French Comoros: Mayotte

 Friday, April 14, 2023, Mayotte, French Comoros

Our ship arrived at this port at 11:30 am. We had to anchor out in the bay and take the tender in. The dock had a welcoming committee that included women singing traditional chanting music and a man effectively accompanying them with a primative-looking drum. It was very pleasant.

Arriving at the tender dock

While part of the Comoros islands, French Comoros is actually a “department” of France and consists of a small island (Grande-terre) and a smaller island (Petite-terre). Pretty much everyone here is Muslim. We walked through the market by the pier. There was no place to exchange US dollars, and vendors did not take them or VISA cards. So we didn’t buy anything. 

We started exploring and found a ferry to Petite-terre. We decided to take it. The ticket office was closed, so we tried to buy a ticket when boarding. No one spoke English, but they motioned us aboard so off we went. The ticket would have cost a couple dollars at most anyway. We were the only non-locals on this run. Families were going over and seemed in a celebratory mood. Friday is the Muslum holy day, and that may have been what was going on. We followed their lead getting on and off while avoiding cars and trucks.

Also waiting for the ferry

Getting on the ferry

A gentleman on the ferry to Petite-terre

Our ferry to Petite-terre

Once there we did some beach combing then explored the nearby area, a small town with lush vegetation almost overwhelming it. Found a modest and causal restaurant/bar that was to open later and talked with the proprietor. Got on the ferry back to Grand-terre. Not a lot to see there and a pretty hot day. It was a relaxing ride over and back with the sea breeze. 

We found the tourist office on the main island (blessedly air-conditioned) and asked about the post office. It was up the hill, so we started climbing. The main part of town was up there, and there was a walking tour map that was a little hard to follow. 

Air conditioning in the tourist center

The post office was closed because of Ramadan, I think. We embarked on the self-guided walking tour. We didn’t see any other tourists, although we heard later there were some who also wandered up here. We were trying to find a restaurant, but some were closed, and there was very little English here, and our map was of little help. 

We never found a restaurant but had a few conversations with people despite not speaking the same language. We saw large bats flying around in broad daylight and later found out they were fruit bats. Money was an issue—we didn’t have any local currency. We managed to find our way back to the waterfront. We did manage to do a little business with our US dollars as the day was wearing on.

While waiting for the tender back to the ship, we talked to a couple of girls who insisted they were 20-years old and 15-years old. Hard for us to believe, although one showed me her school ID. Wow did they look young! Mostly they spoke French, the “official” language. 

Definitely got our steps in this day.