The travel reports illustrate how the sense of home and the other one is produced and transformed.
The link between travel and the pursuit of knowledge is clear and transcends cultural and historical boundaries; Therefore, BibliASPA has a line of research on “Travel narratives as a metaphore of the search for knowledge”.
The borders of South America and the Arab and African countries are permeable, crossed by travelers whose paths reveal common characteristics in the cross-cultural production of knowledge.
Travel narratives are acts of translation, practices of seeing, doing, making one self doing, hearing and making one self be heard.
Here we present reports on South American, Arab and African countries:
South America
Arab countries
The riches of Tunisia
Tunisia is a country full of good reasons to visit. Most of all, it highlights its historical aspects, a result of the strong presence of the different people who have passed through here. It was for these reasons that we decided to visit this country and go on an adventure. A small country, but quite wonderful. This is Tunisia, a nation established in North Africa that has fascinating attractions in areas lightly larger than half of the State of São Paulo.
From the blue coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara Desert there is a world different from ours in the geographic, population and cultural sense. There you can see ruins of the Roman Empire, many in better preservation than those in Rome, beautiful cities lit by the scorching sun, mosques, medinas (ancient cities, surrounded by walls, houses and shops), dug villages in stone, dromedaries, deserts and oases.
Book at least a week to get to know Tunisia. There are specialized guides who make sure that the tourists leave very well informed. The hotels are excellent and the service is great. If you have the time and money, a good advice is to stay at one of the many luxurious resorts on the beautiful beach of Hammamet. There, the night life is marked by the excitement of the casinos.
A flight from Sao Paulo to the capital Tunis takes about 11 hours. Already at the airport, the tourist is surprised by sumptuously oriental decoration.
A must stop is the city of Monastir. Be sure to visit the mausoleum of Habib Bourghiba, built by him long before his death.
Just half an hour from the capital, on the Mediterranean shore, is Carthage. Registered by Unesco in 1972, the city is important to the history of mankind and holds traces of past glories of Tunisia. Visit the city without haste, photograph the ruins, enjoy the columns and arches of the buildings still intact. More recently Carthage was rebuilt and today houses the presidential palace, as well as mansions painted in white, where high society lives.
Near the town of Tataouine is Chenini, a village with a little more than 100 Berber families who live like their ancestors, in semi-troglodytes houses, completely dug in the mountains.
Arriving in Douz, the main attraction is the dromedaries. There tourists can wander through the Sahara Desert on these animals.
Jerba Island is also sensational. To get there you have to take a ferry from the port of Gabes. The island is noted by many as the high point of Tunisia’s tourism. Surrounded by the turquoise blue sea, the island is populated by the Jerbians, who live from fishing, mainly from the octopus. Inside the island there is the Synagogue of Agribe, the oldest in the country.
Even though it is a liberal country, foreign tourists have to take care not to be misunderstood. In Tunisia the Muslim religion predominates, so dress in well-behaved clothes. Bargaining is part of the culture, you can buy a product with up to 90% off. The desert climate is dry and warm, do not forget to bring sunscreen. Do not drink tap water, buy mineral water. There is no sweetener; If you like, carry it in your bag.
Tunisian cuisine has wonderful dishes, be sure to try the kus-kus, a dish made with farofa, chicken and potatoes. The languages ??of Tunisia are Arab and French.
For these and many other reasons worth getting to know Tunisia, this Arab country that is discovering the value of tourism and conquering people from all over the world. Good trip!
Claudia Mohamed, a Muslim from the Moroccan family, graduated in tourism, a professional photographer and a writer in love with Tunisia.
“A man needs to travel. On his own, not through stories, pictures, books or TV. He needs to travel by himself, with his eyes and feet, to understand what is his. To one day plant his own trees and give them value. Knowing the cold to enjoy the heat. And the opposite. Feel the distance and the shelter to be right under the ceiling. A man must travel to places he does not know to break this arrogance that makes us see the world as we imagine it, not simply as it is or can be. That makes us teachers and doctors of what we did not see, when we should be students, and just go and see. ”
Amyr Klink in Sea without end
