Mayotte, Overseas Department of France

 Mayotte is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. It is one of 18 regions of France. Although the official language is French, only about 60% of the population speak French. It's culture and language are more closely related to the neighboring Coromos Islands. Most people are of African descent and speak a local variation of Swahili. The larger island of Mahore where we visited is quite mountainous. The airport is located on the nearby smaller island of Pamanzi and can be  reached by ferry every 15 minutes. 



Our boat tendered in the water outside of Mayotte. The harbor area is on the right side of the picture.

Local dancers welcoming us at the dock.


The island is very poor, although is much more prosperous than the Coromos Islands due to some  financial support from France. This situation has resulted in a lot of illegal immigration from the neighboring  islands, creating  a strain on local services and resources. The rate of theft and other crimes is also quite high due to these issues. There are few local industries, and most of the living supplies are imported, making it an expensive place to live for the local population. 

Few tourists visit Mayotte so there were not a lot of tourist destinations. The local towns are quite rundown, and not very picturesque.  We did visit a nature reserve where we were able to see a few bird varieties,  some lemurs, and a variety of local vegetation. 

Lake in the nature reserve.


Local waterlily.


Curious lemurs.




Large breadfruit hanging in the tree.


Mango tree.

We are now cruising for two days at sea before we arrive in Maputo, Mozambique, Africa.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Image
 Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French Colony of Cochin china and later the Independent Republic of South Vietnam from 1955-1975. On July 2, 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province and was officially named Ho  Chi Minh City.   In the years since the Vietnam War, the city has prospered. We have been very impressed with the cleanliness of the city, and all the modern amenities. There are now 100 million people in Vietnam, and ten million living in Ho Chi Minh City. The lovely view of downtown  Ho Chi Min City from the fifth floor outdoor dining deck area of our cruise ship. There are several passengers on the boat who were here serving in the military during the Vietnam War (known locally as the American War). There are many sights and museums dedicated to that period of  history. We have been told by other passengers that sadly, many of these  museums highlight the atrocities t...
Read more

Koh Ma Island, Thailand

Image
 We returned to drop anchor in the waters just outside Ko Samui Island again, but went by speedboat to a nearby island, Koh Ma Island to snorkel. There was some colorful coral and about a dozen species of colorful tropical fish. It was not good as snorkeling in the Maldives, bur was still a very fun day.  Ko Mah Island is pretty but quite hilly, with a lot of steep rugged rocks going down to the shoreline. We parked our boat on the beach and had a nice Thai curry lunch in a casual restaurant on  the beach. There were several small resorts on the sandy bay where we had lunch. Looks like a nice place to relax and look out over the bay. We are now headed to Cambodia.
Read more

Richard's Bay and Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Arica

Image
 We arrived at the pretty harbor port of Richard's Bay, then immediately took an hour and a half bus ride to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve for our game drive. Richard's Bay is primarily an industrial shipping  port since it has a very deep harbor. Pulp and paper processing and metal smelting is done here, but there are not sightseeing city tours. The modern port just opened in the 1970's. Approaching Richard's Bay harbor. Our drive to the  reserve was pleasant, and the homes by the highway were much nicer in the countryside than those that we have seen in other African countries.  Most had sturdy modern construction and glass windows, with neat yards surrounding them.  The game reserve is very mountainous, and because it is the wet summer season, the vegetation was very pretty and green. We were lucky to see a good variety of animals up close, including the rare white rhino which is not actually white.  A herd of Cape Buffalo. These are very dangerous when the ...
Read more