03/09/2026
My magic is Ilha de Moçambique!
Long before people on Ilha knew me as Harry Potter, I was simply Genito, a boy growing up between the stone streets, the makuti roofs and the sea.
Then one day, I saw Harry Potter taking off on his broom on Portuguese television. I liked the name. I took it for myself. And somehow, it took off too.
Years passed. I learned to sail, to cook, to guide and to listen. I learned languages from the people who arrived on the island from all over the world, and I learned how to tell the stories of the magical place where I grew up.
Since 20011, I have worked as an official UNESCO guide. But what I share has never been only monuments and dates from history books. I take people into the everyday life of Ilha: out to sea in traditional sailing dhows, where we meet fishermen on the water; into local fishing neighbourhoods and markets; to centuries-old wells that still live in local myth and community life; and to the uninhabited islands surrounding Ilha, across the turquoise shallows, where coral reefs and old shipwrecks lie beneath the water.
Along the way, I share Macua culture, food, stories and the people who make this place what it is.
If there is magic in my story, I know exactly where it comes from. Come with me and see for yourself.
