Family-Built Aiyana Resort on Pemba Island Blends Art, Luxury, and Community

The Aiyana, a family-owned resort on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, opened in 2016 after an eight-year project by artist and landscape architect Ashok Sungkur. The resort features 30 oceanfront villas designed by Ashok, with paintings and sculptures by his son Max Sungkur, who serves as general manager. Located a 20-minute flight north of Zanzibar, Pemba offers a quieter, culturally rich alternative with traditional dhow fishing, seaweed farms, and the Ngezi Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve. The Sungkurs prioritized local community: two-thirds of the staff were part of the original construction crew from Makangale Village, and materials were sourced locally. Ashok was inspired to build after children in the village asked for pens and paper. The resort's name means "ever-blooming" in Swahili. Daily excursions include sailing, kayaking, and picnics on a sandbar. The spa features a double massage bed on a tiny islet. Ashok, who grew up poor in Mauritius and later worked in Paris, designed the gardens and villas himself, creating a "sanctuary of art and nature."