The Diary, page 3.
Website up-date 3. 1st Nov 2004 Trapani, Sicily
Some pictures....
Who says we are overloaded
Dog attack beach site
Nighttime beach camping
Our car park guard
One for the health & safety man in Cumbria.
1st Nov 2004 Trapani, Sicily
The ferry sails at 9pm, be on the quay by 8pm we were told when buying our tickets. But luckily we bumped into Barbara and Manfred returning to Tunisia in their campervan for the 5th year, who advised joining the queue of heavily loaded Tunisian vehicles by 3.30pm. We were the only ones with tickets and foolishly felt a bit smug as everyone else grew more and more impatient, due to the holiday weekend the ticket office didn't open before 6pm. By then it was dark and the quayside was in chaos as everyone struggled to reach the desk. It was a good hour before we discovered we too had to join in the crush and fill in numerous forms to get clearance to board the ferry. When Bill finally reached the desk he found Barbara there, almost beside herself with furry as the staff had just refused payment by credit card and she had little cash on her and would have to go into Trapani to draw cash.
"It's never been like this before" Manfred told us. At 10.15pm the four of us were on board and Bill and I discovered the clocks had gone back over the weekend and our ticket included a cabin! But it was still over an hour and a half before the ship sailed, by which time we'd retired exhausted.
Approaching Tunis at dawn there was another mountain of paperwork to fill in, all in Arabic and French this time and we'd left our French dictionary in the van. We did our best (apparently filling in the residents section instead of the Tourist one!) and gathered with the crowd waiting to go down to our vehicles at 7.50am.
"Ten minutes" the crew said. By 9.15am we were all sitting in our vehicles and had just discovered the forward teeth of the unloading ramp had been stuck and they'd only managed to force a small section down. But once on shore things moved pretty fast with Barbara and Manfred's help, Customs Officers ignoring the incorrectly filled in forms and barely glancing at the camper. They were far too busy making the Tunisians unload every single thing from their vehicles. We had a slight hiccup when we failed to produce one slip of paper but by midday the last Officer scribbled a clearance note and said,
"Welcome to Tunisia. Now go." 2nd, 3rd & 4th Nov Unofficial Car Park, Tunis Sports Ground
We planned to spend at least 24hrs in Tunis setting the wheels in motion for the Libyan visa and getting the Egyptian visa but first find the Tourist Office and pick-up as much local information as possible. The first piece of very important information is that this is the middle of Ramadan! The sky was overcast but it was very warm. From the size of the puddles there had obviously been heavy rain recently and everyone was wearing warm clothes with heavy coats or body warmers. The Tourist office was easy to find and very helpful but the traffic in the city was completely mad so decided to find somewhere to park the van and then walk. This spot has an old man to mind the vehicles and we park under a date palm and go off to explore. As there are no campsites near Tunis we spend that night at the car park and wake to torrential rain and floods. That evening we sit reading when Bill leaps up and says
"A rat just ran round my neck!"
"We've spent weeks stopping up every small hole in the van to prevent mosquitos getting in, how could a rat?" I laugh. But he was sort of right as moments later the cutest little mouse runs down his arm and leg onto the cushions. Now we are three! Almost catch him in my hat but he escapes into the cab.
On the 4th we managed to get the Egyptian visa, a one month visa which has to be started by February, and find a young man called Hedi to act as our translator at the Libyan Embassy. The Libyans will only speak Arabic and ours is still restricted to Hello and Thank you. However tomorrow is Friday and the Embassy is closed and apparently Tunisians have Sunday as their day of rest so we decide to leave town and head for a campsite for the weekend. Hedi is very worried about us camping overnight in the car park as he says it is a very bad area at night, a place where drunks gather.
5th, 6th & 7th Nov Le Pinede Campsite
Almost dark last night before we found this site with the help of a beautiful policewoman. Officially it's closed but is obviously used regularly by travellers heading back to Tunis from the south to catch the ferry to Europe. Use the roof tent and realise we'll definitely have to alter the mosquito netting inner.
Bill does a full service on the van, including oil change and I have a search for the mouse which we think is still with us.Move all emergency food supplies into a secure plastic box. Great sandy beach backed by scrub covered dunes with clusters of weird chalet type huts dotted all around, looks like something out of Star Wars. We are camped under tall pines close to hot showers etc.
8th, 9th, 10th, & 11th Nov
Back to Tunis to shop, check emails, and arrange to meet Hedi for trip to Libyan Embassy in morning. Very hot but local people still wearing body warmers. Camp at La Goulette fishing harbour, sea very rough.
Tuesday; two hours at Embassy, some paperwork, Hedi does all the talking, we
just smile and say "Shukran, shukran", thank
you, thank you.
"Come back on Thursday" we're told.
Spend that night in a car park, almost below the Presidential Palace, close to the beach at Sidi Bous Said, a pretty little blue and white village. The car park is in a small, isolated gorge cut into a sandy hillside. Dogs howl all night and the police visit about midnight. In the morning we realise the dogs are not local guard dogs but a pack of wild dogs living in caves on the hillside. They are fascinating to watch as they all return to base at dawn with really affectionate greetings particularly for one which appears to be the lead bitch.
Wednesday; discover the roof tent was damaged when we miss-judged a low roof the other day. Not too bad and Bill will be able to fix it.
Thursday; Yassa Arrafat has died and Tunisia is in mourning. Back to Embassy, asked to return in an hour as Consul is at the Palastinian Embassy. Return and wait one and a half hours. Consul has agreed to our visa but has to send to Tripoli for clearance. Told to return in a week. With Arrafat's funeral and Eid celebrations this weekend there could be even more of a delay. Arrange to meet Hedi on 18th after spending the coming week exploring Tunisias northern mountains. Hedi says it may rain in Tabarka but it is too beautiful to miss. Somewhere we've heard a statement similar to that before!
Friday 12th - 17th Nov
Takes us two hours to drive through Tunis into the countryside but only get lost once. Surprisingly good roads, even the minor ones when we turn off the highway and up into beautiful mountains. This first chain is highly cultivated though it reminds us of the northern Pennines. Stop for a rest and we're joined by a shepherd in traditional thick woollen, hooded coat and carrying a mobile phone!
We are heading for a Roman, yellow marble, Quarry at a place called Chemtou.
Out here in the countryside no-one has running water and there is a constant
stream of donkeys, cyclists and motor scooters all strung around with gallon
cans heading for the nearest well or spring. It has been raining here and the
roadside ditches are full of rushing soil-stained water. In the villages they
have been gathering the lettuce crop ready to send to market. It is all being
washed in the ditches! It is getting really quite cold and we are wearing our
Arab head scarves today, plus fleeces, thick socks, etc. By mid-morning it is
really raining and finding any ground firm enough to camp on proves difficult.
Eventually we camp in the Roman Quarry!
Saturday, start of a very subdued Eid: In morning it's really raining, we dress
up in full winter gear and waterproofs and go for a scramble in the quarry.
It's fascinating to see the marks left by the tools used to cut the stone out,
looks like a cheese wire type of thing. The museum is closed and the weather
is miserable, water washing down the roads. Decide to head straight over the
next chain of mountains to Tabarka campsite on the coast. This range is even
higher and the road
climbs seriously, hairpin after hairpin, through a beautiful cork oak forest
with fantastic views down into the valley. We reach Ain Draham which is supposed
to be a great centre for mountain hiking, today its just sopping wet, slippery
mud, a place to leave. From here it should be mostly downhill to Tabarka and
we're expecting some good views despite the rain. But round the first bend is
thick cloud, visibility down to about 20ft, fortunately the Tunisian drivers
drive more sensibly
than usual, sticking to their own side of the road for a change and we reach
low land, at Tabarka, and clear visibility safely. Here everywhere is flooded
and there is no campsite, not even a closed one. So it's another beach-side
car park with rain slashing down, thunder crashing overhead and lightening flashing
all round while the giant waves brought whole tree trunks crashing up onto the
beach. The storm noises almost drown out the howling of the resident pack of
wild dogs.
Sunday: The gale is still crashing through the tree tops but we don waterproofs and stagger through the dunes to the beach. Bill is scavenging/beachcombing for plastic containers. Returning to the van he heads of into the scrub still looking for containers while I return to the van.
Bill - Hello! Had a bit of a scary experience on Sunday and decided to put it on the web as we are supposed to be giving an honest account of our journey. So what happened?
While scavenging around our car park campsite looking for a lid to a plastic container I disturbed a pack of wild feral dogs, 7 in all. They quickly surrounded me and with only an empty plastic container for a weapon I was soon in trouble. Beating at them and whirling round in circles, I headed back to the tarmac but tripped on the edge where two more waited. Suddenly those expensive rabies injections seemed quite a good investment, I could almost feel the first bite though I didn't feel the damage I'd done to my knee till later. On the tarmac I was unable to move forward without exposing my rear to their teeth. But the cavalry was on its way. Penny had heard the rucus from the van on the other side of the park and grabbing our trusty camal drovers stick she leapt from the van hollering like a Red Indian, grabbing the only thing lying on the ground, a flattened coke can, and charging across the park she threw it, and missed by a mile! But this yelling apparition brandishing !
a stick was too much for them and they just melted away into the undergrowth. We returned, shaking to the van. We live to fight another day but that was a lesson hard learned. They are wild and should be treated with respect even if they do look like cuddly yellow labradors.
Monday: Its still raining, thunder and lightening, and we decide to head back to Tunis taking the main road. Bill's knee is sore and stiff but OK. If there is a campsite anywhere we'll stop for a day or two. But there isn't. Roads are in terrible state, some sections slipping into the valley below others blocked by slides of earth and rocks from hillsides. One sign says Road Cut, it is almost completely flooded but just passable. Cars coming towards us flash a warning, cables down over road. Then a bridge has collapsed, slight diversion! Luckily traffic is not heavy. But rounding a bend there is a river rushing across the road. This is the last straw for me and I'm not driving! On the hillside above us is a working quarry and within half an hour we are ensconced with the blessing of the caretaker and the guard dog. I intended to put my thermals on this morning it was so cold, 60f in the van, but with the heater going full blast we are soon warm.Tuesday: Back to La Goulette where we catch someone trying to unscrew a wing mirror during the night.
Thursday 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st Nov Le Pinede
Back to the Embassy but our letter of welcome has not arrived. Maybe Eid or Arrafat's funeral, or who knows what has delayed it. We agree to return in a week and high-tail it back to Le Pinede where it is dry and warm. That night six overlanders arrive mostly with sand mats and rooftents, they are heading into Tunis on Friday for the ferry to Genoa. We are both feeling pretty low as we'd hoped to have the visa and be on our way, though we knew full well it would take a long time. In the morning we sit drinking tea and watching the overlanders.
"You note they are all grey-beards like us" I say "We are the only ones who have the time to do this kind of thing" Bill replies. "Welcome to the ranks of the living dead!"
I knew he was depressed but hadn't realised it was that bad! But once he's doing something constructive, mending the roof tent, he recovers. I manage to alter the tent inner too and do all the washing. So we have a constructive few days and maybe tomorrow!!!!!!