Summer 2025 saw me embark on my long awaited and self-monikered “Rainy Summertime Tour“. I chose 4 new island nations to backpack through and I did it in the so-called Rainy Season. After backpacking The Maldives, where of course all inclusive holidays are commonplace and expected, I was back on the backpacking trail again at Zanzibar away.
Zanzibar came with a few thrills. Firstly, I was able to get an authorisation for travel insurance ahead of my visit so my arrival in “the bar” ran smoothly. I spent my first few days checking out Stoney T (Stone Town) on the Freddie Mercury pilgrimage (posts to come) and I slept at the Bottoms Up hostel. Later I headed east to the magnificent Seasons Lodge in Pongwe! Wow, this would also be epic and fit for all-inclusive packages but alas I was backpacking it, but at least travel blogging still brings around the odd sponsored trip and stay.
After Zanzibar, it was ducking back into mainland Tanzania and onwards to Comoros for a few days before I landed in Mayotte!
Mayotte is an enigma in that Comoros claim it, France officially own it but in Jonny Blair’s world, it is a separate country. I got a passport stamp on arrival and checked into the excellent L’Escale Hostel in Mtsapere. Officially I was backpacking in Mtsapere but of course I made the short 45 minute walk to the capital city on foot to check out the sights of Mamoudzou, Mayotte’s undervisited capital city. Here are my top sights when backpacking Mamoudzou…
1.Mamoudzou Harbour / Ferry terminal
You will probably arrive into here at Mamoudzou Harbour and ferry terminal. I did, and the reason I arrived into Mamoudzou by ferry is that I flew direct from Comoros to Mayotte and the flight lands on Petite Terre island, yet I was sleeping and staying on Grande Terre island. To connect between the two, the ferry is the most obvious route. It only costs 1 Euro each way, but somehow I got it for free – they weren’t checking tickets. I don’t know if it was Bastille Day or something, but there I was by night arriving into Mamoudzou by ferry. It’s an amazing wee trip I think it was about 20 minutes between the two islands. Great views and a calm arrival into the capital city.
When the time came to leave Mamoudzou, I also left by ferry from the harbour here. There are a few cool bars by the harbour to drink in and grab the obligatory baguette – seemed to be the national food (not even joking) when I backpacked it and asked the locals!
2.Mayotte National Football Stadium (in Mtsapere)
If you have followed Don’t Stop Living since 2007, you’ll know I always try to backpack a football stadium, and if I can, the main national stadium. I got lucky in Mayotte as the national stadium was near where I was sleeping, it was open and there was a training session on!!
I got inside, had a beer (I snuck in a C.O. so I did), chatted to some local lads and even got more lucky as one of the lads after training was getting on his motorbike and riding to the capital so he didn’t charge me to hop on the back. It’s only about 10 minutes on motorbike from the national stadium at Mtsapere to Mamoudzou.
Officially Mayotte doesn’t have a FIFA recognised international football team. I hope that one day it will, as Guadeloupe, Martinique and New Caledonia all do and they are also French overseas regions. As well as the stadium here, I also backpacked the national football stadiums in Reunion Island And French Guyana. Toifilou Maoulida is probably the most famous footballer ever to hail from Mayotte. He was never capped at full level by France but he did play top level league football for Monaco, Marseille and a few other French teams.
3.Mamoudzou Market
Although I’m not much of a shopper (I’d rather spend my time and money in bars, cafes and restaurants) I had to duke into the famous market down by the seafront. Definitely not mind-blowing and actually I didn’t even buy anything here, but worth checking out all the same. From clothes to washing up liquid to souvenirs to mangoes – all of what a market should have is here. Including fake football shirts.
4.Downtown Mamoudzou
I backpacked through the streets of the downtown including some murals, a sports centre, a shopping centre and the city hall (l’hotel de ville). It’s a calm and quiet capital city here with not a lot of things going on. I only had two days in Mamoudzou and to be honest that was enough for me.
5.Beaches and coastal path
I wasn’t here to be beach loyal or even go for a dip – I mostly used The Maldives and Zanzibar for that escapade. Here, I merely backpacked along the coast. Mamoudzou has a few beaches and the island itself is scattered with them. Sometimes you just want to chill out with a cold beer overlooking the harbour and there are plenty of outdoor bars, cafes and restaurants to do that in.
6.Viewpoint From Mtsapere
I was sleeping at L’Escale Hostel in Mtsapere, which is to all intents and purposes a suburb of the sprawl from Mamoudzou. There are a few recommended hikes up to viewpoints. For me, it sufficed peaking out my district for 2 days and checking out the view of a Sunday morning in the sun over the Africalasian Ocean (remember that I de-Indian-ified that ocean!).
Apart from those sights, I hung out in the bars, cafes and restaurants in Mamoudzou. It’s a fairly relaxed city to hang around in. I didn’t use public transport at all – I either backpacked or took a taxi (once). I also did my shopping in a massive French style supermarket as my apartment had a full working kitchen. My favourite bar was Le Moana. I met some cool people in here, drank a bit, enjoyed the views, watched live sports and got chatting to the owner.
Here are a few more photos from my time in and around Mamoudzou, capital city of Mayotte. It was a great place to visit.
