is designed and owned by Nina Flohr of NJF Designs and offers a complete experience of the island’s coastal forest, with 22 bungalows spread across 12 cove-side and oceanside residences. This is the ultimate tropical hideaway for vacations, retreats, and researchers – it supports marine research and conservation for Scientific Studies – Africa’s first permanent ocean observatory via its sister property Bazaruto Center.
This place is simply magical combining land, life, people, and the place itself which is not static and is always evolving. Nina built it paying extreme attention to the island’s topography and blending the space respectfully with the environment, including the trees, sand, and ocean making it hard to say where one starts and the other ends. Indeed, the whole structure was built having the concepts of sustainability and native craftsmanship in consideration, one of the things that make this place beautifully unique.
During the process of putting the buildings up, the property owner had extreme attention and support herself on conscious construction methodologies that reduce environmental impact. For instance, on the estimated cement usage. It has declined by up to 60% thanks to the concrete-free foundations that employed Sudpave technology – which is known by uses recycled and non-toxic paving materials to construct the entire road system.
Surprisingly, 80% of Nina’s workforce are artisans, half of them women, from Benguerra and nearby islands making Kiwasa almost like a “family” effort of love and tribute to the mother-nature. There are native finishes everywhere from the vernacular finishes and thatched roofs to the traditional handwoven baskets. Can be spotted at the sliding door panels where grasses are put up by master weavers, but also in the artisan-made chairs and tables made of local jambir and sambiri wood.
Mozambique Kisawa ‘s interior:
All statues and most of the home decor accessories were created by Kisawas’s in-house craftsman, Andre Antonio Zivane. who used offcuts leftover from the overall sanctuary’s structure construction. The designer highlights the plucky army of sculptures that goes from miniature to oversized that guard the property.
The exterior and the interior match perfectly to that barefoot bonfires by the sea. The handcrafted scriptures, art, antiques, and bespoke furniture all are sourced from across Africa ensuring the preservation of identity.
The representation is evident: from clay water pots made by the Nupe tribe in Nigeria to the chairs hand-carved by the Makonde people of Tanzania. It also counts with antiques and artworks from Senegal and Ghana, to brass bedside lamps and marble tables galore.
The project is so naturally national that almost seems like the entire continent had devoted themselves to achieving it with the best handiworks, all of them placed at the same time and place. The fact that most of the decor elements placed in Kisawa were hand-made guaranteed that no two rooms are exactly the same and each of them has its own personality, its own little jewel box of color, furniture, artworks, and antiques.
GLAD YOU’RE HERE
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