"I wonder anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speak."
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Three years ago I was standing in a smokey East London bar having the usual post-mortem after the World Travel Market. This annual and hectic Trade Show hosts anyone who is anyone in the world of tourism.
What was the state of the market?
Who was doing well, who was struggling?
Were there any holes to fill in our company strategy?
What were other people doing that we weren't?
How can we differentiate ourselves with so many other African tour operators flooding the market place?
How are we to maintain our edge?
Tesna, one of my smiley and (thankfully) quirkey colleagues broke the flow of industry-speak with a sudden and passionate outburst about a new spot that she had been assigned to represent.
Ibo Island, being billed as the 'new Zanzibar'.
Virtually unknown to the outside world and undisturbed for centuries, this little island forms just one part of the Quirimbas archipelago in Northern Mozambique.
The words flowed out from Tesna's mouth....
It is a place where 'time stands still'.
It contains people so innocent that they are 'untouched by the greedy pull of capitalism'.
It is a 'blue paradise' where artisans work to make the most delicate of jewellery.
...and there is this beautiful lodge that overlooks a sea dotted with fisherman's boats.
Here, there are some of the deepest sunsets on the planet.
None of us had heard of it.
Only a hand full of westerners visited.
It had the makings of the sort of place where I might fall in love (with what or who I didn't know). In that moment I clocked it, resolved to visit one day and have kept it on my radar ever since.
Ibo Island is not easy to box up into words and due to this, I have been avoiding putting fingers to keyboard for months now.
How do you begin to describe a place which brings to the surface such deep emotion? Does the very act of describing something so beautiful reduce it to the finite, degrade it somehow?
True to type, I have to start from the only place that makes sense to me, from within.
How was I feeling as our light aircraft bumped down onto the grassy runway...
What was going on the inside as we pulled up next to Ibo Island domestic airport, Terminal 1....?
Wow, looks like a wonderful place. To think of it overflowing with tourists though is sad, I hope it never happens.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Dan - it's such a sensitive issue and a big responsibility to be involved in opening an area up to tourism. Thankfully Fiona and Kevin, who are instrumental to Ibo's development, are aware of the pitfalls and are going for high-end, sustainable tourism where the local people see real benefits in terms of employment and social improvement. There is already a Montessori school on the island as a result - which is really cool :)
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