Tunisia

[Blue Sweeper]

Just up the road from here is the border post with Algeria. We got stopped several times by soldiers, not police, to ask where we were going. Tabarka, was the reply, off you go then they smiled back.

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We were now reaching the more fertile North of Tunisia, where lots of fruit trees are in abundance.

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[Jon]

 

[Blue Sweeper]

So we reached our last stop for the tour in Tunisia, Tabarka. Another beach fronted hotel was our venue for two nights which allowed us to have a look around the Northern fertile region, which was very scenic.

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Sunset over the old fort in Tabarka..........

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Wheat is a winter crop in North Africa and here the crop has already been harvested.

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Good riding road are to be found here in the north, but as ever, I told my companions only to ride as fast as you can see to stop. You never know what is going to greet you round the next corner!

 

[Blue Sweeper]

It was an early rise on the morning of our day of departure from Tunisia. We had 150 miles to ride and check in for the ferry was 11:00 and the sailing was at 13:00. So the first 80 miles were ridden on some really nice scenic roads before we joined the motorway for the last half of the journey into Tunis.

The motorway was virtually empty of vehicles and apart from people crossing it rapid progress was made.

Unfortunately, we didn't know that our ferry was also going to be the return journey for the "Rallye du Tunisia" and a special extra large ship had been laid on for the crossing.

So we were met by lots of these at the dock.........

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and these.........

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and these..........

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[Blue Sweeper]

Dear reader, if you've ever been to North Africa before, you'll know that anything out of the ordinary WILL result in complete chaos. So our progress onto the ship did result in complete chaos.

There was much pushing and shoving. The ferry people wanted the bikes on the ferry first, so were waving us through to the front. But a Spanish bloke (with a pony tail) decided that we were pushing in. The result was a near international incident with a stand off between the ferry people, the Spanish and the English. Why is it, that EVERY Spanish bloke I've ever met, turns out to be a COMPLETE WANKER, without fail.

The police lit up a fag and walked off to leave us to it. So nobody was going anywhere. Eventually, after they had smoked their fag, much later they returned, stamped our passports and we moved on for several other checks. The other checks involved passing over our import documents for the bikes and more stamps in the passport. Then after one last check of the passport we were let onto the boat.

Due to the Spanish WANKER, boarding onto the ferry was substantially delayed, so the ferry eventually left one hour late.

And the ferry broke down on the way back for a couple of hours. This much larger ferry was a nightmare, everything, food, beer, etc. was extremely expensive. For example a Mars Bar was the equivalent of £6, so I decided to just starve for the next 24 hrs.

We arrived back in Marseille very late and then had a 180 mile ride to our next hotel. Just in time for a quick shower, meal, beer and bed.

Our return through France was more of an endurance test than part of the holiday. It absolutely pissed down for the three day journey and temperatures plummeted to 6 deg C. I only had clothing for desert temperatures plus gear for wet weather, so I got very cold and miserable.

Conclusion for the trip

There were fifteen of us in all. If it looks like we had a good time in Tunisia, most of us did. But we seemed to split up into two groups, those that ride a GS and those that don't. GS riders had a great time, the posh riders it would seem didn't and did nothing but moan about anything and everything. Why would you take any other bike other than a GS or equivalent to Africa?

Would I like to go back again, no not really. It's a nice enough country to visit just the once, the people are generally friendly, food was good, nobody got the squits. But it's a long way to go on a VERY expensive ferry, with not much to look at when you're there. The countryside to the East is very boring, although the antiquities are interesting to visit, beaches were nice, but then we went there to ride our bikes! The countryside got increasingly better and more scenic further South, then to the West and North of the country.

Stick to Morocco if you want North Africa, there is soooo much to see and do there.

Anyone who wants to go, navigation is extremely easy, I used the Michelin map of Tunisia backed up by downloadable mapping for Garmin satnav from this website:

http://gps.4x4travel.org/

The mapping was very accurate and includes a lot of roads within towns .

 

[LOLGEOFF]

Great write up and photos thanks for putting in the effort and posting it. How much does a trip like that roughly cost?

 

[david a hall]

great read, i realy enjoyed it, looked lovely, good pics im sure i recognise oner or two riders there.

 

[Blue Sweeper]

Great write up and photos thanks for putting in the effort and posting it. How much does a trip like that roughly cost?

Without the benefit of group booking, the ferry is about £800 for rider and bike. Take my advise and take food with you onto the ferry, for the journey out and back. Also factor in the Channel crossing to Calais. You have about 3000 miles to ride, so factor petrol costs into that. Petrol in France was much more expensive than UK prices due to exchange rates. In Tunisia, petrol is about £0.50 per litre. Hotels can also be cheap as is food, but chose the restaurants wisely. Also beer is expensive in Tunisia. So in all, if you went on your own or a very small group, you'd need to think along the the lines of £2000, probably less if you went for really cheap hotels.

great read, i really enjoyed it, looked lovely, good pics I'm sure i recognise one or two riders there.

Yep, I'm sure you would recognise a few in the group.

Thanks Dave, I feel so much more positive about the whole trip after posting this. Most of us had a really great time. Thinking about it, I would go back again if needed.

Pity about the moaners though.

 

[Duchess]

As you ride into El Jem, there is one overall structure that draws the eye, that is the Colosseum. It is the second largest in the world and was used during the filming of "Gladiator" for the fight scenes.

Here, it is just visible in the distance.

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It is very impressive. The entrance fee is 10 Dinar and will take some time to see it all. We decided to ask at one of the many little restaurants if we could leave our bike gear in it, having ordered lunch which we were told would take about an hour to produce. This was a good call and they dutifully looked after everything, but we still took our passports and money with us!

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Been there, what a fantastic place that is

 

[peejay]

Thanks for this, good pics.

An honest closing thread, proves you cant please everyone, especially those who dont know what they are letting themselves in for

 

[Timolgra]

Thanks for that report Roy
You can't please all the people all the time and that's not your problem

 

[Blue Sweeper]

Thanks for that report Roy
You can't please all the people all the time and that's not your problem

Thanks for the comments Tim, you're right, so difficult to please everyone all of the time.

It was a good trip and most of us enjoyed it.

I guess some people expect an adventure to be just the same as a gentle bimble round France and when things go slightly wrong they get the grumps.

For me personally, I love it when a challenge is presented. I'd really have liked to have been on the recent Morocco trip with you and Bill when you got stuck in the Atlas. Fantastic!

 

[Timolgra]

I guess some people expect an adventure to be just the same as a gentle bimble round France and when things go slightly wrong they get the grumps.

For me personally, I love it when a challenge is presented. I'd really have liked to have been on the recent Morocco trip with you and Bill when you got stuck in the Atlas. Fantastic!

I think people have varying personal comfort zones, get 'em outside it and the fun starts

Stuck in the Atlas or anywhere for that matter is only really an issue if someone gets hurt (or perhaps a bike is terminal), for some of us anything up to that point is the challenge we chase

 

[david a hall]

Just looked at the other pics in the email looks fantastic!!

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

A very excellent report ................................with some stunning pics