Anjouan

Anjouan, or Ndzuani, is the most mountainous of the Comoros, a rough triangle with three ridges running out from a central massif, deep valleys between them and the steepest terrain in the archipelago. Ylang-ylang, the flower that goes into perfume, is distilled across the island. Mutsamudu is the main town with its medina, and Lac Dzialandze and the waterfalls sit in the interior. The island holds around a third of the country's population on a fraction of its land, which is why the pressure on the slopes has been so severe.

History

The first people on the island were Bantu speakers from East Africa and seafarers from Indonesia and south-west Asia, and in the late 15th century Hadrami Arab immigrants married into the ruling families and founded a sultanate that held the whole island and at times reached Mwali and Mayotte. In English it was long called Johanna, and in 1644 John Mucknell marooned his opponents here before turning pirate. The island stayed within the British sphere of influence until France made it a protectorate in 1886; slavery was abolished in 1899, France annexed the island in 1912, and in 1975 Anjouan joined the independent State of Comoros (Wikipedia, Anjouan).

The landscape

• The three ridges - the mountain arms giving the island its triangular shape.
• The ylang-ylang - the flower distilled across the island for perfume.
• The valleys - the deep cuts between the ridges.
• The interior - the central massif holding the lake and the falls.

When to go

May to October is the drier and cooler season. The rains run November to April with cyclone risk. Ylang-ylang is harvested through much of the year.

Practical notes

Roads are steep, narrow and in poor condition. Deforestation on the slopes has been severe and the landscape shows it. Facilities outside Mutsamudu are minimal.

Nearby

Domoni is southeast, and Grande Comore is northwest.

Key facts