Blogs from Tunisia, Africa - page 25

With just a few hours to spare before my ferry leaves from Palermo, Nadia and Alessandro meet me at the bus station. In their pure Sicilian hearts, they’ve realized they can’t let me leave the island until we’ve settled all accounts. Nadia - who’d overslept for our Saturday-morning rendezvous last week - is visibly agitated at the prospect of me missing Mondello Beach, so we cram my bags into the trunk of their hatchback, race into the dwindling daylight, and make it to Mondello just in time to see the sunset over the curved, café-studded coast. Afterward, there’s hardly time for a few slices of pizza before they take me to the port, pushing me onboard amid a flurry of farewells, kisses, and promises to keep in touch. It’s a smooth and uneventful passage. Everyone’s ... read more

In February this year I was sitting in a lecture room on a big red boat crossing the Drake passage and one of the first questions we were asked was this... "How many people here are visiting Antarctica because it is your seventh continent?" Well, I suddenly realised that during all my previous trips it was something I had never actually considered, and later that evening in our cabin, myself and new cabin mate Sally spent some time trying to figure out just exactly how many continents we had both travelled and what was left. Even so , this year was not the year I had picked to finish off the list, until it was Chris' turn to book a trip and he said "Hey, how about we all go to Tunisia?" "Is that in Africa?" ... read more

Today checked out the town of Tozeur and some of the ancient berber villages which are set amongst beautiful Mountain Oasis settings near Tozeur. Chebika is really pretty with a narrow gorge with Waterfalls and a spring and also has fantastic views across the Oasis. The old walled town of Tamerza in the Mountains has a great rugged setting and is one of the most photographed in Tunisia. Mides is known for its stunning gorges thorugh the mountains and has been used as a movie set for vairous movies such as the English Patient and Star Wars. You can walk through the canyon but the climb down would be a challenge. We next headed off to Ong El Jemal which means 'Neck of the Camel" and is an unusual rock formation which looks like a camel. ... read more

On the road again.......big day today, drove from Matmata, thought some rugged mountain ranges and some beautiful scenery, with our first stop in a small town called Tamazret, cute little village atop a mountain awash with the early, morning sunlight, very pretty indeed! Next Stop the bigger town of Douz, which is served qs an entry point for tours into the Sahara. Visited the Souq or Medina which was so laid back and friendly, some great people watching, old men sitting on the ground having a chat, or walking around the streets, stopping for a chat at every opportunity. Even saying hello to strange tourist walking through the streets 'Asalem Alekum' they would say and we would in turn reply with a nod of the head! Zaafrane which is said to be the Camel Capital of ... read more

Today we were both excited as we left Tataouine for our drive to Ksar Ghilane which is a small Oasis on the Edge of the Sahara in an area of the dunes called the Grand Erg Oriental. It was approx 2 and half hour off road 4 x 4 haul to get there but with some facinating desolate scenery. Every now and again we would see a bloke walking along - in the middle of nowhere, probably looking for his camels! At Ksar Ghilane we were escorted to our A\C tent at the Pansea Hotel. It was pretty cool staying on the edge of the Sahara but still having the luxury of a Bed, A\C and a Swimming Pool (just a wee bit different from our previous Moroccan Bedouin Camp experience when we were last in ... read more