Moroni

Moroni is another world 🌏 It is a timeless place where the air is heavy with romanticized Arabia. The whitewashed buildings on the coast and dozens of wooden boats moored between volcanic rock jetties. At dusk I see dozens of men and boys swimming with the gigantic silhouettes of fruit bats fluttering above their heads 🦇

Bazaar

A hectic mess of noise, smell and color. Wandering 🚶‍♂️ through the narrow streets of the old Arab 🕉️ quarter, I pass women in brightly colored chiromani (cloth wraps), their faces plastered with yellow sandalwood paste.

They crawl over piles of fruit 🍉🍊🍌 and fish, waving clouds of flies trying to avoid being crushed by the crowds of pedestrians and ramshackle vehicles 🚌 Groups of men dressed in white 👳‍♂️ spend the hours between prayers playing dominoes 🎲 played on smooth stone benches.

In between are broad boys (hawkers) flaunting plastic sunglasses, Muslim fanatics rushing into the crowd, and toddlers playing in the dust. The men at the bazaar generally don't mind being photographed by me 📸. The women denials scream and wave me away 'NO PHOTO Monsignor!' Some children spontaneously come to the camera and pose.

Golden Tulip

The door is opened by a Picolo. Red leather chairs ♦️, small cozy tables with art deco lamps, a water pipe in the corner. Exactly what I had hoped for in the Golden Tulip. The most luxurious hotel on Grande Comoros. Beautiful ribbons of mother of pearl sand and volcanic rocks lapped by turquoise waters and backed by lush palm trees and barely a soul in sight.