The Comoros islands are wrapped in a fragrant blend of ylang-ylang oil, Arabic aesthetics, African warmth and French chic. There are cobblestoned medinas with higgledy-piggledy lanes and old world charm; ports bristling with white sailed dhows; tropical moons rising over white beaches; the sun setting over the ocean in a riot of reds and oranges; and a colourful history of sultans and soothsayers, plantantion owners and eloping princesses.

But despite all these charms Comoros and Mayotte remain the least frequented and least travelled of all the islands in the region. This may have something to do with the islands' reputation as a backwater, or it just might have something to do with the political coups, civilian riots and seccessionist plots that come and go with seasonal punctuality. Not for nothing has Comoros been nicknamed Coup-Coup Land.