1/2-3/2
We were running out of gas so when I found a place in Palermo selling gas bottles we decided to go there. We found it quite easily but when we got there they didn’t fill gas bottles only swapped them for full ones. They did have one full bottle that looked exactly like our German one but was a bit older than ours. After some google translating we decided to swap our empty bottle for their full one. When that decision was made one guy that spoke really good english showed up. He told us that if we wanted to wait until Monday, this was on a Friday, they could fill our bottle for us. We said it was ok to swap and asked for a good place to stay with Snigel. He offered to show us the way to a camper parking very close to the center. He took the lead on his motorbike through narrow alleys and onto the main road. The first one was full so he drove to another one to see if they had room for us. After a while he came back with a map to the other place. It’s so nice to meet friendly and helpful people!
It was a very beautiful sunny day so we took our bikes and went to the center of Palermo. It was a nice city with many old buildings to look at. We ended up at Quattro Canti which is an octagonal square where four sides are streets and the other four are Baroque buildings all having fountains, representing the four rivers that used to flow through Palermo, statues representing the four seasons, kings and emperors and on the top, saints. We walked around for a bit, had some different food and beer and just enjoyed everything. On our way back in the evening there were a lot of people outside one of the restaurants. They were all drinking wine or beer and it was a very good atmosphere. We went inside and the reason people were outside was that they were waiting for their tables. We didn’t want a table but joined the people outside for a beer.
The next morning we went to the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo which has the largest collection of mummies in the world. The first one, a monk, was mummified and buried there in 1599. The last one is a two year old girl that was buried in 1920. It was a bit spooky to walk around there and it was really nice to come up to the sun after the tour. We were not allowed to take photos inside so if you want to see what it looked like you’ll have to Google it.
Yesterday we went down to Grimaldi Lines at the harbour to buy tickets for Tunisia. The office was closed so instead we bought them online before we left to go to Cefalú. It took forever to get out from Palermo and Mike’s clutch foot was aching when we finally got out from all the traffic. After a while we felt that we were getting too far from the city, so we decided to go back to Palermo again…. It was a lot quicker going back without any traffic jams. We had looked at the map and thought we could park at the marina so we went there. As soon as we stopped there was a man coming out from his caravan. Only then did we see that it was totally trashed and the man coming out really looked like he’s been living there for a long time. He invited us for wine and gave us oranges. We said thanks, but no thanks, and talked to him and his friend just long enough to not be too unpolite. Then we said we had to go and buy tickets for the ferry and left. They were very friendly but we didn’t really feel like staying there, instead we parked at the secure parking at the port.
We went for dinner at Enoteca and walked around for a bit before going back to Snigel. When we came back the gate was closed to we couldn’t get in…. No one was around to ask how to get inside but after a while we finally saw a sign in italian saying that there was another entrance 300m down the road. It had been a long day and it was nice to sit down inside.
The day after we walked around in Palermo. Tomorrow night we’re taking the ferry to Tunis.
4/2-5/2
We pretty much just waited the whole day and didn’t do anything special. The ferry was leaving at 2.00 AM and around 10 PM we could start with the check in. Everything was a bit confusing because they didn’t really speak english and we don’t really speak Italian but eventually we got all the right stamps and could go and wait in the line. Mike made some noodles for us and then we just waited to get onboard. Around 1 AM we were in our cabin and watched some series before going to bed. The ride over to Tunis was quite rough and we could hear people throwing up in the cabins next to us. Luckily we had bought pills for seasickness and didn’t feel sick, but it was very difficult to get some sleep in the big waves. It took about 14 hours to get to Tunis and when we arrived we were excited but tired. We have experienced some difficult border-crossings when we’ve been driving in Africa before but going through customs here was easy and the only guy asking for money wasn’t officially working there.
Before we drove to La Marsa we stopped at an ATM to get some money. It wasn’t working and we ended up talking to some friendly guys at a tobacco store asking them if they knew of any other machine. They said we will find it in La Marsa, gave us an orange and said ”bon voyage”! First impression of Tunisia: We really like it and everyone so far has been friendly, smiling and helpful.
We had looked at the satellite map and had found a good parking next to the beach. We went for a walk to La Marsa and found a mall where we bought a grilled chicken and a data sim card. We were tired, so we went to bed early.
6/2
We had a good night sleep and woke up to a beautiful day. We had a look at the beach and went to the end of it where Axel D Restaurant is. It’s a former bathing pavilion built in the late 19th century so that the ladies of the court could bath in private. There were holes in the floor so that the women could get in and out from the water without anyone seeing.
Our plan today was to go to Sidi Bou Said which is a small town with white and blue houses. We took our bikes and headed off. It is located on top of a steep cliff so it was a lot of uphill but it was totally worth it. The city was really pretty and the contrast with the blue and white houses and blue sky was beautiful. We started off by taking a mint tea at one of the many cafés, I was the only woman there. Sugar-kicked we continued to the center and walked around on the cobbled streets. We had lunch at a café with a very nice view.
From here we went to the Antonine Baths that dates back to the 2nd century AD. The Romans built a huge terme, bath complex, with hot rooms, warm rooms, cold rooms, saunas, swimming pool and gymnasiums for sports. Now all that remains are ruins. It was very impressive to walk around and look at everything. A 15m high pillar is still standing and on the pillars that has fallen you can see inscriptions in the marble. We came to a semicircular place with 80 seats that we read used to be a communal latrine, not so much for privacy back in the days… There is still some mosaic on the floor but the rest is gone. We really enjoyed our walk around the ruins and were satisfied with our sightseeing for the day.
Back in La Marsa we tried the Bambaloni (sweet and deep fried doughnut dipped in sugar). It was very sweet, but tasty. Then we went to Le Saf Saf which is a famous café with an old well in the courtyard where the caravanners used to come to cool down and water their animals. We had a mint tea and felt sorry for the dromedary that was standing next to the well looking sad.
7/2-8/2
We left La Marsa and drove to Raf Raf. We found a big supermarket on the way and did some shopping. It’s not easy to find alcohol here and they had a special room at the supermarket for beer, wine, sprits, it felt a bit like being at ”Systembolaget” (the place where you buy alcohol stronger than 3,5% in Sweden) when we walked in there. We bought some Tunisian beer and wine. The road was good most of the way but in some places they were working on it. We didn’t know if we would be able to drive with Snigel but thought we would give it a try. It was only at one place I went out and had a look to see if it was possible for us to continue. Snigel is very dirty now…
Raf Raf has a very beautiful beach and we went for a walk there after parking on the street. We had a mint tea at one of the cafés before going back to have some dinner.
Next stop Bizerte. It’s a bit tricky to find a good place to stay for the night so when we saw a big hotel we asked the security guard if we could park outside on the street. He said it was fine and that we could go for a coffee at the restaurant. We’re not sure if he suggested it or if he told us to, but we thought it was a small price to pay for a safe parking and went inside. It was a very big and fancy hotel and at the lobby their were preparing for the tryouts for Libyan Star.
After a good coffee by the pool we took our bikes and went to the medina and the old harbour. It was a really nice place to walk around, we went through one of the markets and then had a shawarma at one of the restaurants by the water. Of course we had a mint tea before going back. When we came back to the hotel the security guard asked if we were going to sleep there, we said yes. He had talked to the police and shortly after the police chief came and wrote down our passport numbers, Snigel’s number plate and asked us where we were going tomorrow. Everyone was very friendly and we felt that they all want us to have a good time in Tunisia and to take good care us. The neighbour came out to say hi and gave us an orange, how friendly is that! 🙂
9/2-10/2
We have had two really good days! We had read about the northernmost point in Africa, Ras Angela, and decided to go and see it. The road was ok almost all the way there, the last 3km was only a dirt road so we parked Snigel and took our bikes through the forest down to the monuments to have a look. One of the monuments is a map of Africa. It’s not really correct and some countries are missing (one of them is Ghana) but it looked very nice.
We took some photos and then went back to Snigel. Since it was a nice place we decided to take the risk and drive Snigel on the dirt road through the forest to the parking area and stay for a night or two. I walked in front and Mike drove on the bumpy road and through the water puddles and we managed to get there without problems. It might not look so difficult, but this is not the kind of road that Snigel is built to drive on…
In the morning the sun was shining and there was no wind. It was a perfect day to do some BBQ. It’s been really nice to be here and just relax.
11/2-14/2
We continued the road to the west. They were working on the road and in one place it was a lot of gravel/sand and we almost got stucked. Mike had to keep the speed up to not get stuck and at the same time zig zag between two machines on the road, once we were past the machines he had to choose very quickly which side to drive on. Luckily he choose the right side and we could continue.
We had seen a campsite on the beach that we wanted to go to and eventually we arrived there. It looked like it was closed but then someone came out from the reception and greeted us. It didn’t look like anyone had stayed there in a very long time but the guy later showed us photos from a few month back with a lot of people staying there, now there was only the caretaker, a donkey and a dromedar. Now in the low season it looked abandoned, there was sand everywhere, the toilet and shower were quite disgusting (and we’re not that picky) and the restaurant and everything else were closed. It was expensive to stay there but we didn’t feel like looking for another place so we decided to stay anyway. The guy let us use the shower in one of the bungalow and it was really nice to wash of the dust from the road in hot water. We asked him if it was possible to buy some beer and he said he could ask his friend that was coming to the campsite later if he could bring some. When we got the beers it was cans with 24cl… small, but still good 🙂 The wind picked up during the evening and we had to move Snigel behind a building because she was moving so much so we couldn’t sleep.
In the morning we continued to Tabarka. We found a parking at the harbour that was really good. The police and marine police wrote down our passport numbers and number plate and asked the usual questions: where did you come from today, when are you leaving and where are you going next? It feels like it’s important for them to know where we are. Mike had to write a letter saying that we arrived here on the 12th and are leaving tomorrow, we’re still not sure why he had to do that.
We had tea in the center and went to have a look at Les Aiguilles rock pinnacles, stone formations that were really beautiful. After that we went for another walk in town and had a good dinner at Le Palmiers restaurant. We had Mechwiya for the first time and it was delicious. They make it differently in every place of course but in this one it was grilled green peppers, tomato, chilli and olive oil.
We have been looking for a chilli plant to have in Snigel so when we saw a woman selling plants on the street we asked her if she had any. She didn’t but said she could get one for tomorrow. This whole conversation was made in French, Arabic, English and sign language and we all had a good laugh trying to understand each other
We woke up to a sunny day and thought we were just going to get the chilli plant and then leave. Instead Mike met Lucas outside Snigel and started to talk to him. He came here many years ago with a sailboat. Now he was repairing the boat and hoping to be finished this summer so that him and his girlfriend Alessandra could sail off. He offered us to do our laundry in their house and we had a full bag so we gladly accepted the offer. While we waited for them to finish work me and Mike walked to the fort to have a look. The door was closed but it was a nice view from there.
We met up with Lucas and Alessandra and went to the not so “secret place” to buy a few beers before we walked up to their house on the top of the hill. Lucas made soup and we had a nice dinner with our new friends.
Before we left Tabarka we had tea with Lucas and then we headed towards Dougga. The road there was very hilly but it was a beautiful scenery so it was ok. When we got to Dougga we asked the security guards if we could stay outside at the parking for the night. They didn’t want that and instead they sent us to the stay outside the police station in Téboursouk. We left our details to the officer and then had a walk around the village and ended up buying two shawarma for take-away.
