Day Trips from Moroni

A collapsed volcanic bowl filled with jade-green brine, Lac Salé feels like the island's private infinity pool. The rim circuit takes 45 minutes and delivers postcard shots of the northern coastline. Duck down the concealed path on the east bank and you can drift in the lake, then claw up the Dragon's Back ridge for 360-degree views over the Indian Ocean.

Ten minutes south of Moroni, Iconi's cliffs shear straight into the sea where, legend claims, women once hurled themselves to dodge slavers. The 16th-century palace ruins sit just back from the lip. Local kids will lead you down the secret staircase the sultan's wives used for pre-dawn ocean baths. It's the fastest culture hit you can wedge in before lunch.

The island's second volcano is shorter than Karthala but steeper, and the trail to the 1,470 m summit begins inside dripping, moss-hung forest. You'll hear, and maybe spot, Livingstone's bats with 1 m wingspans flapping above. On clear dawns you look east to see Mohéli and Anjouan hovering like paper cut-outs on the horizon.

Circle the island's untamed northern tip on a road that feels like a goat track. Pause in Chindini for octopus curry ladled into a coconut shell, then push on to Bouni where fishermen haul pirogues onto black sand. The lagoon is shallow enough to wade 200 m out at low tide, and no one will hassle you, there isn't a single kiosk.

Africa's largest active volcano last coughed in 2007; the 2,361 m summit is a full-day haul. Most hikers settle for the first crater rim (about 1,800 m) where you perch on the lip of a 3 km-wide ash bowl and watch clouds boil up from the depths. The slope is a monochrome moonscape of cinders and silence, broken only by the wind; you'll probably have it to yourself.

Yes, it's another island. But the new government ferry makes it painless: depart Moroni at 7 am, dock in Fomboni at 9.30 am, snorkel the marine park at Nioumachoua, devour lobster on the sand, and ride the 4 pm boat home. Dolphins often surf the bow wave, and on calm days you can spot whales in the channel.