| Living
In The Comoros Islands |
| The World
Between Madagascar And Mozambique |
| The first
thing that strikes the visitor to Anjouan is the sheer beauty of the island.
From its stretches of black, sandy beaches to its nearly mile-high central
peak--often shrouded in mist--the island is truly a tropical jewel set
in a sparkling sea. Anjouan is just one of the Comoro islands, and it
was our home for a year and a half in the 1960s.
Located at
the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, halfway between Mozambique
and Madagascar, the Comoros are an archipelago of small volcanic islands.The
four main islands are Grande Comore(seat of the capital, Moroni), Moheli,
Anjouan, and Mayotte. In the 1960s the Comoros were still an Overseas Territory
of France, administered by a French High Commissioner.They were more isolated
than any place we had ever been.To travel there, we had to fly from East
Africa to Madagascar first.There were no direct connections from Africa
to the Comoros, not to mention Europe or Asia. |
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Although the
Comoros had been active participants in a thriving Indian Ocean maritime
economy for centuries, European colonization had left them isolated and
disconnected from the rest of 20th century life.
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When we arrived
in the town of Domoni on the island of Anjouan, there were no hotels, restaurants,
electricity, or running hot water. There was one narrow, twisting, mountainous
paved road, a handful of cars, one radio, and a public telephone at the
post office (that worked sometimes). |
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| In spite of
the lack of amenities we set up housekeeping and settled into a wonderful
way of life, learning the language and the culture of our hosts. On warm
evenings, sitting out on the second-floor balcony of our coral-and-stone
house with our new Anjouanese friends, looking out over the Indian Ocean
and watching the water sparkle in the moonlight, we easily forgot about
all of the technological comforts we had taken for granted in the United
States. Our new home boasted so much more to delight the senses.
Anjouan is
a lush tropical island with an extinct volcano at its core. Rare, colorful
birds abound, Livingstone bats (found nowhere else in the world)
thrive in the mountainous fern forests, and furry, large-eyed lemurs can
be enticed into sitting on your shoulders. The luxuriant growth of wild
tropical plants combines with cultivated farmlands to provide spectacular
vistas at every turn. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| Breadfruit,
taro, manioc, pigeon peas, coconut, mangos, avocados, lychees, papayas,
citrus fruits, and more augment cultivated mountain rice to provide daily
sustenance.Ylang-ylang, basilic, and jasmine flowers perfume the
air and together with vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves provide cash crops
for export. Cattle, goats, and chickens, supplement the wide variety of
fish available in the ocean waters. Small rivers cascade down the mountains,
splashing over waterfalls on their way to the seashore, providing fresh
water as well as popular spots for doing one's laundry.
While small
farming villages in the mountains have houses made primarily of thatch,
larger towns along the coast, such as Domoni, have multistory stone dwellings,
mosques with tall minarets, and cool narrow twisting streets. Seen from
the sea these coastal towns--set against a background of verdant mountains,
with the smoke from cooking fires drifting over the rooftops, and the aroma
of fragrant tropical flowers permeating the air--evoke the adventures of
Sinbad the Sailor. This fabled traveler probably visited Anjouan over a
thousand years ago when the islands were a major link in the Indian Ocean's
maritime trade. We found evidence of this trade in an ancient stone house
in Domoni where the whole ceiling of one room had been inlaid with small
porcelain dishes; the dishes turned out to be 17th century Japanase Imari
ware. |
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| Local elders
also spoke of the ancient trade, with stories about Indian Khotias--large
multi-masted sailing vessels--visiting the islands, and of Comorians sailing
throughout the Indian Ocean, engaging in trade and amassing great wealth
for their marriages. By the 1960s, motorized vessels and air transport
were taking the place of traditional sailing vessels as the major mode
of transportation between the islands and the rest of the world. Still,
there were a few small Jahazi--single-masted sailing vessels--plying Comorian
waters, bringing passengers and goods from one Comorian town or island
to another, occasionally sailing as far as Madagascar.
The rhythm
of daily life in Domoni was influenced by the closeness of the islands
to the equator, where the noontime sun is high and strong. People rose
early in the morning to go to the fields to tend their livestock and crops
or go to small factories to prepare ylang-ylang, cloves, vanilla, and other
commodities for export. |
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| They would
return to their homes before noon to eat and rest for a few hours before
completing their daily chores. In the late afternoon, the men would gather
in the main square of the town and on the verandas of mosques to play mraha
wa ntso--a traditional board game--or dominoes, or cards. Women would begin
to prepare the evening's meal of rice, to be served with deliciously spiced
stews and sauces. After dinner, women would gather to socialize. Sometimes
they took leisurely strolls through the streets, each one cloaked discreetly
from head to toe in a red-and-white shiromani, looking a bit like walking
pillowcases. On moonless evenings men would walk out on the rocky promontories
to fish close to shore or take outrigger dugout canoes to catch larger
fish in deeper water. A large variety of sea life existed near the town
and fishermen would catch everything from rock lobsters to kingfish weighing
hundreds of pounds. They even caught the coelacanth, a fish once thought
by scientists to have been extinct for millions of years until a South
African ichthyologist was brought to Domoni to examine it. Now, in a small
restaurant near the ocean in Domoni, you can see a preserved specimen on
the dining room wall.
Major social
and religious rituals punctuated the rounds of daily life with festive
meals, dancing, and other activities. Major wedding ceremonies, for
example, could take a full week of daily activities to complete. There
were feasts, men’s and women’s dances, entertainment, and the transfer
of gifts, including showering the bride with thousands of dollars worth
of jewelry. Participants would come from near and far. One fascinating
ritual which used to be part of these festivities was the dance of the
bulls. During one of the days of the marriage ceremony, men would gather
in one of the main squares of the town while two or more bulls would be
released in a nearby street to charge into the square. The men would attempt
to dance up to a bull and touch it without getting gored or otherwise hurt.
It was quite a spectacle and many people would gather to watch the event
from doorways and rooftops, shouting encouragement and advice to their
favorite dancers. The women would explode in ululation whenever some daring
man successfully touched or leapt over a bull with courage and grace.
The month of
Ramadan, when people fasted from dawn to dusk, was also a time for major
rituals. After the evening's special fast-breaking meal people would gather
in one of the town squares to watch boxing matches. There, by the light
of the moon, pairs of combatants would spar in a no-holds barred format,
encouraged by loud drumming. The evening’s festivities would begin with
young boys matching up and swinging fists. An elder male or two would act
as referee, separating the boys if they became entangled in each other’s
extremities, if the swinging became too wild, or if one of the pair was
dazed or hurt. As the evening progressed, older men would step forward
as combatants, sometimes representing different parts of the town, or even
different towns. Spectators would cheer for combatants from their neighborhoods.
With more powerful
combatants, harder blows were dealt, and the crowd would roar--over the
sound of the drumming--with each blow landed. There was never any winner
declared unless someone was knocked down and clearly defeated. Spectators
simply enjoyed the entertainment, going home at the end of the event feeling
well represented by 'their' boxers.
Many changes
have occurred in the Comoros since the 1960s. Three of the islands are
now a politically independent country while one, Mayotte, remains attached
to France. Mayotte has benefited from French aid, developing its identity
as a tourist destination with a coral reef often acclaimed as one of the
finest in the world. The other three islands have relied more on international
aid to develop their infrastructures. Roads have been paved, electrical
generating plants constructed, and transportation modernized. Old hotels
were refurbished, new ones built and the Comoros became a major resort
spot for a while, especially for South Africans. But political turmoil
has affected life in the Comoros. Several coups, the takeover of the government
by European mercenaries, and the assassination of a President have deterred
foreign investment and interfered with the maintenance of a solid infrastructure.
In addition, an increase in population--due to high birth rates, decreased
out-migration, and new immigrants from Madagascar and East Africa--has
placed enormous pressure on the limited resources of the islands. In spite
of these problems the future of the Comoros is promising. At present, there
is a semblance of political stability and people show creativity and industriousness
in meeting the challenges to achieving a good living. Over the years, we
have returned several times to the islands, have brought our children there
with us, and our children have visited on their own. Who knows, the lure
of the moon over the Indian Ocean, the fragrance of the air after a rainstorm,
the thrill of dancing at weddings, or just the fine cuisine and the friendly
people might still entice us into retiring there.
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