This 15-day Comoros route is for travelers who want all three islands of the Union at a relaxed pace: the medinas, a volcano summit, Anjouan’s cloud forest, Mohéli’s turtle beaches and a slow finish on the northern coast of Grande Comore. It suits patient, adaptable backpackers who are comfortable with schedules that change. You will use shared taxis on every island, short domestic flights or inter-island boats for the two sea crossings, and a hired guide for the two big hikes.
Days 1-4: Moroni, Iconi and Mount Karthala
Give
Moroni two unhurried nights before you climb anything. On the first afternoon, wander the waterfront and the medina lanes, then catch the call to prayer at the
Old Friday Mosque by the harbor. Day 2 belongs to
Iconi, a short shared-taxi hop south. This was a seat of the old Bambao sultanate, and local history tells of women who threw themselves from the cliff above town rather than be taken by 19th-century Malagasy raiders. It makes a sobering, quiet half day, with an …
read more 👉This 15-day Comoros route is for travelers who want all three islands of the Union at a relaxed pace: the medinas, a volcano summit, Anjouan’s cloud forest, Mohéli’s turtle beaches and a slow finish on the northern coast of Grande Comore. It suits patient, adaptable backpackers who are comfortable with schedules that change. You will use shared taxis on every island, short domestic flights or inter-island boats for the two sea crossings, and a hired guide for the two big hikes.
Days 1-4: Moroni, Iconi and Mount Karthala
Give Moroni two unhurried nights before you climb anything. On the first afternoon, wander the waterfront and the medina lanes, then catch the call to prayer at the Old Friday Mosque by the harbor. Day 2 belongs to Iconi, a short shared-taxi hop south. This was a seat of the old Bambao sultanate, and local history tells of women who threw themselves from the cliff above town rather than be taken by 19th-century Malagasy raiders. It makes a sobering, quiet half day, with an old mosque and a lava shoreline to wander.
On Day 3, start before dawn for Mount Karthala, sleep on the rim and come down on Day 4. Expect a full day of climbing through forest, heath and finally loose volcanic ash to 2,361 meters. Rather than rushing to the airport afterward, spend Night 4 at Itsandra Beach, a few kilometers north of the capital, where you can soak sore legs in calm water and eat grilled fish at the hotel restaurant.Days 5-8: Anjouan
Fly or sail to Anjouan on Day 5 and settle into Mutsamudu for two nights. Day 6 is for the medina, where alleys are barely wider than a wheelbarrow, and for the climb to the Mutsamudu Citadel. Its cannons still point over the harbor and the rooftops below. On Day 7, leave town with a guide for Mount Ntringui National Park, the island’s 1,595-meter high point. A morning in the cloud forest around the crater lake of Dzialandzé is the most realistic goal, and if you are lucky, Livingstone’s fruit bats will be circling overhead. From there, continue over the ridge to Domoni on the east coast and stay two nights. Its old stone quarter, with carved wooden doors, Swahili-era tombs and a fishing beach, deserves an idle Day 8 with nothing on the schedule.Days 9-11: Mohéli
Cross to Mohéli on Day 9. Domestic schedules are thin, so book this leg first and build the rest around it. Spend one night in Fomboni, the island’s small, sleepy capital, then move south on Day 10 into Mohéli National Park for two nights around Nioumachoua. Use one day to snorkel around the offshore islets and the evening to watch green turtles haul themselves up the sand at Itsamia with a local guide. Between roughly July and October, a boat trip out of Nioumachoua has a good chance of humpback whales.Days 12-15: Northern Grande Comore
Fly back to Grande Comore on Day 12 and head straight north to Mitsamiouli for a night, which keeps you close to the airport for the end of the trip. In the late afternoon, visit Lac Salé, a saltwater lake sitting inside a volcanic crater just back from the coast. On Day 13, drift around the northern tip and stop at Bouni Beach, which is quieter and has fewer facilities, so bring water and snacks. Then settle into Chomoni Beach for the last two nights. Bright white sand against jet-black lava rock on the east coast makes the best place in the country to do absolutely nothing for a day before the roughly one-hour drive to the airport on Day 15.
On Mohéli, ask your guide in Fomboni about a detour to Lac Dziani Boundouni, a crater lake in the island’s southeast where lemurs and waterbirds outnumber visitors.v2.webp){kind=logo}
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