Thirsty Thursdays: 9 Bars And Cafes I Visited In Comoros🇰🇲

Comoros is not a sociable country, so to say, and this is a good thing. It’s chilled out and relaxed. People don’t bother you here, I loved it! As a tourist, people are welcoming and friendly. You don’t get harrassed and hassled. It’s a breath of fresh air really. You can walk by anonymously, at least in Grande Comore, the only island of the hat-trick that I visited after securing my Comoros visa on arrival into Hahaya international airport.

I was stressed out, not just after being shitpacked by The Maldives, but three further cancelled flights and a broken phone made it impossible for me to book flights out. Both my banks (an English one and a Polish one) force me to receive a TEXT message each time to confirm every large transaction. Of course, at Comoros away I had no reception, no signal and couldn’t receive those text messages. At one point I was worried I had booked the same flight 5 times. Somehow, the internet finally allowed me to book through lastminute.com the day of my departure to allow me to leave, and find a safe and easier (ish) route back home to Poland, £2,000 less off. Ouch. This was definitely my worst trip ever, the Rainy Summertime tour was supposed to be cheap. So I found solace in the bars of Comoros away from the stress of shitpacking.

Here are the top 9 cafes or bars I was in.

1.Alimentation Generale Kafe, Itsandra

Aside from my stay at Farida Lodge, this was the first cafe or bar I was in during my 4 days in Comoros. I called in for a coffee at Alimentation Generale Kafe on my first morning. I had backpacked here to Itsandra from Moroni, the capital city. It is also known as Pause Cafe.

At the time, I had no local change – the local currency is the Comoros Franc and all my Euros and dollars were in minimum size banknotes of 20s. I had Euro coins but they weren’t accepted, so the owner of the Cafe said don’t worry, I can have a free coffee! But I didn’t accept that and told him I would call back in a few hours to pay him 500 Francs, which is about 88 pence.

Incidentally I did pop back mid afternoon and pay him in the local currency and another coincidence here is that the girl in the above photo actually worked in La Habana Bar by the beach, and later on my return, she was my bargirl and waitress! Definitely proof that people from Comoros are friendly.

2.Karthala Bar, Itsandra

Now for the posh bit. The dear one. I heard about a swanky resort called Itsandra Hotel and Resort which has a bar, a pool, a private beach and Wi-Fi. For this reason, I decided maybe it’s a good idea to pop in to buy one beer, check it out and use their internet.

After walking through the lobby at this swanky resort, I headed to check out the two main bars – The Bamboo Bar and the Karthala Bar. Both were open, and quiet. I sat down in the Karthala Bar, named after the country’s famous active volcano. I ordered up a Three Horses beer, which comes from Madagascar. The only other beer option was a Heineken (yuk!). The price was 5,000 Comoros Francs, which works out at £8.80, exactly 10 times the price of my coffee!

After ordering, it became clear I was the only customer in here drinking alcohol! I was also able to pay with a 20 US Dollar bill, and receive the change in local Comoros Francs. Within minutes, I was joined by the bar manager, Hakeem who was curious what I was doing, as I had started to write my notes on paper over the beer by the balcony. After being introduced to each other, he gave me information about the bar, the resort and Comoros. We swapped contact details and he knew I was blogging about Comoros.

After meeting Hakeem, I was given access to the private beach and to see the resident tortoises, including a big tortoise.

I chilled out on the beach for a bit and also visited the other bar, the Bamboo Bar which is the place for sunset and evening entertainment, though I’d be long gone by that time.

In hindsight, the poshpacking at Itsandra was worth it for the swanky bar, the private beach and the tortoises. All I bought was that one beer.

3.Bamboo Lounge Bar, Itsandra

Also inside the Itsandra Hotel and Resort, is the trendy indoor Bamboo bar with a Comoros flag, a massive cocktail, balcony views and a quirky speaker system! Prices are the same as Karthala Bar, and it’s a 2 minute walk between the two bars!

4.La Habana Resto Bar, Itsandra

I visited 4 bars/cafes in Itsandra in total and my last one here in this village was La Habana Resto Bar. Here, I had a Pirate 8.5% beer!

This is a real cosy one and reminded me a bit of the Black and White Bar at Plage N’Gor in Senegal in 2016.

The 8.5% beer was 3,500 Comoros Francs, about £6. Not cheap of course, but with a great view and a place to relax on a beach away from stress, it sufficed before I decided to backpack south again, walking all the way back to Moroni, the capital city.

5.Le Cafe De L’Alliance, Moroni

Where France and Comoros meet here in the quirky Le Cafe De L’Alliance and I was in this place twice. I had a delicious spicy sausage, jalapeno and cheese roll here with a coffee on day two. It’s very cheap too. That bap was about £1 (700 Comoros Francs) and coffees and teas even slightly cheaper.

On the third day, I had a morning ginger tea here. There are some murals up and it’s a relaxed wee cafe.

6.C La Vie, Moroni

I met a fellow backpacker and travel blogger called Eva Kathure in Farida Lodge in Moroni. It was Eva who told me there is a nightclub right next door called C La Vie! And so in I went two nights out of the three that I was here.

It was 3,000 Comoros Francs for a Horses Hat-trick beer in here, that’s about £5.

7.Hotel Retaj Bar, Moroni

The second upmarket and swanky bar and hotel on this list comes from the famous Hotel Retaj in Moroni. This seems to be the most luxurious hotel in the whole country. I popped in merely out of curiosity to check it out. Surprisingly despite being a five star hotel, this hotel is unlicensed and even during weddings, there is a strict no alcohol policy.

I chilled out and checked out the “soft drinks bar” and found out from the lady on reception that the nearby Med Resto is licensed and is a popular bar. This had also been recommended to me by Hakeem in Itsandra.

8.Med Resto, Moroni

This place was the best bar in Comoros for me – local, cheap, cheerful and friendly. I could have sat in here for a few hours each day, but I only really backpacked Moroni on one afternoon and chilled here for about 3 hours, drinking 2 beers and taking 2 away to drink at the hostel, since it was the cheapest place. A 12% strong Atlas beer was 1,750 Comoros Francs, basically half the price of everywhere else, about £3.

9.Makeshift Airport Bar, Hahaya

My final send off to Comoros bar life was in the airport. I went to the wrong airport initially in Hahaya – the domestic airport. I had arrived into the Domestic Airport from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania! Therefore I wrongly assumed it to be the international. I finally got my boarding pass at the international airport, a 5 minute walk and went to the bar as I had 2 hours before my flight.

There is no alcohol in the bar here, but they had miniature spirit bottles for a few Euros in the duty free shop, so I grabbed a whiskey and a gin and mixed these with Coca Cola and Sparberry here, and again on the flight.

3 nights, 4 days, 9 bars or cafes and off I flew, finally to Mayotte! As well as these bars, I also ate a coconut by the street which was £1 and I visited a bar that was closed bu the manager apologised as they are refurbishing it – Al Hourba. Faida below was open but I didn’t go in.

Here are some videos of my times in the cafes and bars in Comoros: