Comoros

Comoros Islands: Ngazidja

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The Comoros Islands. An unheralded destination in the beautiful Indian Ocean.

If you make the journey to this small country, you’ll certainly set foot on Ngazidja – or Grande Comore – the largest and most populous island of this little-known archipelago.

My initial stay on the ‘big island’ was just for a few days before heading by air to smaller siblings Mohéli and Anjouan.  

Did the return trip save the best until last?… CONTINUE READING BELOW

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Arriving at Moroni’s very small airport is an experience – and an indication that the Comoros aren’t used to receiving hordes of tourists. 

But there’s a lot to see on Ngazidja, from the bustling streets and rustic markets of the capital, where you’ll encounter few European visitors and feel you’re really off the beaten track.

The coastline offers undeveloped beaches, dramatic rock formations and stunningly vibrant mangrove lagoons. Further inland there are ancient baobab trees with trunks mighty enough to hide an entire tour group.

If architecture is your bag, be sure to see medinas of old houses and carved doors. There are also ruined sultans’ palaces to see at sunset as the call to prayer rings out and bats cross the sky.

Author Mike Osborn in his tent on a trip to volcano Mount Karthala in the Comoros.

Staying in a tent was an island highlight

Islam holds sway over this island, so there are mosques of all eras to spot.

An inescapable observation about Ngazidja and the Comoros is the presence of litter. With no waste collections, it’s a blight on the landscape.

The same goes for abandoned skeletons of vehicles, sometimes in the middle of otherwise beautiful countryside. This needs to change if the Comoros wants to attract more visitors in the future.

The return to Ngazidja was dominated by one prospect – a trip to Mount Karthala, the island’s dominant volcano which last erupted in 2007.

From a village in the foothills it was a four-hour hike to the crater and back. There was no swirling, fiery cauldron at the top but a vast landscape buried in volcanic matter.

The truly memorable experience was dinner cooked on the fire in the village and spending the night in tents surrounded by lowing cattle and waking up to an atmospheric, misty sunrise.

Getting to know the pet tortoises in the Comoros.

Travel buddy Corinna greets a pet tortoise

A night under the stars aside, home for this part of the stay was the Itsandra Beach Hotel and Resort, set by a lovely part of the coast with stunning sunsets and even pet tortoises mooching around the lawn.

It had the first sense of developed tourism but was by no means busy. A comfortable base to prepare for the long, drawn out journey back to the UK but possibly the least authentic version of this yet to be discovered country.

If you’re travelling this far, you have to visit all three Comoros islands. They each have something unique to offer and will appeal to your sense of adventure. There’s only one way to find out… 

  • Would you like to experience the Comoros Islands for yourself? My small group tour was with Undiscovered Destinations and operates twice a year. They also arranged air travel with Ethiopian Airlines, from Manchester to Moroni via Addis Ababa with two further brief stopovers in Geneva and Dar-Es-Salaam. Any further questions, please get in touch.

2024: One year in 7 photos

/ mikeosbornphoto / 8 Comments

A Happy New Year to you all! We might be wondering what lies ahead in 2025, but the old year can be neatly packaged.

I’m pulling together 2024 in just seven photographs. It was a year punctuated by more travel since the pandemic, including some unheralded destinations.

Spells at home were spent stalking the changing buildings of Manchester and waiting for the next departure – a rollercoaster ride. 

Do you have just a few photos that bring the year to life?

1. FAMILY HOLIDAY

A family of four enjoy a sunset walk on the shores of Costa Calma in Fuerteventura.

I went on a summer break to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura and observed hundreds of family holidays, including this beautifully-placed one taking their sunset walk along the beach. It was for me an unusually relaxing, enjoyable week in the sun and I found a fascination with resort architecture in this holiday playground.

• See more from this sun-kissed isle here

2. LITTLE CORNER OF THE MARKET
A market street scene in the capital city of São Tomé e Príncipe.

The African island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe was an adventurous trip to a virtually unknown destination. The main island had a lively, chaotic capital city and amidst the natural beauty was still processing its colonial past. I’d found my gateway to seeing more unusual corners of the planet with this memorable visit.

• See more of fabulous São Tomé here

3. CUBES AND THE TOWERA conical tower block and famous yellow of the Cube Houses in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

I visited the Dutch city of Rotterdam with the intent of chasing the city’s varied and bold post-war architecture – and wasn’t disappointed. Even the zany cube houses, seen by millions of tourists, were a delight. Rotterdam, basking in summer sunshine, was a pleasant place to spend a long weekend.

• See more of ravishing Rotterdam here

4. PERAST AND BEYOND

A scenic view of Perast and beyond on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.

This was a first trip to Montenegro’s stunning Bay of Kotor – an inland sea with the qualities of an Alpine lake. The town of Perast (pictured) and a beautiful hotel were quieter out of season in April, while my relaxing stay also included a whistle-stop tour of Montenegro’s ruggedly scenic north.

• See much more of Montenegro here

5. TINY ISLAND CAPITAL

Tall palms hold sway over the town of Santo Antonio on Príncipe island.

You can’t visit São Tomé without hopping over to sister island Príncipe – much smaller, less developed and natural. It’s become a far flung destination for small-scale more sustainable tourism and has turned a legacy of plantations into high-end accommodation offering relaxation and adventure. I could easily go back for a two-week holiday.

• See more of this little paradise here

6. CENTRAL HALL, MANCHESTER

An interior view of Manchester Central, the city's former railway station.

The one Manchester highlight that has squeezed into a travel-rich 2024. This building, not far from where I live, started out as a railway station and is a well-known city centre landmark. It was opened to the public this year and stepping inside made its true scale and ingenuity apparent. It’s not all about new skyscrapers in this city.

• See more of this engineering feat here

7. OUTSIDE THE STORE, ANJOUANTwo brightly clothed women outside a neighbourhood general store in Mutsamudu, Comoros Islands.

The final trip of the year took me to a country which took a long time to reach and was barely touched by tourism, possibly the most obscure destination I have ever visited. The Comoros Islands was beautiful, its people fascinating and wonderfully photogenic even in mundane settings. I’m still digesting my visit as 2025 takes hold.

• See more of unknown Comoros here

Comoros Islands: Anjouan

/ mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

The Comoros Islands. Most people would struggle to locate this country on a map.

This small nation sits in the Indian Ocean between east Africa and north Madagascar. It’s seldom visited, which made me want to visit all the more.

I’ve introduced you to Mohéli, the smallest, wildest of the three islands.

Now it’s welcome to Anjouan, a bustling island with a rebellious streak – but blessed with tropical landscapes. CONTINUE READING BELOW

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Anjouan is best reached by small inter-island aircraft, an experience in itself.

My home was the quaint and rather empty Johanna Livingstone Hotel, decorated in bat motifs and with a terrace perfectly situated to watch some fiery tropical sunsets.

It was situated in a quieter corner of Anjouan’s main city Mutsamudu, with the pretty Al Amal beach a short walk away, where we rare tourists mixed with locals enjoying the refreshing ocean.

A carpet of ylang ylang blossoms drying out before creating oil.

Ylang ylang blossoms are a valuable crop throughout the Comores

The capital city’s old centre is a dense maze of ancient alleyways and many nods to the Comoros Island’s Islamic faith. The array of market stalls and throngs of people going about their business is dizzying.

On the other side of the island sits the city of Domoni, with its own set of narrow little streets and beguiling buildings. 

The city is crowned by a bristle of gold-topped minarets making up an impressive mosque and resting place for this small nation’s first post-independence leader.

Anjouan’s more rural hinterland is filled with lush valleys, hills and rugged coastal spots which in a country more developed for tourism would be an azure-coloured holidaymakers’ playground. 

But it was the urban centres of this island which were truly eye-opening, where European visitors are seldom seen picking their way around the streets.

A place that’s yet to be discovered.

Next time: Grand Comore, this archipelago’s biggest island. But does biggest mean the best?

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Comoros Islands: Mohéli

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When it comes to the Indian Ocean, most holidaymakers have heard of the sun-drenched paradises of the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius.

How about the Comoros Islands? This small nation, situated between the east African coast and north Madagascar, seems virtually undiscovered – so I had to take a look for myself.

The Islamic country gained its independence from France in 1975 and has had a bumpy political history, so there was a lot to find out.

My trip from Manchester to the Comoros on Ethiopian Airlines consisted of three stopovers until reaching the tiny, chaotic airport outside the capital Moroni.

But let’s start this discovery in Mohéli, the smallest of the three Comores, a place where nature and relaxation hold sway. CONTINUE READING BELOW

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A view of Mohéli's mountain and coast from the Laka Lodge lookout in the Comoros.
An orange-necked Mongoose Lemur seen on a visit to Laka Lodge in Mohéli, Comoros Islands.
Boys playing football on the beach at Nioumachoua, Mohéli island, Comoros.
A vast and ancient tree in the rainforest of Mohéli in the Comoros Islands.
A stunning indigo sunset seen over the Indian Ocean at Mohéli in the Comoros Islands.
A bunch of piercing red berries found in the rainforest on Mohéli island in the Comoros.
A portrait of two teenage boys on the beach at Nioumachoua, Mohéli island, Comoros.
A view of Laka Lodge beach on Mohéli in the Comoros islands as dusk begins to fall.
A ylang ylang flower bloom in the forests of Mohéli, the Comoros Islands.
The sight of a Livingstone Bat in flight over the forest canopy on Mohéli in the Comoros Islands.
A group of Comoran men resting in the shade by a beach on Mohéli island in the Comoros.
A dazzling seashell found on a beach at Mohéli in the Comoros islands.
A large spider sets its web across a patch of forest in Mohéli, the Comoros Islands.
A view of a bungalow at Laka Lodge in Mohéli, the Comoros Islands.
A black and white Mongoose Lemur clasping a tree on Mohéli island in the Comoros.

Mohéli is best reached by one of the Comores’ internal airlines Royal Air with its 1960s small plane and a Ukrainian crew. It’s half an hour from the other islands, Grand Comore and Anjouan.

Mohéli has some decent, solid stretches of Chinese-built road which took us to Laka Lodge, a cluster of bungalows set close to a beautiful beach.

Nature is the name of the game here, with trips to visit sea turtles and the vast Livingstone fruit bat. There’s even a group of Mongoose Lemurs who visit every afternoon expecting a feast of bananas.

This is a spot where even this reluctant bather took a dip in the sea, while walks up a lookout hill to witness fantastic, fiery sunsets were obligatory.

With just a small handful of other European guests, it was evident that few travellers have heard of this place let alone decided to make the long trip here.

The lodge was next to the village of Nioumachoua, with the beach playing host to football games and young lads asking to have their photograph taken. 

One evening we heard there were lengthy, lavish wedding celebrations taking place and walked over to witness this spectacle.

It happened to be the night when it was the men’s turn to dance. I went from watching to having a ylang ylang blossom garland and a gold sash placed around my neck and joining in the festivities. A memorable brush with the culture of this small island.

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Video credit: Priscilla Camue

Coming soon: Visits to the larger islands of the seldom visited Comoros archipelago. Is this a country that should become a bucket list staple or left to the more adventurous tourist?