I don’t think most of you have heard of this island nation of the east coast of Africa in the Mozambique Channel called COMOROS! This nation is very distinct in its language and culture. They speak a language called Shikamoro found nowhere else in the world.
The culture is French, Arabic, and Swahili all at the same time. They have lots of French colonial architecture, with Mosques and Islam, and Shikomoro is a dialect of Swahili. We chose it because for the last round of countries I wanted to do Comoros but we felt like we should pick another continent to do it on. So read farther and Happy Travels!
Interesting Facts
- Mt. Karthala is one of the most active volcanoes in the world erupting on average
every 11 years - A Grande Marriage as some weddings are known is Comoros can last up to nine days
- Comoros is the biggest producer of Ylang-Ylang , a flower used in perfumes and the second biggest producer of vanilla after Madagascar
- The endangered Livingston Fruit Bat – a species of megabits with a wingspan of 4 feet – are only found in Comoros, and only about 1,000 are left!
….For more information on Comoros check out the Power Point here: Comoros_Moroni
Food
The food is a mixture of French, Arabic, and local flavors. Arabic because of the spices like cardamom used in the cuisine. French because of the pastries, cream sauce and other French food used in Comoros. But the pastries are made out of coconut and the sauces have a local twist on them. But I would agree that it is so much better than that stinky Durian sauce of Brunei and we would definitely make it again.
Breakfast
Vitumbua Recipe – This is a delicious coconut and rice cake with a coconut caramel sauce that me and Mama loved but Andrew didn’t like it.
Dinner
Langouste A la Vanille recipe – This is LOBSTER in a vanilla cream sauce. The sauce was 
bitter but it did go well with the lobster. and we also made shrimp as well as lobster in the U.S. is really expensive. (In Comoros lobster is like chicken to them!)
Pilau Recipe – This is avery well flavored rice with lots of spices in it. It has peanuts, bell peppers and tomatoes inside. I loved it and had it for lunch the next day.
Shredded Green Mango
Culture
Most men in Eastern Africa wear a cylindrical shaped hats called a Kofia (or hat in Swahili) . Unlike a Kofia in other parts of Africa, the ones in Comoros have lots of tiny holes in to help the man’s head breath better. And also there is intricate embroidery all over with lots of Arabic symbols. Here’s more information Comoros Kofia along with other traditions.
So we made our own Kofias. We used yellow poster paper and thin ribbon, 
along with a sharp thing to poke holes in the hat.
- Cut a strip of paper about three inches tall, and long enough to fit around the top of your
head. And a circle to fit in it. - poke holes all around the strip
- draw a pattern or Arabic writing
- With a glue gun, glue ribbon to follow the pattern
- Tape the strip together and tape circle the edge of the round strip.
….Next time we will be back with D….and will stay in East Africa
- By Isaac
Playroom Passports 