Blogs from Djerba, Tunisia, Africa

Hi all, Tunisia was incredible, but I have to admit, not what I expected. I arrived late afternoon and was picked up from the airport and brought to my hotel. I immediately noticed, this was not my typical choice - all inclusive resort, tucked on the beach, and well away from local life. I was excited though, after all, I didn't plan to stay in my hotel all day! As I explored the hotel, I was greeted non-stop. It was a bit shocking - souvenir store clerks, tour guides, and animators swarmed the hotel and they all knew immediately I was new. At first, it was nice. I would stop and chat, but then the offers kept coming. They could show me the best tour, they could take me for a walk to the place with ... read more

One of the landmarks we were most excited to visit in Djerba was the La Ghriba Synagogue. It is the oldest synagogue in North Africa and is home to one of the oldest copies of the Torah in the world. I know intuitively it may sound strange to think of a Jewish holy site in Tunisia, but this particular Jewish community in Djerba dates back to 586 BC, which makes it one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world outside of Jerusalem. The community in Djerba is now much smaller. Some accounts say there are 1,000 Jews living in Djerba and other accounts report only a few hundred. After visiting Erriadh and walking around the community for several days, I have to question whether there are even a few hundred. The community seemed void of ... read more

Hey guys ! Greetings from the south of Tunisia, and indeed a great journey so far. Am currently writing this edition of my travel blog from ‘The Land of the Lotus Eaters’, Jerba – the island in Homer’s Odyssey from where the great voyager Ulysses' men did not want to leave after tasting the delicious fruit of the locals : the ‘lotus’ – indeed they forgot the route back home to Greece, until I believe it was slapped out of them. Unfortunately have been unable to find this mythical forbidden fruit in any of the souqs or covered markets, despite trying, but still seems like a nice place to hang around. Not sure if I’ll be unable to leave to my next destination on Sunday, but we’ll see what this island has to offer. But yeah, ... read more

Mardi le 20. Nous sortons de l'île de Djerba par le bac, ce qui nous a amenés à quitter l'hôtel à 7h30 pour nous mettre en file... les nuits sont courtes... Premier arrêt, Gabes, où nous visitons un marché d'épices. Il y en avait vraiment de toutes sortes et les parfums étaient ennivrants. Et hop, en route pour Ennadhour, où nous nous arrêterons pour dîner à un petit resto sympatique le long de la route. Pour ne pas être en reste avec Alain et ses sarcasmes, un méchoui d'agneau nous fait goûter les meilleures côtelettes jamais dégustées à vie !!! Nous traversons ensuite la ville de Mahres, où se tient un festival annuel d’arts plastiques. Certains artistes y laissent d’ailleurs leurs œuvres, dont certaines sont gigantesques. Puis, nous voici rendus à Sfax, deuxième ville en importance ... read more

We had a stroke of luck in Tataouine. As we were searching for a taxi to take us to the bus station, we met a taxi driver from the island of Djerba, our next destination, and he agreed to take us there for the same price as the bus or louage. That meant a three hour journey in a luxurious 9 seat taxi with no fellow passengers save the waifs and strays he picked up along the way for a few kilometres here and there. Djerba is an island off the South East coast of Tunisia. To get there you have two options: one is to take a short ferry over the water, the other is to go many miles out of your way to drive over a causeway left over from Roman days. Needless to ... read more