(To read in english, please roll down the page.)
Harare é a capital do Zimbábue e significa "Cidade que não dorme".
Quando disse a um amigo moçambicano que ia a Harare e que essa ia ser a minha segunda vez na zona sul de África (depois da Cidade do Cabo) ele disse-me "Agora é que vais ver a verdadeira África!". E vi.
Harare não tem muitos pontos de interesse turísticos, por isso optámos por fazer um jeep safari com um guia local (Lance) e aproveitar o melhor que a África tem para oferecer: a natureza.
Foram 6h de passeio com este zimbabuense. Contou-nos histórias e curiosidades sobre o país e a cidade. Contou-nos ele que, uma vez que a situação política do país está grave, com um grande número de empresas a fechar e população sem emprego, maior parte da população simplesmente anda pelas ruas a matar o tempo. E, por isso, agradeceu-nos de hora em hora a oportunidade de poder trabalhar naquele dia.
Outros improvisam negócios de rua, vendendo pequenas bijuterias feitas à mão, com materiais reciclados como, por exemplo, caricas de garrafas e latas.
Outros ainda tentam vender nas estradas, entre as duas faixas de trânsito. Os produtos vão desde frutas a souvenirs.
Quando vimos crianças no meio do campo, umas a brincar, outras com vestidos tradicionais a dançar, perguntámos se não iam à escola. "Algumas vão...". As outras, inventam danças e depois dançam na rua, a troco de moedas.
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| Pub em Harare. |
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| Maçarocas de milho são muito frequentes e vendidas na rua, depois de grelhadas. |
Fomos então ao Lion and Cheetah park, cujo preço é 7 $USD (O dólar do Zimbábue foi descontinuado em 2009, fruto da crise).
Neste parque só podemos entrar de carro. Não é permitido sair do carro ou andar dentro dele com as janelas do carro abertas. É, basicamente, uma reserva natural onde podemos encontrar leões no estado selvagem.
Normalmente eles andam em redor dos carros, por isso é possível vê-los bastante perto. Desta vez, talvez por não ser ainda hora de alimentação, ser muito cedo e estar frio/chuva, os leões mantiveram-se todos no topo das rochas. O único que desceu e esteve a cerca de 2 metros do nosso carro... escondeu-se do outro leão macho que estava com a fémea e ali ficou.
Na outra parte do parque é possível sair do carro e ir, com cuidado, para perto dos animais.
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| Tommy, a tartaruga mais antiga do Zimbábue. Tem 300 anos e pesa 500 kg. |
Terminámos o dia com um pequeno passeio a um mercado de souvenirs. Não há grande variedade e todos os ímanes são feitos à mão, bastante simples. A pressão para comprar alguma coisa é enorme e não existem postais à venda, como costumam haver na maior parte dos destinos. E, se lhes perguntarem pelo selo, não sabem o que é.
No entanto, se lhes perguntarem como estão naquele dia, a resposta é sempre dada com um sorriso na cara: "Tinofara" (em xona, estou feliz). :)
Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe and means "City that does not sleep".
When I told a Mozambican friend that in the end of the month I would go to Harare and that would be my second time in the south part of Africa (after Cape Town), he said "Now you're going to see the real Africa!" And he was right.
Harare does not have many tourist points to see, so we did a jeep safari with a local guide (Lance) and enjoyed the best that Africa has to offer: the nature.
It was 6 hours with this Zimbabwean guy. He told us stories and curiosities about the country and the city. He told us that, since the country's political situation is bad, with a large number of businesses closing and a lot of people without jobs, most of the population simply walks in the streets with nothing to do. Because of that he thanked us every hour for giving him the opportunity to work that day.
Others improvise street businesses, selling small handmade jewelry with recycled materials.
Others try to sell on the roads between the two lanes of traffic. There you can buy fruit or souvenirs.
When we saw children in the middle of the field, some playing and others in traditional dancing dresses, we asked him if they don't go to school. "Some of them go...". The others make up dances and then dance in the street for coins.
We went to the Lion and Cheetah park (7 $ USD - The Zimbabwe dollar was discontinued in 2009, due to the crisis).
In this park we can only get in by car. It is not allowed to get out of the car or to have the car windows open. It is basically a nature reserve where we can find lions in the wild.
Usually they walk around the cars, so you can see them quite close. This time, perhaps because it was not yet feeding time, was too early and cold / rainy, the lions stayed on top of the rocks.
In the other part of the park it is possible to get out of the car and go, carefully, to near the animals.
We finished the day with a short walk to the souvenir market. There is no great variety and all magnets are handmade, quite simple. The pressure to buy something is enormous and there are no postcards for sale, as there are in most destinations. And if you ask about the stamp, they don't know what it is.
However, if you ask them how they are on that day, the answer is always given with a smile on their face: "Tinofara" (in xona, I'm happy). :)
**
When I told a Mozambican friend that in the end of the month I would go to Harare and that would be my second time in the south part of Africa (after Cape Town), he said "Now you're going to see the real Africa!" And he was right.
Harare does not have many tourist points to see, so we did a jeep safari with a local guide (Lance) and enjoyed the best that Africa has to offer: the nature.
It was 6 hours with this Zimbabwean guy. He told us stories and curiosities about the country and the city. He told us that, since the country's political situation is bad, with a large number of businesses closing and a lot of people without jobs, most of the population simply walks in the streets with nothing to do. Because of that he thanked us every hour for giving him the opportunity to work that day.
Others improvise street businesses, selling small handmade jewelry with recycled materials.
Others try to sell on the roads between the two lanes of traffic. There you can buy fruit or souvenirs.
When we saw children in the middle of the field, some playing and others in traditional dancing dresses, we asked him if they don't go to school. "Some of them go...". The others make up dances and then dance in the street for coins.
We went to the Lion and Cheetah park (7 $ USD - The Zimbabwe dollar was discontinued in 2009, due to the crisis).
In this park we can only get in by car. It is not allowed to get out of the car or to have the car windows open. It is basically a nature reserve where we can find lions in the wild.
Usually they walk around the cars, so you can see them quite close. This time, perhaps because it was not yet feeding time, was too early and cold / rainy, the lions stayed on top of the rocks.
In the other part of the park it is possible to get out of the car and go, carefully, to near the animals.
We finished the day with a short walk to the souvenir market. There is no great variety and all magnets are handmade, quite simple. The pressure to buy something is enormous and there are no postcards for sale, as there are in most destinations. And if you ask about the stamp, they don't know what it is.
However, if you ask them how they are on that day, the answer is always given with a smile on their face: "Tinofara" (in xona, I'm happy). :)
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