Day 12 – 17th October 2009 (Palermo, Sicily – Tunis, Tunisia)
9am, already checked in for the 11am ferry that would take us to Africa – all going smoothly. The helpfull ferry lady had told us to go to the yellow box and so we joined a queue of traffic that appeared to be boarding the right ferry and went to investigate the yellow box. The yellow box turned out to contain just two Italian border control policeman who had the unenvious task of manually ticking off (there was a computer but it looked like it hadn’t been switched on since the 80’s) and checking the documents for each ferry passenger … the yellow box was surrounded! We joined the throng (distinctly lacking any resemblance of a queue) and realised each of the other people in the “queue” seemed to be holding at least 10 sets of documents, not many of which seemed to be what the Italian border police needed to see (even Charlie Mouse knew that a photocopy of a passport was not going to cut the mustard with these guys!) … we sensed we might be here a while! We need not have worried – apparently the Ferry was on African time already and just waited until everyone was through. At around 12:30pm, with all the team safely on board the ferry, we set sail for Africa.
Miles travelled: 2 miles (total 2,124 miles) +150km on boat!
Comment of the day: Although not fully understood, the Italian customs official ripping into the Tunisian bloke who pushed in front of us in the “queue” – not for that crime but for having doodled all over his passport – idiot…
Day 13 & 14 – 18th/19th October 2009 (Sidi Bou Said – Kelibia, Tunisia)
Ness having managed to successfully offend the very nice reception lady who had given us the nicest room in the hotel the night before, it was decided that James should do the negotiations from now on and we set off to explore Cap Bon (a peninsular north east of Tunis). It is refreshing to discover the Tunisian’s not only are better drivers than the Italians but are also very friendly and welcoming, if not a bit gobsmacked to see a large white Land Rover obviously driven by foreigners meandering through their village. We found a campsite on the north east tip of Cap Bon called Centre National des Juenes (which is actually a government run youth camping centre but welcomes independent travellers as well) and were enthusiastically welcomed by Faisal, the manager, who then gave us a guided tour of the local village, including taking us to the local market to buy supplies and giving us a tour of his house, including his bedroom of which he seemed particularly proud – James was starting to get a bit concerned!
Miles travelled: Day 13 - 116 miles, Day 14 – 0 miles (total 2,240 miles)
Comment of the day: Ness “The Tunisian’s must really love their president – there’s pictures of him everywhere!”
Day 15 – 20th October 2009 (Kelibia – Korbous, Tunisia)
Today we set off for Korbous, famous in Tunisia for its hot springs. We stopped off for some lunch at El Haouaria, at the northern most tip of Cap Bon. Ness picked the restaurant, having been recommended by Lonely Planet – a beautiful setting overlooking the Med and Roman caves. Unfortunately however, it turned out to be a fish restaurant so Ness was limited to spaghetti with tomato sauce whilst James opted for “fish of the day” which he hand picked from a selection the waiter brought over … with a rather appetising marinade de flies! A bit put off by this we ate as quickly as possible before the swarm of flies could devour our food for us and asked for the bill – which came to a whopping £30 (most Tunisian’s monthly pay packet), £24 of which was the fly covered fish of the day… and we got charged on the way out for parking! Needless to say, Ness is now banned from choosing restaurants for the foreseeable future!
Miles travelled: 78 miles (total 2,318 miles)
Comment of the day: “Quick, move, William may spontaneously combust any second”
Tune of the day: Firestarter, the Prodigy
Day 16 – 21st October 2009 (Korbous – El Kef, Tunisia)
We headed west across Northern Tunisia today (after a number of U-turns having realised that the Tunisian motorway network does not actually interconnect and the only way to get to the road we needed was to go through the centre of Tunis). By early afternoon we were on the right road and happened to came across two Commonwealth War Cemeteries, immaculately kept at the side of the road. There are 8 similar cemeteries scattered across Northern Tunisia to commemorate those who fell during the WWII North African campaign.
Miles travelled: 173 miles (total 2,491 miles)
Comment of the day: James “watch out for the mines…”
Day 17 – 22nd October 2009 (El Kef – Cap Serrat, Tunisia)
Another day, another adventure! Having made appropriately appreciative noises at the Hamman keepers large goat, we said our merci beaucoup’s again and headed East toward Cap Serrat, an off-the-beaten-track beach where locals and tourists alike camp. We had a quick stop off on the way at the Roman underground city of Bulla Regia, again amazingly preserved and no barriers to tourists.
Miles travelled: 176 miles (total 2,667 miles)
Comment of the day: James “Er … where’s the road gone?”
Day 18 & 19 – 23rd & 24th October 2009 (Cap Serrat – Hammamet, Tunisia)
Today we headed to Hammamet, Tunisia’s largest (rather over the top!) tourist resort with lots of large but some good hotels – it being James birthday, we booked into the Alhambra Thalasso Hotel & Spa for a couple of nights R&R and some birthday pampering! Ah … this is the life!
Miles travelled: 162 miles (total 2,829 miles)
Comment of the day: James “Never mind that, go outside and try and get stung by a scorpion” [James trying to test the Aspivenin – our new toy, a pump action vacuum designed to suck out poison]
Tune of the day: Working 9-5, Dolly Parton
Day 20 – 25th October 2009 (Hammamet – Mahdia, Tunisia)
Feeling suitably relaxed, we hit the road south again to visit El Jem, Tunisia’s equivalent of the coliseum in Rome – impressive but we decided it wasn’t worth the TD15 pp to get in so we took a few cheeky pics from outside and headed to Mahdia for the night. According to Lonely Planet, Mahdia is a “stuck in time seaside town, charming and off the beaten track” … we obviously missed that part! All we saw was all-inclusive resort after all inclusive resort – a package holiday makers’ wet dream. With no camping opportunities in town and it being too dark to turn back, we started working the strip … starting at “Carribean World Resort” and working our way through a number of equally special self certified 5* resorts, bartering for the best deal. In the end, we settled on one which looked clean. We padlocked William carefully, checked in … and then headed straight for the free bar!
Miles travelled: 139 miles (total 2,968 miles)
Highlight of the day: Quietly observing the shiny-tracksuit-claded holiday makers at the free bar!
Comment of the day: “Look, they’re dancing in reception”
Tune of the day: The evening entertainments rendition of “Everything I do” by Bryan Adams … truly awful
Day 21 – 26th October 2009 (Mahdia – Tozeur, Tunisia)
Supporting mild hangovers from the free bar, we excitedly headed south towards the Sahara. A fairly mammoth 9 hour drive later, William’s suspension having had its first proper test, we arrived at Tunisia’s gateway to the Sahara, Tozeur …. along with a convoy of other 4x4’s, unfortunately we were not meeting out first other overlanders but en-mass day-trippers on organised tours! Hmmmm … not quite the romantic Sahara we had in mind! Still, we cooked up an awesome spag bol in the campsite and shared a glass of wine and some amusing stories with a couple of school teachers from Eastborne – our first English of the trip!
Miles travelled: 267 miles (total 3,235 miles)
Highlight of the day: finding a Carrefour in Gafsa – with meat in packages with use-by dates and everything – our new idea of heaven, we stocked up!
Comment of the day: “STOP …. it’s a real supermarket!!!”
Tune of the day: Promise by Girls Aloud (much to James’ annoyance)
Day 22 – 27th October 2009 (Tozeur – Tamerza, Tunisia)
Today we backtracked a little and went to Tamerza – a must see in Tunisia to swim in their spring waterfalls. Sadly, these “amazing” waterfalls are only about 7 feet high! Still, the drive was awesome, we saw our first (of many, we suspect) wild camels and we found a nice campsite tucked away in an oasis of palm trees - very peaceful … until we got invaded by the damn Frenchies, although they did have a very cool Land Rover!
Miles travelled: 63 miles (total 3,298 miles)
Highlight of the day: First wild Arabian camels (lots of them!)
Comment of the day: From the rather large, long haired, bearded
Frenchie that was staying at our campsite “In
France, it is the woman does the washing”
Day 23 – 28th October 2009 (Tamerza – Douz, Tunisia)
Heading south again, we crossed the Chott El-Jerid – an immense salt lake covering an area of almost 5,000 sq km. Needless to say, we only covered a small northern section of this sparkly barren landscape but even then, the mirages are slightly “trippy”. Another day and another oasis campsite … this time with hot showers though, happy days!
Tomorrow we hit the desert … which hopefully means a few less tourist coaches!
Miles travelled: 124 miles (total 2,422 miles)
Highlight of the day: Crossing the Chott El-Jerid
Comment of the day: “hmmm, I think we might be in the middle of the market” [trying to find the campsite in Douz surrounded by vegetable sellers (in William)]
Tune of the day: slight hiccup with the stereo – no tunes today
Day 24 – 29th October 2009 (Douz – Ksar Ghilane, Tunisia)
The local highlight of the week in Douz is its Thursday meat market – not a Tunisian equivalent of a night out at London’s Tiger Tiger club but where, as one excited Euro tourist told us, you can actually purchase camel meat. We decided to give the meat market a miss, picked up some very ordinary veggies and headed south again. The scenery got distinctly less scrub like as we headed toward Ksar Ghilane on the edge of the Grand Erg Oriental desert, one of the Sahara’s most expansive sand seas. Ksar Ghilane is truly an outpost – there are a few mud huts selling dodgy diesel, three campsites (mainly catering for mass tourists on overnight organised tours to explore the dunes on a quad bike or on a particularly expensive camel) and a small 4* luxury hotel… we spent the afternoon relaxing by our perfectly manicured 4* pool and slept in an awesome Bedouin style tent, with en suite bathroom. Well … technically, we were still camping!
Miles travelled: 101 miles (total 3,523)
Highlight of the day: Sleeping in our luxury Bedouin tent on the edge of the desert
Comment of the day: “I think we deserve a splurge … we are on our honeymoon”
Tune of the day: A tuneless day – too busy admiring the desert
Day 25 – 30th October 2009 (Ksar Ghilane – Gabes, Tunisia)
Today we checked out the underground troglodyte dwellings nestled in the hills at Matmata, which have been made famous as the setting for the home planet of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. As you can imagine, because of its cinematic fame, Matmata is now a big tourist hotspot with convoys of 4x4’s roaring through the village every hour being warmly greeted by local men/boys eager to guide them around … for a “very cheap, very cheap” TD10-20. Guide-less, we took the obligatory photos and quickly escaped! The only campsite in the vicinity we could find was in Gabes (a port/industrial town), in what turned out to be a sports academy and best of all, we had the campsite all to ourselves. As the locals started a game of football around us, we were just happy to be chilling away from the tourist crowds at last!
Miles travelled: rather spookily, 101 miles again (total 3,624 miles)
Highlight of the day: Getting around and out of Matmata without a
guide
Comment of the day: [Guess who] “We’ve
got to get away from these f***ing Eurotrash 4x4’s”
Tune of the day: It was a Stereophonics-all-the-way-across-the-desert
day
Day 26 – 31st October 2009 (Gabes – Ksar Ouled Soltane, Tunisia)
Having awoken to the rather loud sound of the 5am call to prayer (it turned out our campsite was in the triangular epicentre of three mosques), being fleeced (quite literally) into buying a sheep skin rug and after a rather frustrating two hours in an internet café cursing the day we brought a MAC, we were both rather glad to see the back of Gabes! Smelly sheep skin in tow, we headed to Tatouine (fake home of Luke Skywalker) and then Ksar Ouled Soltane – awesome old grain stores, rather wonkily piled on top of each other overlooking a never ending sandy valley. We hit the Ksar at sunset, the best time, and as the stone turned a beautiful pinky orange we exchanged the smelly sheep skin for a lovely watercolour of the Ksar (perfect for the kitchen wall) and a nights camping! Having pitched the tent, and William, in the middle of the Ksar courtyard, we tucked into a dinner of macaroni cheese (not for the first time on this trip) and went to sleep, excited about the prospect of a new country, Libya, tomorrow!
Miles travelled: 102 miles - still rather spooky (total 3,726 miles)
Highlight of the day: Camping in the middle of a real Ksar
Comment of the day: “Errr … that thing is really starting to smell”
** Tunisia – Top Tips **
1. Get off the boat as quickly as possible to be one of the first at the passport/custom checks
2. There are police stops everywhere – however, they never stop tourists (the only time we got stopped was to see if we would give one of them a lift!)
3. Only buy meat in the morning
4. Tunisian’s do not care for pavements and prefer to walk in the middle of the road – particularly at night in groups of 5 plus abreast
5. Every town has at least one Ave de 7 Novembre (the day in 1987 the current president, Ben Ali, seized power in a bloodless coup) and usually every other connotation i.e Rue de 7 Novembre, Blvd de 7 Novembre, Place de 7 Novembre etc. and atleast one Ave Habib Bougiba (the previous president) which can be quite confusing when whole towns only seem to have one street name
6. Although the motorways are numbered logically on the maps, the same numbers do not have appeared to make it to any signs!
7. One for the girls – although you are tolerated in cafes (usually all male preserves but western women are accepted as honorary men), beware that there is usually only mens toilets which you can easily get stuck in the cubicle waiting for a man outside to finish up!
8. Beware of the peppers that they sell everywhere, although not hot to taste – the seeds burn like chilli seeds no matter how many time you wash your hands and can wreak havoc on the eyes!
9. Watch-out for the Eurotrash driving their pimped up 4x4’s. Whilst some have Land Rovers, they are only here to rag them over the dunes and then go straight home