The Perfume Islands and Ylang-Ylang

The Comoros are known as the Perfume Islands, for their hillsides are cloaked in fragrant plantations of ylang-ylang, the star-shaped yellow flower whose intensely sweet essential oil is a prized ingredient of the world's finest perfumes, and the archipelago is one of its leading producers. Alongside grow vanilla and cloves, filling the air with scent. Visitors can tour the plantations and simple distilleries where the flowers are picked at dawn and steamed for their oil. This fragrant heritage sits within a rich Swahili-Islamic culture, expressed in music, dance, craft and, above all, the Grand Mariage, the lavish, days-long traditional wedding that is a central social institution.

What you actually see

• The ylang-ylang plantations - the fragrant flower fields and distilleries.
• The vanilla and cloves - the other prized spice crops.
• The Grand Mariage - the lavish traditional Comorian wedding.
• The Swahili culture - the music, dance and craft traditions.

When to go

May to October, the cooler, drier season, for the most comfortable travel and plantation visits; ylang-ylang is harvested and distilled through much of the year, best seen in the early morning when the flowers are picked. Grand Mariage celebrations, often held in the drier months, are a spectacular cultural highlight if one can be witnessed.

Honest expectations

The plantations and distilleries are simple, working operations rather than polished tourist attractions, so visits are informal and best arranged with a guide, and the Comoros overall is remote and little-visited with basic infrastructure. The Grand Mariage is a private cultural institution, witnessed respectfully if the chance arises. As a fragrant and fascinating window into the islands' scented economy and rich Swahili culture, though, from ylang-ylang to the Grand Mariage, the Perfume Islands offer a genuinely distinctive experience.

Nearby

The plantations and villages of all the Comoros islands hold the traditions.