I often call myself “Velha do Restelo”, that famous character from Camões, symbol of the conservatism of those who criticized the epic of the Portuguese Discoveries.
Maybe that's why the most bitter coffee I had was in Bissau, while a boy with sad eyes looked at me on that terrace so attractive to anyone who goes there for tourism or other reasons! During the rest of my vacation in Guinea, I would never again sit on terraces or restaurants consuming what is forbidden to the locals themselves. Idiotic Radicalism? I do not know! But I know that it was in this corner of the world that my tears ran down in the middle of the streets, at the lives and gestures of grandeur of those who have nothing. Had the old man from Restelo been a visionary? I do not know!
Until a decade ago, the only way to get into Nouakchott, Mauritania, was to cross the many kilometers of beach, at low tide, on a journey full of coyotes, birds and adventure. This path is no longer done! We now arrive through a black line that cuts through the once inhospitable landscape. I know that the charm is not the same for those who make this trip, but I don't know what changes it brought to its people, who saw many tourists and passersby arriving on the beach who stayed there for several days. I do not know!
Also around this time, El Chaltén, in Patagonia, was a lost place on a journey to the center of the earth where we were surrounded by mountains, lakes and glaciers. Whoever went down for a day stayed a week. I know it has grown, everything is now easier and more abundant for those who go there. But I don't know if life got any easier for those who started the dream of living there, nor do I know if day travelers still decide to anchor there until they've discovered all the trails. I do not know!
Palolem, in India, was one of the places where time stopped me and serenity was the watchword. A year ago, a friend told me that he never stayed there because of the massification of resorts and dirt. I don't know what happened to the small resort where I stayed or the lovely people I met. I do not know!
Every time I remember magical places I passed, some in the heart of the desert, I realize that they have grown, changed and are no longer similar to what fascinated me. Has rapid development brought your people the best? I do not know!
Perhaps it's selfishness that makes us want to retain places as we've always seen them. I do not know!
Perhaps the changes and “development” were better for those who live there. I do not know! Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of humanity was the epic Discoveries. I do not know!
I just know that we should know how to enjoy each place without wanting to carry our daily lives there. Even if it means missing some of the basics of our usual daily life. But each time we move with our needs and desires, we also carry with us the seed of “growth” and development. I don't deny the good that is the balanced degree of development and the improvements in life that it has brought us! But when do we know how much we should grow? When we know that what we have is enough at the risk of screwing it up? I do not know!
I am the daughter of tourism in Sagres. In the beginning, the accesses were so bad that the Portuguese families who were on vacation here stayed here for entire seasons. They were the Portuguese families with the greatest economic power in our country. Tourists from other nationalities, namely German and American, completed a picture that brought prosperity to those who lived here. The lobster bowls emptied as they were being cooked and not even the ones I chose to play with escaped from the pan. At night, with friends from vacations and “grandfather” Henrique, we would go looking for owls in the old jeep around Vale Santo. In these times, when access was the worst and life was simple, tourism was born and Sagres and its inhabitants began to grow.
Today, with good access, a lot of commerce and mass tourism, many of these families have left in search of other places, many stores open and close and, as a friend, a son of these times, said one of these days, “the time to earn money our parents had it”. Lobsters, these, are few who eat them around here, these days. And some operators I work with stay overnight in places that our desire for “development” has not yet struck.
I grew up watching Sagres change in a frightening way, believing the north wind would never allow for major changes. Today I no longer believe in the strength of the wind. Is it selfish to want this little territory not to change too much? I do not know!
I know that quality tourism does not mean quantity and I know that we should start learning to “decrease”. Don't take steps bigger than your leg, my father taught me!
Was it wrong? I do not know!
Our generation grew up in a distancing from political life and the critical sense that I believe returns in my son's generation. Because we point the finger and complain as if the evil that exists in our society and in politics was caused by everyone else. But this evil is ours that we have strayed from our role as social individuals. Because we stopped being satisfied with less, and wherever we went, we left our signature well marked, not being more interested than our achievements. Am I wrong? It might be! I do not know! I know that wherever I go there is an “Old Restelo” afraid of what will come!
Is it wrong? I do not know! Our planet will tell you!
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