Wednesday, March 26, 2008

On a tropical island far far away

In December I visited an island called Anjouan which I reckon must be the remotest part of the planet I have so far visited. Tucked away in the Indian Ocean, it has only 2,000 visitors a year.

Anjouan is part of the Comorro Islands which were granted independence from France in 1975 (one island, Mayotte, which I also visited, decided to stay French). Since independence, the Comorros have experienced 19 coups and attempted coups. There was talk of one when we were sailing to Anjouan, though at that point it didn't happen.

However, for the past few weeks, Anjouan has been under the control of a rebel leader. The other islands in the group however have launched an invasion, backed by Tanzanian troops. The rebellion has now been crushed.

This has barely been reported in the UK media but I know about it because over the weekend I was contacted by an American media company who wanted to use my videos I shot when I was on the island. At that point it wasn't a war zone, just a tropical paradise.

So here are the videos:
A visit to Anjouan
A welcome in Anjouan
Dolphins in Anjouan

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