The Featured Article: The Best Places to Go in Africa in 2025
East African beaches are some of the best on earth. However, there are few private islands. Which is, in part, why &Beyond’s Mnemba, a tiny blob of white sand almost two miles off the touristy hot spot of Zanzibar, The resort has been so loved for so long. This 12-banda resort, which was built in 2024 with the help of the renowned Fox Browne design team and architect Jack Alexander, is more charming than ever. Designed to mimic the curves of a nautilus shell, and to bring nature indoors, the rooms are curvaceous, wood-and-reed-clad Robinson Crusoe–esque spaces in which sea air (and an occasional bird, crab, or bat) can waft in and where shower views are of shady forest and chirruping seabirds. Seclusionists as well as socialites love it. For those who prefer privacy, they can ask their butler to come and deliver a cooler coconut or a basket of fresh sushi. Others might slip on a silk caftan and stroll barefoot along the blinding white sand to the bar for a Dawa lime cocktail or a glass of fine South African wine, then a romantic lamplit dinner on the beach—lobster ravioli, perhaps, or rare Kenyan beef followed by a chocolate tart or mango sorbet. A boutique offers colorful jewelry, clothing and crafts from the local area. For the more active, there is a group of smiling chaps who will help you dive or explore the famous reefs in the area on kayaks, paddleboards or catamarans. At the island’s new spa, yoga lessons are offered on a cool, breezy beach deck, and world-class Healing Earth–scented massages administered by the island’s talented, intuitive therapists. Huge numbers of guests are repeat visitors—from America, France, Switzerland, and the UK. A glam-couple on their eighth trip said, “We’ve travelled the world but haven’t seen anything that compares.” So we just keep coming back. Yes, this is a real treat. “But there’s no place like Mnemba.” —L.G.
