Blogs from Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia, Africa

Advertisement

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage March 15th 2024

After visiting with my gals in London I wanted to make the most of trip so I decided to make a visit to Tunisia. For those not familiar Tunisia is situated between Algeria and Libya and is about the size of Wisconsin. It has a population of 12 million with 93% being Muslim. In school they learn Arabic, French, and English. At home they speak Tunisian which is a combination of Arabic and French. This is not an official language but more of a dialect. I arrived on the first day of Ramadan. Muslims follow a lunar calendar which is approximately 11 days shorter than the solar calendar. Because of this Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year so it falls in all seasons over time. I knew Ramadan would have some limitations such as availability ... read more
IMG_7138.
IMG_7127.
IMG_7276.

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage September 1st 2018

Our 2ndday trip took us north as the ultimate goal for the day was to go to the historic town of Carthage with the same driver, Alaya, and Kathy and Jim from SV Inishnee. It was another full day of learning more about the country and its people with a glimpse of cities and the countryside in the north. We also saw some of the development of a country that received its independence from France 60 years ago is still growing. We drove through the town of Sousse which is a modern city with plenty of new buildings still being built and all the trappings of any large city back in the US. Continuing north the landscape became quite green with plenty of orchards filled with olive and almond trees as well as fields of grass ... read more
On The Way to Cathage Went Through Sousse
The Road System In Tunisia is Excellent
Someone Was Selling Fresh Flat Bread

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage February 19th 2018

Monday February 19 - I so did not get a good sleep last night. I felt like I was up most of the night. It was so cold and I could not get warm. Finally at 4:00 I put on my fleece jacket and that helped, but man, so cold. I popped some earplugs in at 5am, as I knew the others would be getting up and leaving by 7:00, and I did not wake up until 7:45, which was good. Then again, it got me a late start on the day. At 9:00 I left to find the metro. Well, it is above ground so it is really a tram. I asked a few times and people kept pointing me in the right direction. It was odd having no map. It took about 10 minutes ... read more
Carthage museum
Carthage museum
Carthage Cathedral of St. Louis

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage September 21st 2013

Geo: 36.8565, 10.3306What a fantastic day in Tunisia. Carthage was the centre of the Carthaginian Empire in antiquity. The city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of an ancient empire. This city was a major draw card in my decision to visit Tunisia. We had hoped the ruins might be walking or public transport distance from our hotel, but alas it didn't really seem to be the case. The hotel recommended we do a tour with a cab. Oh boy, here comes rip off city. Fortunately this wasn't the case. We had a great day out thanks to the guidance of our Tunisian cab driver come guide, Nourah. The hotel recommended him as their best English speaking guide. His English vocabulary and understanding ... read more
Nat Roman Ampitheatre
Roman Ampitheatre
Roman Ampitheatre

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage December 27th 2012

Español / Català Roman tribune Marcus Porcius Cato obsessively ended his speeches with the words: Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam, (And I think also that Carthage must be wiped out from the map). Obsession was not entirely irrational. Although had defeated twice the Mediterranean power, Rome wished to rule without restrictions western Mediterranean Sea routes. The end of the ancient North African metropolis arrived with Third Punic War. In 146 BC, Carthage and its state were devastated again by the growing power of the Mare Nostrum: Rome. And they did it to fully consciousness. Most of the ruins that remain today doesn’t belong to the Punic capital city, instead the one Romans rebuilt above. If legends are ma... read more
02
03
04

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage June 7th 2012

Our friends always making a good food every times they invited us to their place here in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada. Sometimes when they invited us, Oualid and Mouna make Tunisian specialities, such as Couscous, Tajine, cakes and Pastries. They are delicious food and healthy food too. One day, Oualid and Mouna asked Chantal and me to visit his home country, Tunisia; it’s located in the North Africa and later they came to show us online about Tunisia and what to visit. They also pointed out about where they are from on the map on the Internet. A few days later, Oualid and Mouna found special airfares on the Internet with Air France and the airfares must be purchased before the dead line on Dec. 29th, 2011. Sounds good to me...I said only $748.96/person (Note: a ... read more
Kamel, Chantal and me
Fruits Market in Ezzahra
Casa Tradicional de Dar el Annabi

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage May 20th 2011

....even on vacation! The good news is we are having fun, the bad news is we ran out of money and had to take on some custom hayfield work to pay for dinner! How happy we were to turn the corner and find a small hay crew at work! We had been seeing loads of hay traveling around, but could not find an active hay crew. These guys could not believe we knew how to stack hay and would be in hayfield shortly after we returned to America! Thanks to Kyle we had our own interpreter!... read more
Let me help you with that...
Too many cooks in the kitchen?
Checking out the hay production in Tunisia

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage May 17th 2011

You know that song about everyone being famous when you live in a small town? (Miranda Lambert) Well, the funny connections of being from a small community never cease to amaze me...even in Tunisia! We have gone our entire trip without seeing an America. We jumped for joy if we could even find a poor soul who understood a little street English. We ran into 2 Canadians who were a bit snooty and pretended they did not understand English (so we counted them as EuroTrash). The locals have assumed us to be French, Italian, Spanish and even the occassional Deutsch (argh!!). On mutiple occassions, I have even been told I am Arab. So you can imagine our delight when we spotted a young couple in the hotel lobby who informally passed our "is that person an ... read more

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage May 14th 2011

We crossed borders and are enjoying the spoils of Mediterranean life: gorgeous weather, gorgeous views and gorgeous communities. Years ago when we were dreaming youngsters, Kyle and I said we planned to have a retirement home in Tunisia. Who knew a couple of 20-somethings could be so smart? Who wouldn't want to retire here? After only days of wandering around Tunis, Kyle deided it was one of his favorite cities of all-time! That says a lot! To be honest, we were a bit nevervous to leave Algeria because we were having so much fun and wondered if Tunisia could match-up with their neighbor! We wandered the maze-like alleyways of the old Medina and probably photographed 100 different doors (sounds stupid, I know). Every turn of a corner produces postcard worthy beauty. We ate like kings in ... read more
Every corner is picture worthy
Could spend all day here
Is this Northern Africa?

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis » Carthage May 14th 2011

I know there was some head shaking and tongue clucking when people heard we were not changing our trip after the revolutions began in January and after the situation with Bin Laden. The concerns were valid and appreciated, but we are happy to report we have been having a great time in Tunisia. We have also felt nothing but safe as we move about the country. We have been following the 9 pm curfew and listening to suggestions from hotel staff and the like. However, the signs of revolution are not hard to notice while we are moving about the country. We shared an elevator with a man who had his arm in a cast. Dad made a casual, concerned comment about it looking painful and he informed us it was the result of getting shot! ... read more
The writing on the wall
Libyan demonstrators near the Libyan Embassy
Signs of a country dealing with unrest




Tot: 0.116s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 9; qc: 63; dbt: 0.058s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb