Piece of private Eden in Kilindi Zanzibar

Paradise is when you get up from a four-post bed, pad barefoot across the room through the large doors that you left open at night to bring in the breeze, step into the expansive terrace, past your own private plunge pool and stand at the edge of this pavilion.

The sight before you will be an endless sea of sparkling blue, glittering in the beautiful morning sun. An unrelenting sea of blue, only broken by a series of small islands in the horizon and a few dhows sailing past soundlessly.

In the foreground, past the lush forest-y greenery will be a private white sandy beach which at the edge of the lagoon curves out with a few fishing dhows moored at the shore. It’s surreal this view, seeming like a figment of a painter’s wildly ambitious imagination.

You will have a coffee in your hand and will stand there, naked or clothed, doesn’t matter because your pavilion, like the 15 others in the 35-acre tropical garden, is private and set so far apart you sometimes will wonder if you have finally been left alone by the human race.

I have been privileged to visit numerous well-heeled and luxurious resorts in my job as a pseudo-travel writer but very few can hold a candle to Kilindi Zanzibar, under Elewana Collections who are known for their brand of luxury boutique hotels.

The hotel was designed for Benny Anderson – who you might know as one of the members of the 1970’s pop sensation ABBA.

The architecture of Zanzibar Kilindi is a whole different wonder; a mix between Scandinavian minimalism and Middle Eastern architecture which, if you want to know what it really means in simple terms, is that it’s a design that opens up and surrenders into nature wholeheartedly.

Because of the lovely view of the sea, the designers have not wasted any chance to show off this vista through their work, so you have lots of large open windows, doors and spaces that yawn into this view.

The suites that they call pavilions are marked by white wooden shutters and wide-arched glassless windows. The bathrooms are massive – big enough to have a game of table tennis in with a massive “rainfall” shower dropping from a four-metre rope over a wooden pentagon showering area.

There are no windows in the bathroom; rather there are open spaces in the all-white walls that count for windows and which ensure that as you bath, you will not miss the magnificent view of the sea.

The whole essence of Zanzibar Kilindi is the privacy.

Which is why your pavilion has its own private tropical gardens served by your own private butler Which basically means that you get to choose what time your meals are served and where they are served, which could be at the beach, at the lounge area of the ground floor of your pavilion, at the alfresco terrace, near the waterfall bar at the main pavilion, or near the 24-metre infinity pool with stunning view of the beach. Your time, your rules.

The northern most tip of Zanzibar where the hotel sits between Zanzibar and Pemba is home to deep-sea fishing. You could hire one of their three fishing boats (wired with the latest gizmos like echo sounder and fish finders) and set off to catch something.

If it’s August and November, you are likely to catch the big Yellowfin tuna, a real strong fish. But you can also be lucky and hook a sailfish or the Blue marlin.

If you go anytime between November and March, the billfish season, you will certainly hook one. Or two. If fishing isn’t your kettle of fish then just go for a private sunset dhow cruise in a hand-crafted dhow with a coxswain with a torso so flat you can iron your shirt on it.

You will drift along the north-west coastline where you can snorkel in the warm waters or just knock back martinis as you wait for the fiery orange ball of sunset to kiss the horizon. It’s spectacularly romantic to say the least.

Open canvas

I asked Peter Siebert, the South African general manager of the lodge, who has worked in numerous boutique lodges in Africa what he likes about Kilindi as a person and not a manager and he said simply and without a moment’s hesitation; “This place is an open canvas.”

A place where they let you create your own version of paradise. A place that weaves a tropical garden and a beach. A place so deathly silent and so private, perfect for lovers or lovers trying to find the romance that slipped through their hearts. Whatever.

Down to the beach are cabanas from where guests can have sundowners with cocktails in their hands. Gorgeous place to be. Spectacular view.

I lay there one evening, nursing my double whisky with a rock of ice that quickly melted before I could bring it to my nose and looked at the ball of sun headed for the horizon, turning the sea into a colour that’s hard to describe with a drink in your hand.

There, I remembered something Peter Siebert had said about the magic of Zanzibar Kilindi: “A place like this stays with you wherever you go, that I promise you. You will be able to shake the sand from your shoes, but not from your soul.”

Peter was bang on the money because I can still feel the Kilindi sand in my soul.