Dzaoudzi, Mayotte

So.... has anyone ever heard of Mayotte in the Comoros archipelago? I never did until today. We are 300 miles north of the tip of Madagascar and about the same distance from the coast of Africa. In other words, we are about as remote as a person can get - it is a third world country that has myriad opportunities, but no real way to capitalize on them. Mayotte is a “collectivite territoriale” of France which means they have many of the French-based standards, such as surfaced roads and minimum wage, which is 6 times the average minimum wage established by the adjacent non-French Cormoros Islands. This means they also have baguettes and croissants! We had the good luck to be on a zodiac boat which took us to an area near the reef that had dolphins and spinner dolphins that were very interested in our boats and the small wake that they created.
We then went to a small, deserted beach to snorkel. We saw some incredible living coral in colors of blue, purple, pink and lime green. There were fish that were different than any we had ever seen before. Schools of iridescent fish were pink initially, then turned turquoise as the school changed directions. Below were another group of fish that were just slightly bigger and more turquoise, and below that were larger brown fish with a cobalt blue saddle. One could simply hang in the water and experience a different underwater world that was completely captivating. My last swim in revealed a starfish that was about 24” in diameter and brilliant blue. Nancy reported seeing a similar one that was hot pink. Who knew that this world existed?
The guys who were leading our group called us all out of the water to go back to the ship with all of us saying “just 5 more minutes!”.
The geographical beauty of this area is astounding and we find ourselves looking at the numbers of islands and the crystalline water and feeling mesmerized.
The first photo is the spinner dolphins playing by our zodiac.
The second photo is one of the bays we went by.
The third photo is the women in town who wear a paste-like covering on their face to prevent wrinkles - kind of like wearing hair rollers out to dinner!Read more