Mamoudzou is the main town on Grande-Terre and the commercial heart of Mayotte. The morning market on the waterfront is a good first stop: vendors sell mangoes, ylang-ylang flowers, spices, and traditional Comorian fabrics. The town is a genuinely African-French hybrid — baguettes in the bakeries, djinn-beads and traditional shawls in the market stalls, and the call to prayer competing with French radio on the taxi-brousse radios.
From the Mamoudzou ferry terminal, small boats cross every few minutes to Petite-Terre and the administrative capital Dzaoudzi. The crossing takes about ten minutes and gives a good view of the lagoon. The town has a few good restaurants, supermarkets stocked with French goods (at French prices), and the practical services that travelers need as a base.