Travel guide for Comoros
The Union of Comoros is known as the Land of the Moon and the Land of Spices. It is an island country in Africa located in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the northern entrance of the Mozambique Strait on the east side of Africa. The Greater Comoros Islands, Anjouan Islands, Mohelli Islands and Mayotte Islands that make up the Comoros Islands are known as the four pearls in the western Indian Ocean. There are abundant tourism resources, beautiful island scenery and distinctive Islamic culture, but tourism resources have yet to be fully developed.
Best time to travel The Comoros Islands have a hot and humid maritime climate, with little change in annual temperature differences and abundant rainfall, making it suitable for travel all year round. It is recommended to play for about 3 days.
Visa Instructions China citizens can apply for visas at the Embassy of Côte d'Ivoire in China, or apply for visas on arrival at the Immigration Department (airport or port).
Visa application process·The visa applicant determines the subjects and itinerary plan; ·Consult the Consular Department of the Embassy of Côte d'Ivoire in China for relevant visa information and request a visa application form and a list of materials required for visa application; ·Prepare visa application materials; ·Go to the Consular Department of the Embassy of Côte d'Ivoire in China to handle visa application procedures; ·Wait for visa review or supplement information according to the Embassy's requirements;·After receiving a visa, you should promptly and carefully check whether all information on the visa is correct, especially whether the starting and ending times of the visa validity period and the number of days of stay are consistent with the one applied for. Whether the personal information on the visa, such as the spelling of the name, is correct. If any errors are found, contact the embassy in time.
Visa materials Ordinary visa application materials: valid passport (valid for more than 6 months); 4 photos (recent color photos on white background 3.5*4.5CM); visa application form in quadruplicate; round-trip air ticket orders; hotel orders; other information, such as invitation letters, etc.
Materials for visa on arrival: passport (valid for more than 6 months); air ticket order; hotel order; one correctly filled out application form; 2 passport-size photos.
Visa fees The average visa fee for Comoros is US$100. The fee can be paid in U.S. dollars, euros or Comoros francs. The visa authorities of Comoros issue visas valid for two weeks, but the validity period can be extended.
Address of the Consulate in China: Room 032, Unit 1, Building 3, Tayuan Diplomatic Apartment, No. 1 Xindong Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing City Tel: 010 - 85322041 Fax: 010-85322640 Email: comorosbeijing@gmail.com
Entry and Exit Instructions Comoros Customs stipulates that cargo transportation agents are responsible for filling in relevant forms and handling customs declarations for all imported goods (including duty-free goods). Customs tariffs include import tariffs (divided into four levels: 20%, 15%, 5% and zero tariff) and consumption tax (10%). The department implements a single import tariff on rice, gasoline, and diesel, at US$0.11/kg for ordinary rice and US$0.42/kg for high-end rice; US$0.5/liter for gasoline and US$0.3/liter for diesel. (As of January 2015) Customs has no special restrictions on carrying cash and duty-free items. Tourists are not allowed to bring specimens of protected species such as hawksbill turtles, sea turtles, speartail fish, and sea cucumbers out of the country, otherwise they will be prosecuted by law.
Transportation Notice Aéroport international de Moroni Prince Said Ibrahim, the capital of Comoros, is 12 kilometers away from the city. Taxis is mainly used to travel to and from the airport. Moroni International Airport has flights from Kenya, Madagascar and Yemen Airlines stopping to Nairobi, Antananarivo and Sana'a. There are no direct flights to China. Comoros Airlines (privately owned) has regular weekly flights to Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte, but the aircraft is small and safety needs to be improved.
Note on Currency: The Comoros franc is the legal tender of the Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros. Its currency name is fen, 1 franc =100 cents. The currencies are 1, 5, 25, 50, 100 francs and 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 cents. Currently, there are 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10000 francs in circulation.
Communication and Internet mobile roaming: Telecom roaming fee is 31.99 yuan/minute, text message is 3.59 yuan/piece, and traffic is 0.08 yuan/KB.
Internet card: The international area code for Comoros is 00269, and the international area code for Mayotte is 00262; if you need to make international long distance calls, you only need to dial the destination international area code in front of the number; domestic communication charge: 50 colones/minute. Comoros mobile phones adopt the GSM standard, and domestic GSM mobile phones can be used after being replaced with local SIM cards. WIFI: Internet penetration is very low. The network bandwidth is optional, with a maximum of 4M. Wireless Internet access is available.
Eating Habits The staple foods of Comoros are rice, corn and cassava. They love to drink a mushy soup made of tapioca. They often drink a bowl after meals or after work and feel refreshed immediately. Roasted bananas, roasted cassava, and baked breadfruit are the main foods at Comoros-style banquets, and coffee is the drink of ordinary families in Comoros.
Shopping Guide African wood carvings mainly refer to the carvings of tropical Africa (that is, West African peoples). The main types are figurines and masks. The hot tropical climate can easily destroy wood carvings, so ancient wood carvings cannot be preserved at all. However, wood carving creation techniques have a long history and ancient traditions, showing the light of mysterious people.
African drums originated from West African tribes and are traditional musical instruments of indigenous peoples. It is usually beaten while hanging around your neck, rather than beating on the ground. The most special thing is that this instrument must be tapped by hand, with one hand adjusting the pitch and the other to strike the rhythm.
Medical conditions and medical insurance: Comoros has an underdeveloped economy and relatively backward medical and health facilities. Except for Mayotte Island, the department currently has a larger hospital on each of the three islands in the country, but difficult diseases need to be treated abroad.
Comoros does not have a social medical insurance system, and even national public officials have to raise their own funds for medical treatment.
The Ministry of Social Affairs of Comoros has a National Health Administration, which is responsible for national medical and health matters and publishes information on the medical treatment of infectious diseases.
The main epidemic infectious diseases in Comoros in recent years are: (1) Malaria: The main epidemic is falciparum malaria, including cerebral malaria, renal malaria, diarrhoeal malaria, etc., which are prevalent throughout the year. Plasmodium has many varieties, strong drug resistance, high recurrence rate, and difficulty in preventing. The incidence rate of local residents is 35%, the mortality rate is high, and the child mortality rate is above 5%.
(2) Cholera: It spreads for 4-6 months every year, mainly from July to October every year. The disease is fierce and epidemic quickly, and is generally prevalent in urban population areas. Due to poor medical conditions in the department, it was difficult to accept patients in time during the cholera epidemic. Thousands of people fall ill every year on Daco Island and Moroni City. Anjouan has higher morbidity and mortality rates.
(3) Hepatitis: Hepatitis B is mainly prevalent throughout the year, with an incidence rate of 6%.
(4) Dengue fever: epidemic in the rainy season. The main incidence areas are in rural areas. The incidence rate is 10%, and the mortality rate is high.
(5) Filariasis: It is prevalent throughout the year, with an incidence rate of 8-10% among local residents.
(6) Gastrointestinal parasitic diseases: Due to poor living conditions and sanitary conditions, local residents often suffer from this disease and are difficult to cure. In addition, Comoros is an island country with difficulties in transportation, lack of supply, poor drinking water quality, and irregular water cuts and power cuts all year round, which has a great impact on work and health.
Tips for
1. Comoros uses East African time and belongs to the Third Eastern Region. Therefore, time in Comoros is five hours slower than time in Beijing. For example, when China time is 13:00, time in Comoros is 8:00.
2. The people of Comoros are a peace-loving and peaceful nation. Overall, the crime rate here is low. Open robberies and fights on the streets are rare in the capital and other places. If you live here for a long time, you should be wary of burglary. When taking a taxi, you must negotiate a good price to prevent illegal drivers from taking the opportunity to extort money.
3. Comoros strictly abide by Islamic rules and ban pork and alcohol.
4. The language of Comoros is mainly Comoros, a dialect of Kiswahili, while French, Arabic and Malagasy are also widely spoken languages. About 57% of the population can read and write a language written in the Latin alphabet, while a larger proportion can read and write Arabic.
5. China's driver's license cannot be used directly locally. You can apply for a Comoros's driver's license at the Transportation Bureau with this license. Vehicles go to the right, and pedestrians stay to the right. If you travel by car, you must prepare sufficient fuel and tires.
6. Comoros uses a French-style power interface with a voltage of 220 volts; the power plug is a three-flat type three-compartment socket. If domestic electronic equipment is a two-flat-head socket, it can be used directly. Other types require the use of a conversion plug to be used.
7. The average temperature is 28℃ during the day in all seasons. It is recommended to wear cool and breathable clothes such as cotton and linen shirts, thin skirts, and thin T-shirts; the average temperature is 20℃ at night. It is recommended to wear short suits, T-shirts, thin jeans and trousers made of single cotton and linen fabric. Comfortable clothes such as casual wear.