Introduction

The Comoros islands are wrapped in a fragrant blend of ylang-ylang oil, Arabic aesthetics, African warmth and French chic. Not only this, but they have a colourful history of sultans and soothsayers, plantation owners and eloping princesses.

There are cobblestoned medinas with higgledy-piggledy lanes and old world charm; ports bristling with white sailed dhows; tropical moons rising over white beaches and the sun setting over the ocean in a riot of reds and oranges worthy of a Fauve.

But despite all these charms Comoros and Mayotte remain the least frequented and least travelled of all the islands in the region. This may have something to do with the islands' reputation as a backwater, or it just might have something to do with the political coups, civilian riots and seccessionist plots that come and go with seasonal punctuality. Not for nothing has Comoros been nicknamed Coup-Coup Land.

When to Go

The wet season between November and April is not a particularly healthy time to visit Comoros. If you don't die from dehydration or sheer frustration at the oppressively humid conditions, you might find yourself caught in a monsoonal wind (kashkazi), or cyclone. The best time to visit is in the cooler months between May and October. This also avoids Ramadan at the end of January/beginning of February, when the collective Comoran temper can suffer from the double whammy of continual fasting and oppressive heat.

Events

Most of the events on Comoros are connected to Islamic holy days. Ramadan, the traditional period of fasting for the Islamic world, differs from year to year. Id-ul-Fitr which marks the new moon, and signals the end of Ramadan, is also a time of celebration. Mayotte celebrates both Muslim holidays and the European holidays of Bastille Day, on 14 July, and Christmas Day.

These figures apply to Comoros. Mayotte is considerably more expensive, with the cheapest accommodation starting at US$60 a day, and snack-type meals beginning at about US$4. The tourist industry on Comoros is woefully underdeveloped, and the Comoran franc is still hogtied to the euro. This makes basic accommodation both overpriced and underwhelming, and the islands one of the more expensive destinations in the region. If you can camp, or find a modest pension, and are willing to exist on pastries and cheap Comoran food from the local cafes, you can get by on as little as US$25 a day. Staying at self-contained bungalows and dining on European dishes in restaurants will set you back about US$70 a day. If you go the whole paradise enchilada and stay at the boutique resorts with swimming pools, casinos, private beaches, dining rooms and lah-di-dah service, you'll be looking at upwards of US$350 per day.

The Banque Internationale des Comores (BIC) is an efficient bank that exchanges all currencies, but the best currency to carry around and exchange is the euro. There are several branches of the BIC in both Moroni and Mutsamudu, but the only bank on Mohéli is the bank-in-a-satchel, which flies in and out of the island every second Monday. Don't get caught there without cash because it might be a long time between withdrawals. Except in upmarket hotels and restaurants that exchange money at vastly inflated rates, credit cards are next to useless.

In Mayotte, money can be changed at the Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien in Mamoudzou or Dzaoudzi. The more upmarket restaurants, and most hotels, travel agencies and car hire firms accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Diners Club credit cards. If you have the right kind of card, you can even withdraw money from an automatic teller machine. And you'll need plenty of it if staying in Mayotte for any length of time.

Bargaining is something of a tradition in Comoros (less so on Mayotte), and the idea of a fixed price is as strange as a three dollar note, but there is an etiquette that goes with the bargaining. The process should be unhurried and conducted in a spirit of mutual admiration for your opponent's bargaining prowess. Hostile or agitated offers will only increase the price of the item. Tipping is not the norm except in the more Frenchified environs of Mayotte, but tipping staff for good service is appreciated.

In some ways, Anjouan is a poster child of the Indian Ocean. With its forests and rivers tumbling in a sea of green and blue down to the ocean below, and its fields of exotic essential oils - ylang-ylang, jasmine, cassis, basilic, palmarosa and orange flower - scattered throughout the island it really could be an advertisement for tropical island living. In reality it is the most densely populated of all the islands, and is feeling the effects of deforestation and soil erosion. In other ways it retains a typical island lifestyle, being more small town curiosity than big city brashness. As one Peace Corps volunteer put it, 'If you don't remember what you had for breakfast, just ask anyone on the street'.

The capital of Anjouan, Mutsamudu, consists of two main parallel streets connected by a maze of alleyways, lanes, shops and shabby buildings. Near the Mosquée du Vendredi is the Sultan's Palace, and within easy walking distance of the city centre is the Dziancoundré Waterfall. There are plenty of hiking opportunities on the island, the most interesting ones being the cross-island routes. You might also want to check out the coral reefs and white sandy beaches at Chiroroni and the ylang-ylang distillery at Bamboa, or take a walk around the old town, Hari ya Moudji, in Domoni. Hari ya Moudji is full of crumbling, decaying palaces built by sultans in the 16th to 18th centuries. Descendants of these sultans still live in the palaces, albeit in genteel and shabby decrepitude.

Getting to the island is not a problem. Flights from Moroni leave almost daily, although flying direct from Mayotte to Mutsamudu is not possible. Anjouan has a large accessible port so catching boats to the island is always an easy option. Once there, you can get around by share-taxi, taxi-brousse, or rented car or taxi. Mutsamudu is about 165km (102mi) from Moroni, as the crow flies.

Moroni, also known as Port-aux-Boutres, is the capital of Comoros and is on the island of Grande Comore, the youngest but largest of the Comoros Islands. The port lies on the west coast and is one of the island's best assets. With its stone jetties and boats pulled up in parallel lines, it seems more Mediterranean than African, and makes a great foreground setting for the sun that sets in a spectacular blaze of oranges, reds and maroons. Set back from the port is the medina with its maze of small winding streets, shop fronts, lane ways and wall-to-wall buildings dating back to Swahili times.

Moroni is fairly spread out but, with the exception of the Arab Quarter, easy to get around. From the north a couple of main streets converge at Ave des Minstères which then winds its way around the lip of the port, before shooting out in a couple of different directions on the south side of town. Many of the hotels and bungalows are situated north of the city, with the restaurants and cafes equally divided between the north and south of the city. Unfortunately, only one or two dining places in the city centre have harbour views.

The coastline on the east side of Grande Comore is wilder and more untamed than on the west. If you have time to spare, a camping trip round the east coast is always a good idea. Beginning in the northeast corner the first beach is Bouni, once the sultanate of Hamahame, but now a sleepy village with two stunning beaches. Next down the coast is Chomoni. This sheltered bay has an unusual mix of chequered black lava and white sandy beaches, and bungalows with basic facilities for hire, which is probably the best accommodation option. Down the southeast corner is the town of Foumbouni, the third-largest community on Grande Comore. The sands are whiter and brighter than anything you'll find in Moroni or Itsandra and is one of Comore's best kept secrets. Few tourists come here and the locals are still a little bamboozled at the sight of foreigners. Right at the southern tip of the island is Chindini, another airy beach with fabulous views. There are a few bungalows around, but there are also any number of places to pitch a tent.

The best way to get to all these beaches from Moroni, or to travel between them, is by taxi-brousse or, if you get lucky, by hitching a ride with a vehicle going in your direction. The distance between Moroni and Bouni is 27km (17mi); between Moroni and Chomoni, 18km (11mi); between Moroni and Foumbouni, 30km (19mi); and between Moroni and Chindini, 35km (22mi).

The island's interior is studded with grassy plains and the remnants of a rainforest, as well as Mt Karthala, an active volcano that's still belching and burping away. The plains roll down to the coastline where palm trees, beaches of black lava or white sand, and young coral reefs fringe the shores. The west coast has all the chichi resorts with suites and casinos, ambient bars and Frenchified restaurants.

Mayotte is currently the only Comoran island that's unequivocally French territory, and its people part of the European Community. Although Mahorais (as natives of Mayotte are known) seem quite happy to be French, particularly for the financial and political advantages it affords, Mayotte is not just petite French, it's petite, petite, and if you scratch the surface of a Mahorais you'll find more Comoran than French underneath.

Mayotte actually consists of three islands: the largest, with the capital city of Mamoudzou, is Grande Terre; Pamandzi, or Petit Terre, is about 20 times smaller than the big island; and the smallest of the islands, the rock of Dzaoudzi, is little more than a poor man's Rock of Gibraltar connected to Petit Terre by a highway. Unlike the Arabic influences seen in the rest of the Comoros, Mayotte has no straggling winding medinas. Instead you'll find wattle-and-daub or tressed coconut-frond huts ranged along the wide, open streets.

Because it is the oldest of the islands and is therefore ringed with coral reefs, Mayotte is a popular place for fishing, diving and boating. In fact any activity with water as the main ingredient will be available on Mayotte. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's an expensive getaway destination with everything, apart from public transport, bound to make your wallet that much lighter. Visitors don't even have the down-market option of camping, as it has been virtually outlawed.

Incredibly, the only air flight to Mayotte is on international carriers flying between Grande Comore and Mayotte, and there are no flights whatsoever between Anjouan and Mayotte. This means the boats that sail between Anjouan and Mayotte, and Grand Comore and Mayotte are always heavily booked, so get in early. The distance from Moroni to Mamoudzou is about 240km (149mi).

Mitsoudjé,11km (7mi) south of Moroni, is a good place to pick up those unique hand-carved bargains that are so difficult to get at the supermarket back home. The town is primarily known for its wood carving industry, and specialises in producing decorative doors, shutters, boxes and furnishings, but you can also pick up smaller items such as candleholders and small plaques.

There's a lot of tombstones at Mitsoudjé but there's a good reason for this. The inhabitants of Mitsoudjé believe that they are protected from djinns by the spirit of an aged holy man from nearby Iconi. The legend goes that the holy man promised protection for whichever village constructed his tomb. The Mitsoudjé took his word for truth, stole his body from Iconi, and laid it to rest in a home-hewn tombstone. But, worried that the body and spell might be stolen from them, they employed the old pea-under-the-shell routine, and built a slather of tombs around the area to confuse the hell out of everyone else.

Mitsoudjé can be reached from Moroni by taxi-brousse.

Mohéli is the smallest, wildest and least visited of all the Comoran Islands, so getting around the island is haphazard at best. Due to its size and remoteness, Mohéli tends to be something of shrinking wallflower, and is often overlooked when it comes to receiving government goodies. Even the interior rainforests, white beaches, and blissed out solitude don't make up for what Mohélians perceive as a lack; lack of industry, lack of consumer goods, lack of development and lack of government attention.

The capital of Mohéli is Fomboni but it's more a sleepy backwater than a bustling metropolis. Nothing much happens in the city and foreigners are still rare enough to elicit curious attention and cries of mzungu (the Comoran word for a European or light-skinned visitor). There are only two choices of places to stay, but it's a bit of a Hobson's choice, really: One is terrible and the other is ridiculously overpriced. This is where a tent would really come into its own and justify the trouble of lugging it around. There are any number of fine camping beaches, including Kavé Hoani, Domoni, Miringoni and Nioumachoua.

Flights to Fomboni are possible although infrequent. Most air trips to the island are detours from the regular Anjouan-Grande Comore flight. Getting there by boat is, again, possible but sea trips are not regularly scheduled. You may need to ask around at the Mitsamudu (Anjouan) and Moroni (Grande Comore) ports to find a local boat going in your direction. Apart from good ol' shank's pony, taxis and taxi-brousses are the only ways to get around the island. It's about 80km (50mi) from Moroni to Fomboni.

One of the most pristine and untouched areas of the Comoros is the small island of Chissioua Ouénéfou, just off the south coast off Mohéli, near Nioumachoua. It's part of a marine reserve. This former leper colony has a beautiful sandy beach at the southern end, which makes for good camping, and offers an excellent vantage point to go green sea turtle watching. Green sea turtles, almost extinct a couple of years ago, lumber about the island of Chissioua Ouénéfou with all their old grace, but with a new protection order that prohibits their capture or endangerment. A couple of days of swimming, fishing, exploring the island on foot, turtle watching and camping out will see you right.

To get to Chissioua Ouénéfou, you need to fly, or boat it, to Fomboni on Mohéli. From Fomboni take a taxi-brousse to the village of Nioumachoua on the southern coast where you'll have to engage with a bit of palaver with a local boatman to negotiate a price for delivery to the island. From Moroni on Grand Comore to Chissioua Ouénéfou is a distance of 90km (56mi).

The small scruffy village of Moya, on the island of Anjouan, is the type of place where you could just about drop out of existence it's so remote. It's so isolated that white faces still cause something of a minor riot. The village overlooks a fantastic beach - the kind you could use as a backdrop for all those stranded-on-a-beautiful-island films - and is protected by a reef, which in turn offers fabulous snorkelling experiences. Stay a while at the local hotel, the only place to stay in the village, and have a seafood feast to go with your obligatory multicoloured sunset.

To get to Moya from Grande Comore, take a plane or boat to the island of Anjouan, and from Anjouan's capital, Mutsamudu, take a taxi-brousse. That's a total distance of about 135km (84mi).

Activities

Diving is being heavily promoted on Comoros but the sites don't quite match up to those on the Seychelles or Mauritius. Currently there is only one diving school operating. Mayotte's older and more developed coral reefs make it a popular diving spot for tourists and locals alike. Big-game fishing is possible, but expensive, and pretty much the sole preserve of the wealthy island-hoppers and their very tanned friends. Expeditions can be arranged through the same company that organises diving tours.

For those of you with little money, but strong legs, hiking is a great way to see the islands and get a better feel for the rhythms of islander life. The hikes are not particularly arduous (with the exception of the hike up Mt Karthala), and there are a multitude of scenic treks to pick from. Quite a number of routes will take you past majestic waterfalls, through rainforests, or onto beautiful deserted beaches. There are some fine swimming beaches at Itsandra and Ngwala on Grand Comore but the hotels have commandeered these, and it will cost you an arm and a leg to swim there. You'll fare better on the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli where the beaches are free and plentiful.

History

It is thought that the earliest inhabitants of the islands were journeymen from Indonesia-Polynesia, but traces of this original Asian culture have blended seamlessly into successive waves of African, Arab and Shirazi immigrants. The most notable of these early immigrants were the Shirazi Arab royal clans, who appeared in Comoros in the 15th and 16th centuries and stayed to build mosques, set up royal house and introduce architecture and carpentry.

In 1529 the French Parmentier brothers popped in for a visit, but the first reliable European accounts of this part of the world came from the Portuguese explorers, Diego Dias and Ferdinand Soares. The Portuguese failed to capitalise on being the first to reach the islands, and for the next century or two the islands were used only as a pit stop during voyages up and down the coast of East Africa. In fact, up until the middle of the 19th century, it was not European explorers but pirates from Madagascar who caused the biggest headaches. During this time the number of sultans mushroomed at an alarming rate, and at one stage there were no fewer than 12 sultans on the island of Grande Comore alone. This is one sultan per 100 sq km (39 sq mi), or, put another way, three squabbling sultans per New York City, which, in anybody's language, is two sultans too many.

From the 15th century to the middle of the 19th, the power brokers happily played musical sultanates between themselves until the French turned their attention to the Comoros islands in the middle of the 19th century. The French finally acquired the islands through a cunning mixture of strategies, including the divide and conquer ploy, chequebook politics and a serendipitous affair between a sultana and a French trader that was turned to good use. Comoros history from this era reads like a cross between a Walt Disney animated film, a Merchant Ivory production and a Shakespearean tragedy. Through all the ups and downs, the French kept an iron grip on the islands, quelling peasant unrest and the occasional uprising.

Independence came gradually for Comoros. During the middle of the 20th century the French reluctantly began to accede to reasonable requests, and by 1947 Comoros had become a separately administered colony from Madagascar. In 1961 it was granted autnomous rule and, seven years after the global unrest and left-wing riots of '68, Comoros had broken all ties with France and established an independent republic. From the very beginning Mayotte refused to join the new republic and wed themselves even more firmly to French protection, but the other islands remained committed to independence. The French stepped out of the way, taking the infrastructure and financial resources with them, and watched as the whole house of cards came tumbling down. The first president of Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane, lasted a political nanosecond before being ousted in a coup by Ali Solih, an atheist with an Islamic background.

Solih began with a set of solid socialist ideals that were designed to take the islands kicking and screaming into the 20th century, and bury a moribund society that annointed the wealthy and privileged as its apparatchiks. Property was nationalised, womens' veils came off and costly grand mariages and traditional funeral ceremonies were abolished. Unfortunately Solih became overzealous and socialism soon turned into tyranny, which turned into economic free fall. Solih's response to the crisis was to develop a full-blown messianic complex, which didn't help matters at all. Things were already looking messy and dark, when the whole shebang took a left turn into the plot of a potboiler by Frederick Forsythe. A French mercenary by the name of Bob Dénard, already having done covert tours of duty in Nigeria, Angola, Yemen and Zaire, arrived in Comoros at dawn on 13 May 1978 (along with his right-hand man, Mad Mike, and a few other dogs of war), and liberated the entire country before breakfast. Solih was shot while allegedly 'trying to escape', Abdallah returned to the fold, the mercenaries were given key positions in the ministry, and there was a genuine attempt to clean up the ruins left by Solih's reign.

But this being Comoros, leaders being leaders, and mercenaries being mercenaries, things did not go smoothly for Abdallah. In the four years between 1985 and 1989 there were no less than five coup attempts, all of them, bar one, being quelled by the mercenaries. The last one ended with the assassination of Abdallah by his bodyguards, and there were whispers of scorpions following their nature with Dénard's involvement in the plot being far from clear. In 1990, Saïd Mohamed Djohar became the first freely elected president of the Comoros but this was followed by another round of coups and countercoups as mercenaries, rebels and government troops all joined in the melée.

When the dust finally settled in late 1992 Djohar was re-elected president but had to survive yet another coup attempt led by his old nemesis, Dénard. The present incumbents, President Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde and Prime Minister Abbas Djoussouf, have, so far, not had to deal with the man sometimes referred to as the 'White Devil' but they've had troubles of their own. Both the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli declared independence in 1997, leaving Grande Comore as the sole remnant of the glorious Comoros republic.

After Comoros President Abdoukarim died in November 1998, the political vacuum attracted a slew of slick characters, including interim President Majidine Ben Said Massonde and several secessionists trying to take advantage of the fuss to further their own political agendas. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) stepped in and attempted to broker a peace accord, but Anjouan's leadership would have no part of it. The military, which had been doing most of the dying during this political polka, finally installed Colonel Azaly Assoumani in a bloodless coup, dissolved the constitution and reopened talks with the OAU in July 1999.

The dramas haven't taken pause in the last couple of years: in August 2001, a military government took power on the island of Anjouan, planning to rejoin it with Comoros; plans were almost foiled by yet another coup attempt three months later. In December 2001 voters indicated that the trio of islands should remain one country, but each should be allowed more autonomy. April 2002 elections put Colonel Mohamed Bacar in the leader's seat for Anjouan and Mohamed Said Fazul as the man in charge of Moheli. Fingers are crossed for a coup-less future.

Culture

Comorans have an ethnic hybridity typical of island nations; they're a vibrant blend of African mainlanders, Malay-Polynesians (or Malagasy), Arab traders and Shirazi Persians. Distinct minority groups include the Antalotes, Sakalava and Creoles, but the dominant religious group is Sunni Islam, descended from Shiraz Persians. Although alcohol is forbidden and the place chock-a-block with mosques, the daily calls to prayer are not as loud or dominant as in other Islamic countries, and traces of animism can still be seen in the belief in malevolent djinns. Women dress modestly, but the custom of purdah has been largely abandoned in favour of colourful saris, or chiromani. Comoran women are particularly fond of a yellowish paste made from sandalwood and coral (m'sidzanou) and applied to the face as either a full mask or in a dappled pattern.

The architecture alone would warrant a visit to Comoros. In the old Arab Quarter, or medina, Comoros' Swahili origins come to life, with two-storey buildings that bristle with arcades, balustrades, meticulously carved wooden latticework doors and shutters. It's a look that's got that whole exotic Zanzibar thing happening. These elaborate buildings are in contrast to the bangas, most often found on Mayotte. Bangas are ramshackle sheds constructed by teenage boys - a place away from the eyes and ears of parents - and are individually postered, graffitied and decorated, in the manner of rebellious and misunderstood teenagers the world over.

A unique Cormoran tradition is the grande mariage which translates as, yes, the Big Wedding. But we're talking more than just yards of frou-frou and taffeta, and a ten-tier wedding cake here. We're talking big. We're talking bigger than Ben Hur. It's usually a prearranged union between an older man and a younger woman, and the man must pay for the two- to nine-day public festivity (toirab) that caters for the entire village. He's also expected to buy an expensive dowry for his bride, which can include precious clothing, gold and jewellery. The wedding will often leave the groom in financial ruin for the rest of his life, but the villagers will, ironically enough, confer wisdom and status upon him for the doing. As compensation for his remaining life of poverty, he gets to wear a special sash m'ruma, which signifies his status as a wandruwadzima or grand notable. The grande mariage is reserved for the more elite members of the society, and is used to mark their social and political standing.

Comoran cuisine is a blend of Indian, Arabic, French and African cooking. Most standard meals include a combination of rice and meat, beefed up with any of the locally produced spices such as vanilla, cardoman, coriander, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Fish and seafood, such as tuna, grouper and octopus, get used in a lot of meals, along with other meats like chicken, goat and mutton. The combination of French cuisine and fresh, cheap local produce makes Comoros a gourmand's paradise, particularly for French travellers. If you're not on a tight budget, splash out and try the local delicacy at least once: langouste àla vanille is lobster cooked in vanilla sauce.

Environment

The Comoros archipelago consists of four volcanic islands sprinkled over the Indian Ocean, between the northern tip of Madagascar and the top half of the Mozambique coastline. Three of the islands - Grande Comore (Ngazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Ndzuani) - make up the Republic of Comoros, while the fourth island, Mayotte, remains unrepublic, unrepentant and unapologetically French. The three islands of the republic cover an area roughly 12 times the size of Washington, with the biggest and northernmost island, Grande Comore, shaped like a foot and shinbone. Beneath it is the smaller island of Mohéli, the oval stone that the foot is kicking, and beneath that (and a little to the east), the medium-size island of Anjouan, shaped like a melting map of Tasmania. Mayotte, further south again, is about twice the size of Washington and is shaped like a feisty little seahorse standing on its head.

While Comoros isn't renowned for its weird and wacky wildlife on terra firma (apart from the fact that it's full of drongos), it is famous for being a bit of a Jurassic Park under the sea. In 1938 a local museum curator found a coelacanth in the bottom of a local's fishing basket. This prehistoric 'fossil' fish, with limblike fins and cartilaginous skeleton, was thought to have been extinct for over 70 million years, and the discovery, according to one professor, was equivalent to finding a live dinosaur. Incredibly, the locals had been catching these 'extinct' coelacanths (or gombessas) for years, and taking them home for a bit of a fry up. The find precipitated the Great Coelacanth Controversy, which pitted country against country, ichthyologist against ichthyologist, in a drama of passion, intrigue, envy, revenge, and tears. Or so the story goes. Not to be outdone by a mere fish, even a very old one, the president of Anjouan stated that the dodo was still alive and well and living on his island.

The climate is marine tropical, with two seasons: hot and humid from November to April, and cool and dry the rest of the year. In fact, for a significant part of the year Comoros enjoys a near-perfect, balmy 25°C with the scent of ylang-ylang, cloves, cinnamon and vanilla wafting gently in on the trade winds. But when it's not perfect paradise weather, it's tempestuous and surly, with monsoonal winds and cyclones screaming in off the ocean.

Comoros covers an area of 2230 sq km (870 sq mi)and Mayotte 375 sq km (146 sq mi).

Population: Comoros 632,948; Mayotte 178,437

Getting There & Away

Flights direct from Europe, non-European cities and other islands in the area, although few and far between, land at either Moroni, on Grande Comore island, or Mayotte. Strictly speaking, Mayotte is not a part of the Comoros islands and it should be noted that although Mayotte is geographically close to the other Comoros islands, its political and social distance makes it difficult to use as a jumping-off point to the other islands.

You can sometimes get a berth on ships sailing from mainland Africa to Madagascar, and they'll drop you off at either Grande Comore or Anjouan on the way. This method requires diligence and patience, as there are no ready-made systems to handle foreigners from the mainland travelling to Comoros by sea.

Getting Around

The airport at Moroni, Hahaya, is 19km (12mi) north of the city centre. After paying for your on-the-spot visa you can get to the city centre by taxi, although a lack of money-changing facilities at the airport means the fares rocket into the upper stratosphere. Planes flying into Mayotte land at Petite Terre (Pamandzi), and getting to the mainland of Grand Terre requires catching a share taxi to the ferry terminal at Dzaoudzi, and then catching another taxi, or walking, to your hotel, at the other end. There are no money-changing facilities at Pamandzi airport either, so fly in with French francs already in your pocket.

All the islands of Comoros have taxi-brousses to take you from destination to destination, although the frequency and efficiency of the service varies from place to place. Share-taxis operate in well-populated areas but tend to be rare in the more remote villages. Cars can only be hired on the larger island of Grand Comore, but for most travellers it's still cheaper and easier to flag down a taxi-brousse. Hopping from island to island can be done by plane, with the exception of Mayotte, where internal flights have been stopped altogether in an effort to curb the number of Comorans illegally immigrating to Mayotte.

All four islands are connected by a network of shipping routes, and catching boats and ferries is usually the cheapest and least complicated method of getting from island to island.