October 25, 2022 Videos from our camel ride on this date. First two videos show the ride out from the Sahara camp. the remainder are from our camel ride. Saving the best for last, it is Linda NOT getting off her camel.
Tunisia – Our Travel Plans Have Changed
November 2, 2022 There was a reason for the interruption in posts, the pandemic had finally caught up with us. After isolating for three days, we finally tested negative and mutually decided to forgo the remainder of our travels and return to the States. Linda was affected to a greater degree than I have been. There is a “long and messy story” within that last sentence. The plan for now is return home tomorrow, but the plan was previously to return home today, so we will get there when we get there. I’ll end by saying that being in a country like Tunisia and testing positive for Covid makes things a little more difficult than being at home in the States, but we will get through all this.
Tunisia – Out from the Sahara
October 25, 2022 Only one night in the Sahara, then two nights without the internet.
Sahara sunrise images.
Breakfast was simple.
Posing in front of our tent.
Tracks where something crawled across the sand last night.
One thing which is always present during the day are flies.
Another bumpy ride out across the dunes.
A road across the sand.
The oil company maintains these roads.
A paved road in the desert, again, thanks to the oil company.
Today was the day to ride the camels.
A foot designed for walking in the sand.
Hands across the desert.
Everyone got to ride.
Some larger dunes.
Museum of life in the desert. This one was displaying wedding dresses.
The sexes are strictly divided, the men on the right, the women who do all the work are on the left.
The fabrics they weave are course but the designs are intricate.
Another design.
Fuel stop near a town market. Buy fuel cheaply in Libya sell it for a high price in Tunisa.
A cobbler near the market.
A true craftsman.
The cobbler’s motorbike. He said he bought new some 45 years ago and the the only two things he would never depart with were this motorbike and his wife.
This spicy dip has been served at many of our meals.
At the end of the meal is a small cup of hot mint tea.
Hot water comes out of the ground and goes through the cooling tower in the background.
Further cooling the water.
Tunisia has a salt lake.
Anything to get the tourists to stop and hopefully spend some money.
A city of bricks.
By decree a certain amount of every structure must be built from brinks.
Inside an oasis.
We stayed in this raised bungalow in the oasis.
The deck where we ate breakfast each morning.
These dates were hanging right beside the deck.
The interior.
Tunisia – Toward the Sahara
October 24, 2022 Have fallen way behind in posting due to no internet for several nights, the app I use to write and post needs to be connected to the internet to work, then too much going on so no time to work on posts. It is going to take some time to catch up.
The pool at the hotel we were staying at was more like a lake than a pool. It was a resort hotel and we were as far from the lobby as one could get. I’ll just say that in no way was it the type of hotel that Linda and I like to stay at and let it go at that.
In this part of Tunisia the way property lines are demarcated is with a raised line of soil. You can see the soil lines on three sides of this small field.
We seldom see bikes as most people either walk or use motorbikes or cars.
Typical public Tunisian restroom. Three of the four stall were out of order.
Doesn’t matter how poor the condition of it is, they want you to pay to use it.
Many of the places we have visited have signs like this.
Stand clear when the ferry arrives .
Our buss driving onto the ferry.
Black market gas station. These are very common away from the larger cities and closer to the border with Libya.
Another one, this time with propane.
You seemingly can buy almost anything alongside the road.
More meat going on the grill.
Ruins of a mountainside village mostly destroyed by flood water pouring down the mountainside a number of years ago.
Rock walls cannot withstand the force of water pouring down the mountainside. Many people were killed during that horrendous flooding.
Guess what movie had scenes filmed near here.
In this are the people often live under ground.
The actors stayed at this hotel during the filming.
They’ve labeled the rooms they stayed in.
They used this room to plan some of the days filming.
This was the night we were staying in the Sahara, an getting to the camp was not a smooth ride,
Ripples
The shadows point the way to our tent.
The sand is extremely fine.
Sunset
Bread baked directly in the coals.
Lamb cooked to perfection. Up above there were seemingly millions of stars in the night sky. It was a great experience.
Tunisia – Tataouine Area Day Trip
Ocotber 23, 2022 A day trip to the desert area just north of the Sahara where it hasn’t rained for the last five years.
Yep, that is where we are going.
The name of that fist city is in Libya, but what does the image in the second red circle from the left mean?
It is seriously dry out here.
Hilltop mosque.
Abandoned storage caves and structures of a city built in the 1100’s.
Our city guide was a Berber man in his early forties. Note the red hair which is a trademark of the Berbers.
A very old door.
Ruins everywhere on the hillside above the town.
Look what I saw inside one of the carved out caves.
The wife playing peek-a-boo.
Star Wars fans are familiar with this place.
Closeup of the top.
The town is definitely built on a hillside.
An RV caravan rolled into town.
Think of it as an entrance to the past.
Looking back at the town with the granaries on the hillside all the way to the top. They store 7 years worth of food in them following what Joseph told the Israelites in the bible. Those stores have helped them survive the 5 years of no rain.
Very similar to what the American Southwest looks like in some areas.
Lunchtime on low stools and even lower tables.
A typical everyday local meal was served. The meat was goat. She who doesn’t eat goat because of the taste, ate hers saying it didn’t taste like goat.
One constant around the world.
More granary ruins.
Much of the wood still remains.
Some of the ladies on the tour.
Relief was in the back.
Around the corner from the men’s were these sandals.
A very nice prayer room.
The reflection of the sun setting on the other side of the bus on the window beside my seat. And below is a what we heard while at the last site. we will be staying in the Sahara tomorrow night so the posts will likely be delayed for a day or two.