I’ve got to admit my arrival to the Comoros and my first impressions were not great. Firstly the airport looked like its best days were the 1960’s, I was ushered into a seperate room and asked what I was doing here. Surely they get tourists I thought, I saw a few obvious candidates on the plane other than myself. I passed the test and was free to enter the country where I met my guide Hakeem (I have no idea if this is the correct spelling) and my impressions started to change.
However, backpeddling a little, many would say wait why did you even want to go there? Well firstly its a country I knew little about, but also to get there meant flights via Perth, Mauritius, Reunion and Mayotte. However from Toronto much further away, its a simple one stop flight via Ethiopia. I was going to be in the neighbourhood and my curiosity got the better of me as it does for many of the places i’ve been. The internet research didn’t give me much information to work with either. I found one tourist company and contacted them: Adore Comores. I don’t normally mention companies, but they have been great and I’d havde not seen half as much as I have the past 2 days without them.
My first day was a short tour of the capital Moroni. One thing you note is just sadly how much litter there is. The old town was fascinating winding narrow streets, full of litter. The people are very shy and really don’t like photos, but occassionally younger people would practise their english with me, others would greet me and say hello or welcome. It was pretty obvious the people loved me visiting, they just weren’t keen on photos. I did get some and especially love the men playing a local boardgame.
We then visited the markets both the old and the new markets. The old markets lined a street and sold food and clothes. The new market sprawled out under many roofed areas, lots of Comoros football shirts on sale and many friendly vendors who happened to dabble in tourist merchandise. I’m not sure how many sales they make, because I was the only tourist I had seen other than a few suspects at the airport. The people though were all friendly many fist bumps and greetings were exchanged and my initial first impressions had faded away.
Today I did the “Southern” tour as its known. Meant to feature more history vs the much more popular Northern Tour which ends up at a beach or the Mt Karthala volcano tour….. which my family will remind me of donkeys and Guatemalan volcano expeditions. So the south tour was my choice and wow it was worth it. Nice new road which made the drive enjoyable. We stopped to see the remnents of a lava flow from the 1977 eruption, saw dolphins frolicking in a small bay and visited some markets and a fishing village.
The furthest town we reached was called Foumbouni and its old town was litter free. It was fortified in the 1700’s by the sultan at the time. Much of the wall made from volcanic rocks and coral is still standing, the small streets have pockets of life while most of the historical buildings like the palace are worse for wear. After a delicious lunch of chicken and fried banana (green bananas used as a potato substitute).
We headed back and stopped one more time in the old capital of Iconi. This is where the last sultan lived before the French ousted him during the first world war. The palace is small and most of the walls are still standing but its clear there is no money to look after the historical buildings of Comoros. My guide explained the people need to see the value in these things first as well and hopefully more tourists will help there.
So after the past two days I’m just genuinely glad I visited this country. I wish I had time to visit the other 2 islands of the Comoros, but scant information and a lack of time made it difficult for me to plan. It felt really safe the whole time, everyone was really friendly and no one asked me for anything like money. One older lady asked if I’d marry her in the markets though. My guide assures me she was joking but also said you can never be sure. I really enjoyed my time, well worth the chance to explore a place most people don’t know exists.