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!