TUNISIA 
by Wendy Catlin
August/September 2001
When I go through my photos of Tunisia, I find it difficult to find
one introductory photo which portrays the feeling of this interesting
and diverse country and culture. The decorative blue painted iron
and woodwork on windows is consistent throughout the country.
Traditional doors are highly decorated with large rivets and have three
knockers...one for children, one for women and one for men. With
this system the appropriate person answers the door. Our visit here was
extraordinary......
We arrived in Monatstir Harbour early in morning on 21 August.
At the entry to the port stood a small coastal lookout fort, the Ribat
of Harthouma, built (and now restored) in 796. In the early
morning light the stone structure of the ribat was a perfect site to
introduce us to this new country and culture.
Rob and I settled into the marina after checking in with authorities.
Annie and Rowan left us to continue their holiday to tour Tunisia and
Morocco. We certainly enjoyed having them on board!
Rob and I were very interested in doing a three day trip to southern
Tunisia and worked out the best way to do it. We decided on the
tour (rather than car rental) as we would be assured of accommodation
along the way and also some interpretation of the culture and sights.
Our friend Ruth from New York City joined us on the 25th August. The
three of us took off on the tour early the next morning.
Unfortunately, the we were cramped in the back of a four wheel drive and
not very comfortable. This was not a good start! Sharing the
vehicle with us was a very nice French family who spoke no English.
So it was difficult to get to know them well.
We headed inland and south towards the Sahara desert. Along the
way, we saw rich agriculture, particularly olive groves. Women
along the roads and in villages wore free flowing colorful fabrics from
head to toe.
Our first stop was El Jem,
a very complete Roman coliseum built in the second century AD, towards
the decline of the Roman Empire. The coliseum is very much in tact
having withstood the ravages of time. However, some areas have
been restored to a good extent. The stone is a rich color untouched by
pollution like the one in Rome.
The surrounding area of El Jem was a very rich in olive groves in 250
AD so the people could afford to build a huge coliseum, the third
largest in the Roman empire. This arena held 30,000 people to watch gory
encounters of man and beast. The coliseum was also designed for water
collection, filling underground cisterns.
It is still early in the day as we are traveling south.
Along the road are many stands with with freshly butchered sheep skins
hanging as advertisements for the fare offered this day. The owner of
the stall has started a fire to roast the meat for his day's customers.
We pass salt pans with beautiful flamingos and avocets feeding in the
shallow warm water. We pass through a town with a busy market (suq)
and donkey carts fully laden with family purchases for the day.
Along the coast, I see goat herder and fisherman tents, made of anything
that can be found. Local fishing boats are gaff rigged.
As we go further south, vendors along the road are
selling pears, peaches and grapes. The land is getting flatter and
sandier and the olive trees are planted further apart (due to less
water). Suddenly the produce for sale along the road is
watermelons, melons and pumpkins. I look off into the distance and
see a mirage in the desert.
We arrive at Matmata
where we are to have lunch. There is not much to see here as all the
dwellings are underground! There are over 700 such troglodyte
dwellings in the region. Our tour group had a traditional Tunisian
lunch in one of the cave rooms of the Hotel Sidi Driss. It was a
very good lunch with first course of crepes, main course of couscous
(beef, garbanzo beans, potatoes and carrots) and melon.
 The
design of these dwelling makes good sense. The caves remain quite cool
compared to the heat of the desert. Light comes from a central
courtyard which has satellite rooms around it. The
courtyards are connected by tunnels and steps, so you find an amazing
network of homes which make up the family or community! One of the
courtyards and rooms of the hotel was used for the famous bar scene in Star
Wars.
After lunch we continued on our way approaching the edge
of the Sahara Desert. I notice "sand fences" made from
spines of woven palm. These spines catch the blowing sand, keeping the
sand from covering the road. Planted along the roadside are many
plants from Australia...eucalyptus and cassurina, both helping to
"control" the movement of the sand.
The Berber people
were the indigenous peoples of north Africa and most probably the
original true Arabs. On this tour, we were able to visit a Berber house,
with rooms dug into a rock face. A family lives here, and
obviously make some money from these tourist visits. It is like a
living museum. Over the door way are symbols of a fish and a
hand. I ask the guide what this means...the fish is to keep bad
spirits away and the hand is the hand of Fatima, the daughter of
Mohammed, a symbol of good luck and prosperity.
The wife and husband show us their house. She
grinds millet with a traditional stone grinder as we are served mint tea
with pine nuts floating on top and millet bread, all quite tasty!.
We are free to wander about the rooms and take photos. All very
interesting and comfortable looking. I find the kitchen, a weaving room,
bedrooms, water kept in giant amphora, and a special room which looked
like an unused living room. Outside, the family had many animals; goats,
chickens, donkeys, turkeys, rabbits, sheep etc. Very self sufficient.
Most of the women I see, have
decorated themselves with henna tattoos, some of which are very
elaborate. The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are
completely covered with a dark henna, while the tops of the hands
and some of the feet are decorated with very lacey, flowering designs.
From my reading, a bride will be tattooed elaborately prior to her
wedding ceremony.
We are still on our first day of our tour and so much
has already happened! We pass through our first low land oasis. It
is covered with acres and acres of date palms. The trees are
abundant with fruit, much of it close to ripening. As we will
learn, the date palm is the basis of life in southern Tunisia.
Every bit of the plant is used for something.
 At
sunset time, Ruth, Rob and I find ourselves dressed in traditional
desert clothing and we are on top of camels, riding on the edge of the
Sahara desert!! What a wonderful experience and not scary at all!
The evening light on the dunes was wonderful (hard to describe!)
with palms trees silhouetted against the sunset sky. Two horseman
rode nearby dressed as sheiks, looking like desert knights adding much
to this unique experience. I could hardly believe I was here!
We were up early to watch a desert sunrise before
jumping into the vehicles for the day. We traveled further
inland passing date palm farms and an inland sea covered with salt.
 We
stopped at one date palm farm for a cart ride through the plantation.
It was explained to us how carefully the oasis water was managed so
that all plantation owners received the same amount of water through
an intricate irrigation system. Under the palm trees is grown fruit
and vegetables in a "three tier system". First the palm
trees which shade fruit trees such as citrus and pomegranate.
Under the fruit trees, grow vegetable and herbs. The oasis is
used to the maximum for growing the foods people need in this part of
the world.
Our host also explained the many uses of the palm as
the basis of life in this part of
Tunisia. The tree is used for timber, food, weaving of all
sorts, juice, sap, wine, tea, baskets, roof tops, sides of huts...you
name it. As I mentioned above, all parts of the tree are used.
During the discussion, we sipped palm wine made from juice straight
from the tree and some people smoked tobacco grown under the canopy of
the palms. The tea was very good!
 On
this tour, we are visiting three types of oasis, lowland, mid land and
mountain. We stopped to view Nefta Oasis, in the foot hills of
the mountains. It was clear from our overlook view the clear
distinction between desert and oasis. Nefta had a spring coming out of
the cliff to fill a pool and from the pool, the water was routed to
the crops at a lower level located in a depression similar to a
caldera.
Our next stop was the mountain oasis
of Chebika. Even though this was crowed with
other tourists it was a very special and beautiful place to visit.
We walked up a narrow canyon to the source of the spring. Palm
trees and other desert plants lined the trail. It was early in
the day so the light in the canyon brought the best out of everything
we saw. Lots of birds, frogs, insects...desert life would gather
here to this small Eden. There is an old abandoned village on
the rocky hillside hiding tales of a remote oasis lifestyle lost to
the past.
After the hike in the dry rocky mountains around
Chebika, our group headed for the spiritual capital of Kairouan,
also the Tunisian carpet capital. Rob and I were not interested in
carpets, so we took a walk around the Great Mosque admiring the plain
but elegant style of architecture. We were not able to enter as
only Muslims can enter this particular mosque. We heard the call
to prayer broadcast from the minaret with an added echo chamber.
Quite creative compared to the many call to prayers we have heard on
this trip! The following are some photos from this little walk.
Doors of residents facing the mosque were beautifully painted.
This was the end of the three day tour, thank
goodness!! Over 1200 kilometers in three days was a lot, but we
saw and learned a great deal about this country we are visiting.
Well worth it!
Ruth, Rob and I happily returned to Sea Fever.
We had a rest and provision day before heading off to explore the
Tunisian coast. We departed the marina on 30 August, with no
wind. We motored out to a low island off the coast for a quiet
night at sea. Ruth got her first swim and salt water fix.
It felt good to be out of the marina and back at sea.
We headed north to:
Hammamet - we stayed in the huge
new marina which was almost empty. The marina is about 5
kilometers from the town of Hammamet, so we took a bus to visit the
cultural center and the old city. The cultural center is in a
vacated villa near the sea. The villa and gardens would have
been spectacular in it heyday (probably the 1950's). The old
city was nice to walk around in, but very touristy.  Kelibia
- a fishing village and a true working town, no tourist here at all
that we could see. Very nice Byzantine sixth century fortress on
the hill over looking the town. Rob found a vacant lot full of
Roman mosaics. Many of the fishing boats were painted with symbols of
anchors, fish hawks, dolphins and fish. All for good luck I
think!
Kerkouane - Important ruins which
are the only example of a Punic settlement which has survived
untouched to this present day. From dated findings, the
settlement seems to have been inhabited from the 6th to the 3rd
century BC. Ruth charmed the our driver to ask the custodian to
open the always closed museum for us. Inside were remarkable
artifacts of great beauty and craftsmanship...pottery, jewelry, coins,
sculptures. Thanks Ruth!!
We went around the large land mass of Cape
Bon . Sometimes the weather around this cape can be
quite treacherous, but our trusty Captain timed our voyage well.
We had a lovely sail to an overnight anchorage. A large pod of
dolphins came around the boat just before we anchored and stayed with
us for a long time. Rob jumped in the water and got a quick glimpse of
them. The next morning we are on our way to Tunis, capitol of Tunisia
and the famed city of Carthage.
We comfortable berthed in the marina of Sidi-Bou-Said,
a charming village north of Carthage. There seemed to be a lot
of activity at the marina and it turns out the Mediterranean Games are
in progress. Athletes from twenty-three countries are
participating in twenty-three sporting events. The marina was
hosting the wind surfing, laser and 407 sailing events. We had a ring
side seat as the young men and women went in and out of the marina to
race for the day.
The weather was very rough so we were unable to
continue on our way north to Sardinia. Ruth decided to head back
to New York. She may join us again later in the Balearics. We
hope so!
Rob and I did some sight seeing while waiting for good
weather.
Tunis - We took
the train into the metropolis of Tunis to visit the Bardo
Museum. This archeological museum is one of the
largest in North Africa and houses an impressive collection of 2nd and
3rd century Roman mosaics as well as other works of art. Rob and
I were in awe of the size, mastery and intricacy of what we saw here.
Many of the mosaics look like tapestry they are so grand.
The museum is housed in a palace that is as impressive
as the works it holds. We entered large rooms lavishly painted
and intricately carved gilding. Living in this palace would have
been one of the most elaborate lifestyles I could imagine.
After being totally overwhelmed with mosaics, we
walked around the city a bit before catching the train home.
We found Tunis a very bustling and cosmopolitan city. 
We found ourselves in the bazaar area and had lunch in a local spot.
The "restaurant" was very crowed which is a sign that the
food is good and prices right. The locals had fun with us (and we with
them) and we enjoyed a fabulous meal.
Carthage -
The ruins of the ancient city cover many square miles and its history
covers many chapters. We we took a carriage ride see the sites.
It was nice to have a guide as the ruins are spread all over a large
distance and it would have been difficult to find them all. We visited
the stadium, the coliseum, roman villas and ended up at the Carthage
Museum. The museum is on the highest hill and gives an excellent view
of the whole area that was ancient Carthage and is now modern
Carthage. Near the museum are the remains of a Punic village
which we found quite interesting as each house had its own well under
the floor with very sophisticated "plumbing" systems.
There were columns of earth left to show the layers that were dug
through to uncover the ruins.
Modern Carthage is very beautiful with large villas
and tree lined boulevards. The presidential palace is here and
security is very tight when he is at home.
On the evening of September 11, we were getting the
boat ready to go over to the fuel dock to fill up in anticipation of
leaving in the morning. A man came over to me and spoke in very
poor English that bombs had gone off in New York and the White House
had blown up. I asked where the President was and he pointed his
finger in the air and said "air force one". Needless
to say this caused quite a flurry in me and I ran to look for a TV
set. Some Italians invited me to come on their boat to see the
news in Italian. The photos were devastating to me and I was
relieved to see that it was not the white house that was blown up!
I was speechless as I watched and tried to understand what was going
on. We have been listening to the radio (BBC and VOA) everyday
since the attack keeping up with events.
We left the next day as planned heading north to
Bizerte. It was a rough go and we spent the night at an anchorage
comfortably sheltered behind the south side Cape Farina. The
next morning we left at dawn's light to round the cape in calm water
(before heavy winds come later in the day) and motored our way to
Bizerte. We had hoped to spend a few days here, but the weather
reports are hurrying us on our way. We decided to check out of
the country, pick up a few provisions and head north to Sardinia.
We motor sailed north, averaging a good six knots, to
take advantage of the fine weather window. We hope to arrive in
Sardinia before the strong north wind (mistral) arrives. This
was an overnight passage and we arrived at the charming island of San
Pietro, off the coast of southern Sardinia on 14 September. I
liked this island the moment I saw it. Hello once again ITALIA!
|
