Cruising friends here in Monastir told us about a 3-day trip they did recently in southern Tunisia which sounded colourful, exotic and full of adventure and so, with friends Branko & Maggie, we hired a car and set off for a 3-day road trip.

DAY 1
El Jem - Sfax - Matmata - Douz

We rented a car with air-conditioning (very important!!) and set off on our adventure at 7.30am on Wednesday. Our first destination was the ancient colosseum of El Jem, the third largest in the Roman world and only about 1hr away. Chris and Branko shared the driving and soon got used to the Tunisian driving technique and road conditions. We arrived at El Jem to find this major tourist attraction surprisingly quiet but the notice on the entrance gate soon explained the reason 'STRIKE'. There was a 3-day strike and we were not able to go inside but, to be honest, it didn't really matter much. We circumnavigated the colosseum and Chris and Branko re-enacted a gladiator match for Maggie & I, so we were happy.
Our journey took us through many small towns with the butchers using unusual advertising methods. To show that they had fresh meat in stock, they would simply hang the decapitated animal head on a rope outside the shop. It gave us a bit of shock the first time we saw this but we soon got used to seeing cow's heads or maybe cow's and camel's heads if they had both, hanging up to greet us as we passed by!

For photos of El Jem, click HERE

We were also very impressed by the huge number of olive trees everywhere, stretching out as far as the horizon, and all very well maintained. It's obviously an important industry here so we bought some to continue our tasting of Mediterranean olive oils - Crete is top of the list so far.

Continuing south, we arrived at Tunisia's second largest city - Sfax with it's fabulous medina (walled city) which, like most medina's, was laid out according to strict Islamic principles; Great Mosque in the centre with the souq radiating out from there. The shops closest to the mosque were considered the 'noble trades', vendors of candles, incense and other objects used in worship. Next to them were the booksellers and leather goods. These were followed by clothing and textile stalls and then down through furnishings, domestic goods, ironmongers and blacksmiths. The streets were narrow and crowded with locals busy doing their morning shopping, stall holders selling colourful fruit and vegetables and ironmongers repairing all sorts of household items from pressure cookers to sewing machines. No one bothered about 4 westeners walking around as they were too busy to notice us. The ladies in the wedding dress shop were happy to let Maggie and I have a closer look at the beautiful hand-made dresses that they were elaborately embroidering. The dresses were very similar to western ones - big and white but more blinged. You could easily spend a few days exploring the medina but we only had time for a taster as we headed off further south and closer to the desert.

For photos of Sfax, click HERE

Matmata was our next stop, famous for it's underground troglodyte dwellings and the set for some of the scenes from Star Wars. Rather than disturb the inhabitants in their own home, which is apparently a legitimate option, we chose to visit the Hotel Sidi Driss to get an idea of what these places looked like. We didn't think anyone stayed there anymore, in fact everywhere we went was suffering from a lack of tourists, but it allowed us to see how the homes were built and where Luke Skywalker spent his childhood, so we killed two birds with one stone there.

For photos of Matmata, click HERE

The scenery was now definitely getting barren, lunar-like and sandy so we knew the desert wasn't far away as we headed for Douz and our overnight stay. The Sahara and its northern hinterland is the home of the Berbers. As the Roman Empire began to decline, tribes began to move in from the south at the end of the 4th century AD, bringing with them the first camels to be seen in Tunisia. Our first close up of the camels was on the edge of the Sahara in Douz where we met Zou, a local Bedouin guy who helped us out with our camel ride. We opted for an hour's sunset trip and enjoyed the experience of just the two of us, a guide and our camels trekking across the sand dunes. Getting on and off a camel is easy enough as the camel is sat down at that point. The tricky bit is when the camel stands up and then sits down again with you on it's back; you feel as if you are going to go straight over it's head but somehow it worked out and I was relieved to think that I only had to do that bit once at the begining and then once at the end but our guide then stopped for a short break half-way through and so I had to go through it all twice! One of the things that surprised us both was how fine the Sahara sand is; just like icing sugar. Our short trip certainly gave us the desire to go further into the desert where the Erg (sand sea) is and do a longer, camping trip, hopefully with our new friend Zou. But that will have to wait until another trip. For now, we were very happy and to have ridden camels in the Sahara desert.

The lack of tourists meant that any that were out visiting were at a premium and it wasn't unusual for locals to come over and try to get us to see what they had to offer. No one was pushy, in fact everyone made us welcome. We hadn't booked a hotel ahead but our guidebooks helped out with a recommendation for Hotel 20 Mars. Centrally located, the rooms were fine and the staff made us very welcome. After dinner in a local restaurant that Zou had recommended, we were ready for bed. We had had a full on day!

For photos of Douz, click HERE

CRUISERS NOTES
Car hire from Liberty Cars in Monastir. 200m from marina on beachfront. 60TD per day.
Hotel 20 Mars - 32TD in breakfast & air-conditioning. Email hotel20mars@planet.tn
1hr camel ride - 20TD each