PLACES
Africa consists of a multiplicity of different places. Here will be given a special highlight to each of them. We start with Guinea Bissau and its Bijagós Archipelago.
Situated on the west coast of Africa, Guinea Bissau, with 1.8 million inhabitants, consists of a multiplicity of ethnicities, languages and religions but united around a single nation, where the land is fertile and nature is generous.
The geography of the country is characterized by a low altitude area. Its highest point is 300 metres above sea level. The interior is formed by savannas and the coast by a marshy plain. Along the Atlantic coast are 88 islands, most of which are uninhabited.
Welcome to the Bijagós Archipelago.
BIJAGÓS ARCHIPELAGO
The Sacred Treasure of the Atlantic
Traveling is undoubtedly the best way to collect memories. When you plan your next trip, set out for the Bijagós. You will enrich the soul and open the mind before a magical place. You will come with a full heart and willingness to repeat. It's an experience for life. Bijagós has the advantage of not being more of the same, but precisely what no one has ever seen and this is where the opportunity lies. Bijagós is located on the west coast of Africa, with 40,000 inhabitants and only 3.5 hours flight from Lisbon. Don't expect to find what you already know.
Lush nature, white sandy beaches, blue sea where even hippos delight in salt water.
Bijagós is a mystical, sacred place where people are guided by the power of nature, from sunrise to sunset, with a vast biodiversity. Animal life, marine parks, protected areas, virgin beaches. No wonder it has been classified by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve.
Everything here has been respected since its existence. It is a live museum that knows how to preserve traditions, which gives it a very own identity. The Bijagós Archipelago is genuine and faithful to its essence. It lives with open arms, ready to receive, according to the philosophy Idinós (it is ours, in Creole) which means that everything is from all over the world. When we arrive at Bijagós we have much to learn.
The small island of Poilão is a sanctuary for the green turtles that flow here to spawn. Man in perfect harmony with nature. The snaking of the water channels that guide us through the islands
One of the first learnings is to know that the society of the archipelago is admittedly matriarchal, that is, it is organized around the power of women, being their authority recognized and respected by all. It is up to the woman to ensure the food of the community, being responsible for the agricultural activity, which extends from cultivation to the commercialization of products, fulfilling a very rigorous working day. In the political space it is her voice that is heard to deal with the affairs of the tabanca (village), without neglecting their reproductive role whose condition gives the woman the highest status of the family hierarchy.
It is within this organization that the people of Bijagós live, known for being honest, upstanding, kind and hospitable, who share and know how to receive. They are proud of their spiritual life and lives in harmony with the teachings, habits and customs of the past. They understand and respect nature, so they have been able to avoid humanization and mass tourism, considering the islands as sacred and a place for ritual practices. The repeatedly evoked awareness and environmental sustainability (which is so much talked about in the modern world) has long existed in the Bijagós, because it has been so since forever, according to the experience and belief of its people.
