Le's travels: Mayotte

Kilimanjaro Club member Le Huynh, a native of Vietnam, is a globetrotter and has traveled to the farthest corners of Earth. He normally sends reports of his travels, this time from the French island territory of Mayotte.

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Dear friends,

For centuries, during the Age of Empire, the ancient Arab traders have long taken advantage of the katabatic wind, also known as the Trade wind, which blows from the Northeast in the Northern Hemisphere to cross the world's oceans in search of new economic opportunities. The Arab merchants have sailed along the East African coast and established many trading outposts for ivory, spices and (regretfully) slaves. The islands of Zanzibar were among the most famous throughout this period of Arab expansion.

Maki (local name): an endemic Lemur of Mayotte island

 A few even more daring Arab captains have continued southward and eventually landed on the Comoro islands,a group of islands in the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, about 300km North of Madagascar. Eventually,a system of prosperous city-states began to flourish under the rule of powerful Sultans who also brought with them Islam. One of these islands is the island of Mayotte.

The beaches in Mayotte are often lined with Baobab trees

For better or worse, the last Sultan Adriansouli, in order to seek protection from numerous enemies he made during the rise of his power, decided to form an accord ceding the island to France making Mayotte a French colony. Even more interesting, when the rest of the Comoro islands announced their independence, a large majority of Mayotte population voted to stay with France. It became an overseas department of France in March 2011.

So why go to Mayotte in the first place? Well, the most compelling reason is that tourists are almost non existent there :-) Those dashing few that deserted the well-trodden path of Madagascar are rewarded to be left alone on their quest of authentic flavors! This is nature at its unspoiled state with all its rough edges and wild life, especially a coral reef lagoon that can rival the best of any reef system in the world for its quality of pristine ecosystems.

Mayotte deserves to be on the list of UNESCO world heritage sites but then again, but I prefer not because if it ever happens, the tourists would be coming...

Le

Mayotte 2012

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http://madarakanyerere.blogspot.com/2010/03/les-despatches.html
http://madarakanyerere.blogspot.com/2012/05/kilimanjaro-club-member-le-huynh-native.html
http://madarakanyerere.blogspot.com/2010/10/pose-with-crocodile-i-pass.html