Comoros

Antoine's view

My first stop over in the Comoro Islands was in 1989. I had the luck to put in at Mayotte and then the Anjouan Island when the country had just split in two. Mayotte had chosen to remain in the fold of ?France overseas?, whereas the other islands preferred to strike out for independence. This didn?t work out any better for them than for most of the nearby African countries.

For me, sailing from Mayotte to Anjouan was rather like going back a century in time. After the relative prosperity of Mayotte, particularly in the little village of Dzaoudzi where French aid was extremely present, it was strange to arrive in the tiny town of Mutsamudu (Anjouan) that was definitely part of the Third World.

But what picturesque walks I had through the mountains, as far as the east coast, stopping to taste the delicious Anjouan ?raspberries? or visit the scented Ylang-ylang distilleries.
Since then, Anjouan has been through a series of disturbing upheavals, and even tried to become French again.
So it would be better to check out the present day situation before setting off to the three independent Comoro Islands.