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TUNISIA
For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.
Sanskrit Proverb
12th May
We decided to head for the Isle de Djerba, a vast, low-lying, sandy island linked to the mainland by a long causeway, built in Roman times.
The rural landscape had been shaped by years of Berber traditions, olive groves covered large areas of the island and many of the trees we were told, were hundreds of years old. The simple, domed houses with their bright blue shutters and doors, were an immaculate, dazzling white in the sunshine, with vivid, purple and pink bougainvillaea cascading over the walls in brilliant contrast.
We drove into Houmt Souk, the main town on the northern coast, its ancient streets lined with shops selling beautiful pottery, tapestries, rugs and other souvenirs. Everything however, seemed to be closing down, in marked contrast to many of the shops and restaurants in Libya and Egypt that stayed open until very late.
We parked Moby in the square opposite the police station and found a converted funduq for the night, with its typical, large courtyard surrounded by whitewashed galleries and rooms, more beautiful bougainvillaea spilling over the balconies and colourful Tunisian tiles surrounding the fountains and on the stairways. The restaurant just around the corner was worthy of its recommendation, especially as it served real beer and local wine!
13th May
We took Moby for an oil change before leaving for Auberge Centre Aghir on the east coast, where there would be camping at long last by the sea.
The drive took us past fields and fields of olive groves set in straight rows through the burnt, orange soil. Men in brown or grey cloaks, sandalled feet and wide-brimmed, straw hats, leaned on their sticks and watched the world go by, whilst the older women pulled their patterned swathes of light fabric around them revealing very little.
Only 3 other vehicles were on the campsite, only steps from the beach and an aquamarine sea. No shade however, so once again our canopy came in useful. Little squeals close by, led us to investigate a nearby bush. We found a pile of tiny puppies, not yet with their eyes open but fortunately with their mother, who was looking very thin but wagging her tail. It soon became clear that a number of people were concerned about her welfare and were bringing her food. We filled a large, hollow, concrete brick with water for her and placed it by the bush. With so much attention she could obviously afford to become a little choosy, as she didn't seem to like the vegetables that we put down for her but enjoyed corned beef and a hard boiled egg!
It was great to be camping again, cooking our own food and enjoying beautiful weather with lots of fresh air.
15th May
We left the island today, hoping and praying that puppies and mother will survive. Fortunately it is the tourist season now, so hopefully there will continue to be plenty of dog lovers amongst them who will make sure they have food and water.
We drove back over the causeway to join the mainland once more and continued south to Ksar Ouled Soltane, about 25 kilometres south west of Tatouine. We explored the extraordinary, fortified granary or ksar, built by the Berber tribes and used as slave quarters in one of the Star Wars films.
From here the road to Matmata became mountainous and very green. To escape the intense, summer heat, the Berbers tunnelled their houses underground, amongst the strangely, sculptured hills and sandstone formations. These 'pit' homes had rooms that tunnelled out from a large, central courtyard and hundreds of these were discovered at Matmata, many of which are still inhabited today. A few have been transformed into hotels, the most famous of which was the Hotel Sidi Driss, used for the Lars family homestead in 'Star Wars' and also for 'Attack of the Clones.'
There was still 90 kilometres before reaching Douz and as we climbed higher, the green and mountainous landscape appeared sculptured into huge folds, sliced with horizontal lines where rock changes occurred.
At Douz we camped at The Desert Club, situated amongst a palmeraie with a clean and sandy area for setting up camp. Definitely to be recommended for its excellent food, hot showers and cleanliness, helpful owners and peace and quiet, although it was only a 5 minute walk from the centre of town.
17th May
Thursday (today) was the big market day in Douz which also included livestock. Sheep, goats, donkeys and horses were tethered amongst the palm trees, with a small group of camels standing in one corner. Market stalls filled the main square as well as the streets and these were full of noise, people, colour and smells. Berber rugs and blankets made from camel and sheep hair hung outside the cool interiors of shops, their intricate patterns and rich colours all done by hand. Beautiful Tunisian pottery, piles of desert rock roses, dried fish, spices, nuts, olives, fruit and vegetables, hardware, clothing, soaps, perfumes and jewellery could all be found.
18th May
Today we took the road south west of Douz to Zaafrane and El Faour, where we turned off on to sand tracks that would hopefully take us out to the desert, the vast, sand sea of dunes, the Grand Erg. We had been told that ideally a guide was needed to find the right tracks but we hoped to try and find them ourselves following a number of way points (26 in all) that the Desert Club campsite had provided.
Things began well with frequently used tracks running alongside a huge palmeraie and into the desert, but once amongst low dunes these disappeared altogether and the way points did not help. We spent some time searching for a route amongst the dunes. However, after about 15 kilometres, we had to decide whether to stop and let air out of the tyres before we could continue further, as the fine talcum powder sand was very soft, or call it a day. We decided on the latter, as by then it was almost midday and the sun was like a laser out of a clear, blue sky. How I hate to give up on things but the big dunes could not even be seen in the distance and we reckoned we should have been half way there.
Back to the road and on to Rjim Maatoug where men were digging for desert rock roses and selling them at the side of the road.
From Matrouha the road followed the border with Algeria and at Hazoua we noticed a border crossing.
We headed for the huge oases of Nefta and Tozeur close to the edge of the enormous salt lake, Chott el-Jerid. At Tozeur we camped amongst shady trees at Camping Beaux Reves. Hot showers but the ablution block needed some attention.
19th May
From Tozeur we took the road to Gafsa, Kasserine and El Kef with mountains on both sides of us in the distance. Everywhere was much greener now with a wonderful mixture of colourful, wild flowers at the sides of the road. It reminded us of when we visited Morocco in the spring a few years ago.
From a distance, El Kef was a collection of white buildings nestled on the hillside, with the Kasbah or fortress protecting it from above.
We found a wonderful spot to wild camp, in a clearing half way up a wooded hill and with an amazing view. The grass was full of wild flowers and we had the company of a tortoise that made its way over to us and buried itself amongst the grasses for the night.
20th May
We heard the cuckoo this morning! This was such a beautiful place to wake up to, with our spectacular view spread out before us, beyond deep green pine trees. Bird song and bees, butterflies and giant, green and yellow grasshoppers busy amongst the trees, grasses and flowers. This is what camping is all about! Why hurry, it was Sunday, Tunisia's day of rest, so we sat and enjoyed our breakfast with our little tortoise still in his patch of leafy green grass, waiting for the sun to warm him up a bit more. It was chilly first thing but by 9 a.m. it was necessary to find shade.
We drove back towards town, marvelling again at the cottage garden roadsides, fields of golden corn, scarlet poppies and rows and rows of olive trees.
We visited the kasbah, the latest of many that have occupied the same site since the 5th century BC. A delightful and very enthusiastic man welcomed us and gave us an interesting tour. He gave Bill a sprig of sage leaves and me two red roses at the end and insisted that before we left, we try a glass of his special coffee infused with geranium leaves. Surprisingly it was served cold but was delicious.
We took country roads southwest to Sers and on to Kairouan through a landscape of distant hills, tall, dark green Tuscan trees, rows of olive and fig trees, wheat fields and huge, prickly pear. The smell of pine trees drifted in through the windows and the wild flowers continued, a riot of colour, along with huge, fluffy, thistle heads waiting to be blown by the wind. Tractors stood idle as farmers sat resting from the heat of the day under the shade of olive trees.
Through a short tunnel at El Garia and we were amongst craggy rocks and hills, with the odd palm tree and pink bougainvillaea growing wild in the fields and alongside dry river beds, that held just a trickle of water.
The landscape flattened and the hills veered away into the distance as we neared the outskirts of Kairouen, where roadside cafes had glass-fronted cabinets full of pastries and small cakes. I had heard about their speciality, 'makroud' - a delicious, honey-soaked pastry filled with dates.
It was so hot again that we decided not to stop in the town but to head to the coast at Sousse, where we hoped it might be cooler with a breeze from the sea.
Sousse was like a huge, seaside town full of big hotels, souvenir shops, racks of postcards and crowds of people, including many tourists with sunburnt bodies. The Tourist Information was unfortunately closed as it was Sunday, as they might have been able to help us find a campsite amongst the hotels. We decided to continue away from the crowds to Hammamet at the other end of the Gulf de Hammamet, printed in small type on our local map and without even a hotel symbol on our Michelin map. Imagine our surprise when we found enormous, palatial, 5* hotels strung along nearly every road. We felt we had suddenly been transported to Hollywood or Florida, it was almost grotesque! It seemed that every hotel was trying to out-do the other in the most extreme forms of opulence. New shopping malls and rows and rows of tourist, souvenir shops were also everywhere, to tempt the holidaymakers. It would have been pointless building a moderate hotel, you would have been out of business before you started!
We spent nearly 2 hours driving around trying to find a campsite, following wild goose chases by well-meaning locals and politely turning down the suggestion to park and camp at the side of the road!
Outside of the town we found only cultivated fields and all tracks led to a building or farm, we were not going to be so lucky tonight. By about 8.30 p.m. we decided to give up and take a hotel. Well, which should we choose? We were spoilt for luxurious choice! There was not a modest one in sight and everything was grand, spanking new! The first one that we pulled in at with good security for parking (a priority), was amazingly 'complet', (full)!
Our next choice, Hotel Alhambra built like a fortress, had a very helpful security guy on the gate who phoned through to Reception for us to see if there was a room, whilst we waited at the barrier. He came back smiling.
"Yes, there is a room available but will the price be a problem?"
We must look as if we couldn't afford this!
"And what is the price?" we asked with baited breath wondering where on earth we would go if this was way over the top.
190 dinar for 2 people we discovered, including breakfast and an evening meal, but we would have to hurry because the restaurant closed at 10 p.m. That was approx £80 including all meals, quite reasonable we thought for a palace! The interior was really beautiful having only been built 4 years ago, with arched corridors, soft leather armchairs, tasteful furnishings, lots of greenery, beautiful flooring and lighting and we were just in time for the evening buffet! This was going to be much more luxurious than parking at the side of the road for the night and cooking our meal on the pavement!
21st May
We felt somewhat subdued today at the thought of being so close to Tunis now and our African journey almost at an end. Once there, all we had to do was to arrange the boat that would take us to Genoa in Italy.
After leaving our wonderful hotel at Sousse, we called in at the next town, Nabeul, famous for its pottery. The choice was overwhelming but having to get it all back in Moby, without getting chipped or broken (especially as it was mostly for presents), determined what could be bought, which was just as well, as it would have been very easy to get carried away!
We continued around The Cap Bon, a peninsula that points toward Sicily, with long beaches to the south but more mountainous along the northern coast, a region of fishing, farming and huge, orange groves.
Through Kelibia, where I made a mental note of all the local furniture shops along both sides of the main road. Through Hammam Lif and into Tunis, our last, big, African city!
It took us some time to locate a hotel that had secure parking, but a policeman directed us to the Hotel International on the main Avenue Habib Bourguiba, recommended as it had its own parking area at the rear of the hotel with 24 hour security. It was also very conveniently situated for walking around the town.
22nd - 23rd May
We checked out information on the ferries to Genoa at various shipping agents in the town but decided to drive out to the port at La Goulette for ourselves, which was a good move, as we found more choice of days and prices there. An Italian ship was leaving the next day at night, the 24th, so we booked Moby and ourselves on this.
The Tourist Information was able to give us details of 2 campsites in Hammamet. We made the decision to drive back there and found Ideal Camping, soon after leaving the motorway. We wished we had known of this before. We were the only ones there and it was a very relaxing place, except for the train, which ran surprisingly frequently and only about 50 metres away, behind a row of trees. It was also a point where it was necessary to hoot a number of times but we did get used to it!
We had shopped at Carrefour outside of Tunis on the way to Hammamet and bought some brown, crispy bread, cheese, stuffed olives, fresh vegetables, apricots and oranges which made a really nice meal, our last evening meal in Africa. Very sad!
24th May 2007
We did not have to be back at the port today until the evening, as boarding the ship was not until around 7 p.m. We decided to have a relaxing, final day at this peaceful campsite. There were wonderful, hot showers, heated by solar panels in the roof of the spotless ablution block. Definitely to be recommended!
We finally left about 2 p.m. stopping to fill up with diesel and get oil, as although it was dearer than Libya here, we imagined that it would still be cheaper than Europe.
At the port we found rows of camper vans also waiting for the boat. We changed our remaining dinars into euros, leaving enough to have lunch and an hour on the Internet in the small town of La Galette.
Returning to the port later, we pulled up behind a very familiar vehicle. Our travelling friends Claude and Alain were catching the same boat! What a coincidence! The last time we had been with them was in The Western Desert in Egypt. It was great to exchange news and they kindly invited us to stay with them, once back in France.
We finally boarded the ship about 8 p.m. The 'Coraggio' was a new ship, having made its maiden voyage in March/April of this year. Our cabin was comfortable and very clean, although we did feel that there would not have been a problem putting our tent up and sleeping on the deck with the campervan people, who were allowed to stay in their vehicles. The food was good but expensive, European prices were suddenly a bit of a shock!
We were very late sailing and it was almost midnight before the ship left the harbour.
We went up on deck to say our goodbyes to Africa.
Books and maps showing people's journeys across this immense continent have been a fascination for many years and now what a fantastic journey we have also shared, amongst the diversity and sheer vastness of this magnificent continent.
We have so many wonderful memories of its people, landscapes and wild animals. We have been fortunate in experiencing wonderful hospitality and in meeting and sometimes also travelling with, other like-minded people of many nationalities.
And we have been lucky. Only 1 stubborn border official in Sudan and 3 awkward policemen in the whole of our journey. Once for speeding in Mozambique (definitely questionable, as we had just pulled away from the side of the road after having lunch), once for not wearing seat belts in Kampala (nobody else we noticed was wearing them) and once in Senegal for having things on our roof such as the tent, spare fuel cans and wood for our evening fire (other passing vehicles were piled high with sacks, people and goats)! Perhaps as Westerners, they thought we should have known better!
We managed to leave each situation on good terms however, without paying any bribes and without the officer losing face. Very important!
We originally planned a journey for 1 year but needed 1 year and 8 months and we would love to return, to visit new places and again to some of those already visited.
We hope that our family and many friends, some of whom we made during our trip, will have enjoyed reading about our journey and we thank all of those people who have written messages to us on our website.
We are sure that people will ask us which country we liked best. Impossible to answer, as every one that we visited had its own, spectacular highlights.
We covered nearly 48,000 miles and Moby has been a fantastic and reliable vehicle over the most testing and varied terrain. By the time we finish camping in France, he will have been our trusty home for nearly 2 years.
If anyone out there has their own thoughts about making such a trip, we would say without hesitation, go ahead and good luck, it will be a memorable experience and Africa will change your life. However good planning is essential, particularly with your vehicle and be prepared for routes to change.
'THE ADVENTURE IS OVER.
EVERYTHING GETS OVER AND NOTHING IS EVER ENOUGH. EXCEPT THE PART YOU CARRY WITH YOU.'
E. L. Konigsburg
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