Today we visit Comoros. A country I’ve never even heard of. Although, I suspect I’m not alone in this.  Even though Comoros is obscure, it’s hard to believe we’re only 38 countries into this challenge and already I’ve reached a country that I had no knowledge of its existence.

So today we’re going to change that. Comoros is a volcanic archipelago off Africa’s east coast nestled between Madagascar and Mozambique. It consists of three larger islands and multiple smaller islands with a population of around 800,000 making it slightly more populous than Bhutan, but less populous than Cyprus.

Like Madagascar, Comoros was formerly part of the French colonial empire, and also like Madagascar Comoros is a big producer of vanilla. In fact 40% of Comoros’s exports are spices and 17% essential oils, specifically ylang-ylang.

Since achieving independence from France in 1975 Comoros has experienced a pretty difficult journey experiencing more than 20 coups or attempted coups. However, in the past decade has been refreshingly coup-free from what I can tell.

Comoros is often mentioned alongside Mayotte, the other large island in the archipelago. Despite this, they’re separate countries, with Mayotte remaining part of France. This remains contentious to this day with both Comoros and France claiming sovereignty over Mayotte.

Unsurprisingly for an island nation, fish and seafood is big in Comoros and the national dish is Langouste a la vanille, or grilled lobster with vanilla sauce. I know where my Dad will be pushing to go for his first post-covid holiday!