Comores are sandwiched between northern Mozambique on the East African coast and the large island of Madagascar. As an ancient staging post between Arabia, India and later the European traders the islands were systematically occupied and reoccupied – much like the Mediterranean islands. These beautiful islands today still reflect many cultural and political divisions between East and West.

For the tourist that appreciates and enjoys seeing the cultural diversity, the Comoros and adjacent areas in the Indian Ocean offer a unique experience. Of the four Islands, the French owned Mayotte island is an ‘Overseas Department of France’ and has the best tourist orientated infrastructure and is surrounded by an amazing reef protecting the islands mainland, and is considered to have the world’s largest lagoon.

The other Arabic islands of(Fr)Grand Comore (Ngazidja), Mohele (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwane), and their many islets have an as yet undeveloped tourism industry because of political instability and have been prone to about 20 ‘take-over’s’ since independence in 1975. Grand Comore has an International Airport at the City Capital of Maroni and a harbor for Trading and sailing ships. The four islands also have one of the highest population densities in Africa, reaching almost a million souls. Languages spoken in the islands are French, Arabic and the local Comorean.

The French Island of Mayotte is topographically diverse, with deep undulating ravines and dormant volcanic peaks and hosts the capital city of Mamoutzou. The smaller adjacent island of Pamanzi and its town of Dzaudze has the best protected port and a military airport. It has three smaller notable islands of, Chissale M’Zamboro, Bandele and Sada, apparently unoccupied. The beaches, mostly in coves are stony and surrounded by lush vegetation. The islands are prone to cyclones in the rainy season and malaria infested yet Mayotte is a haven for the most spectacular diving in the world’s largest lagoon, where sea turtles abound and the humpbacked whales arrive in August and September to calve. Mount Choungui is a popular hiker’s paradise and local transport is by ‘bush taxis’. Languages are French and local Comorian and the Euro is the currency.

The Comoros Islands are for the adventurous and do not appear to have much in sophisticated tourism infrastructure but that could change soon!

The Comores is made up out of four islands, found approximately halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar. It has a tropical climate with a rainy season that stretches from October until April.
You will find beautiful white beaches, turquoise warm sea and you will be surrounded by the scents of vanilla, nutmeg, jasmine and ylang-ylang.  True paradise as we can only imagine in our wildest dreams.

Unfortunately the downside to visiting this island far out way the potential for a great holiday:

• Health Risks :  The three major health risks are malaria, cholera and dengue fever.  It is imperative that you do not drink the local water, rather rely on bottled water.

• Volcano :  On the largest of the four islands, Grande Comore you will find an active volcano. Experts predict another eruption in the near future.

• Accommodation : Despite my best efforts to find suitable hotel accommodation, I failed.  It seems as if most foreigners who were involved in the tourism industry pulled out of the country due to the political instability and corruption. Most of the hotels I could find seemed old and did not provide meals.

• Medical Facilities :  No proper medical facilities are available and travel agencies actually encourage tourists to take their own medical kit.

• Crime :  Although crime is not high in this Islamic country, tourists are often victims of pick pocketers.

In my opinion, I would rather spend a little more on a holiday than to be exposed to these elements.  After all you want to relax on holiday and not worry about ending up with cholera.

This island used to be a wonderful tropical holiday destination.  Unfortunately political instability led to the country now being extremely impoverished.  The instability and corruption in the government killed the big tourism industry that thrived in the 1980’s to 1990’s.  Many tourists will now not be able to see the beauty of the island, which includes underwater splendor, beautiful rainforests and the unique animal life of Comores.

for more on the comores visit http://www.ocomores.org