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Published: February 12th 2013
Le Galawa
The largest beach at Le GalawaBack to Grande Comore
Once again it was a sad goodbye to our friends. Living in such close proximity, even though they gave us our own 'space' so to speak, we still spent a lot of time together, chatting and getting to know each other even more. On a boat there is not much space to go to be by yourself if you wanted to get away from anyone, but we all seemed to get along well and it was great bonding time for us and our sons.
Our taxi stopped at the airport, but it didn't look much like an airport with no planes in sight and the building a bit run down. No neon lights guiding you to the right desk. We walked in not sure where to go, but soon we were assisted. We must have had tourists written on our foreheads with an invisible ink that only Comorians could read as we seemed to be the only foreigners there. Our plane tickets were handwritten, but neatly placed in a cardboard envelope. Our plane landed and within no time at all it was off loaded and reloaded with us on
Fomboni
Entrance to the airport at Fomboni, Moheli board. The flight back to Grande Comore was another experience with a difference. We boarded a small plane at Fomboni, I think there were only about twelve or maybe eighteen seats at the most, but plane experts will be able to correct me on that one. No seat allocation, we could sit anywhere we wished so of course we all chose window seats. The pilot came through the same door as the passengers and we noticed he was of rather large stature! He had to crouch and squeeze between his seat and the co-pilot’s seat to sit in his place at the front and take command of the aeroplane. Then we took off. It was a smooth flight with no in flight service and our entertainment was looking out the windows at the sea and other islands below. Our last sight of Moheli as we flew away, a lush green island – we certainly had no regrets spending some time there. I must confess I told a small lie in my last blog. We did get to see Anjouan, but only from the air. Still, we saw it, right? Does that count? Our flight was about 1 hour 15 minutes
Our Plane!
Waiting patiently and was over before we knew it.
As we flew in to Grande Comore we saw a distinct line where lava had flowed in April 1977 from its active volcano, Karthala. A black path of rock making its way down the hill to the ocean with greenery on either side. What a frightening experience that must have been for those in close proximity and just over 1000 square kilometre of island there isn’t really that much space to hide if this volcano becomes angry!
Arriving at Le Galawa felt quite surreal. Resort life felt so different to the last ten days, but it didn't take us long to become sloths and adapt to this lifestyle. It felt quite strange to be sleeping in a room instead of a cabin, although we still felt the movement of the ocean for a while afterwards, especially when bending over! Truth be told, we quite missed Bossi and friends!
There was still plenty to do while we were there. Our sons were eager to explore the water sports while we relaxed on the beach, swimming, snorkelling and enjoying our last couple of days before heading
Fomboni airport
Looking back at the airport building before boarding the plane back home. Once again the colours of the bays were pleasant to the eye, looking at the dark almost black volcanic rock against the azure blue sea with green palm trees in abundance. Just before sunset while enjoying cool drinks we watched bats take to the air - the biggest bats I have ever seen! Large swarms of them taking off to forage at night. Some lazy ones were still hanging in the trees but eventually they took off as well.
Meals were lavish affairs and we ate far too much, one would think we never had any food for the last few days! It was also rather strange dressing up for dinner, for the last 10 days we were laid back, living in our swimsuits or shorts and t-shirts right up till bed time. After dinner as is custom to resort style, evening entertainment was laid on. We watched dancing, singing and small cabaret type shows.
Another trip was over and one which we safely secured in the chambers of our memory bank along with the others before. While resort life has its place and one can languish in luxury and abundance of
Anjouan
Don't blink, you might miss it! all things good, it certainly doesn’t hold as much adventure as what it does exploring on foot, by yacht or any other mode of transport you choose.
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