Grand Africa Cruise - Tunisia

Cruise Day 15

Monday, October 24, 2022

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.”           -- Anais Nin

Today we are in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, although we are actually docking in La Goulette, which is the port city for Tunis.

An overview showing where Tunisia is.

 

 

The flag of Tunisia.

It was another early morning for us, but not bad.  The ship was docking at eight and we had a tour that left as soon as we could get off the ship.  We were up at seven and after a quick breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, we waited for the Tunisian Immigration officials to clear the ship for us to get off.  While we waited, we went out on the balcony and saw we were being greeted by drumming and a small band playing local music plus a four camel caravan making its way along the pier.

Our first view of Tunis as we sail through the breakwater into the harbor.

 

This is the terminal building.  You enter at the left end and go through immigration and walk then walk through a series of shops before you reach the area where the transportation for the tours was.

As we were about to dock we heard drumming and saw a caravan of camels to greet us on the dock.

Around 8:15 the captain announced the ship had been cleared and we could leave the ship.  We were issued Tunisian visitor’s card to carry, plus we need our ship’s ID, our passports and proof of Covid vaccination so we gathered those documents and were soon off the ship.

Our tour today was organized by Julie, one our Cruise Critic roll call members.  She met us on the dock and since this was a rather large tour we divided up into two groups for two different buses.  After everyone from the group had checked in we headed to the buses, but first we had to go through immigration where they checked our vaccination cards and passports and then took half of our visitor’s card and stamped the other half that we will return upon our return to the ship.

We walked through a long maze of shops and then to the buses and we were finally on our way around nine.  It was a pleasant surprise to find the buses were only half full which meant room to spread out and quicker time getting on and off the bus.  We dislike tours where they pack buses or van’s to full capacity as it gets pretty uncomfortable.

The weather was beautiful with blue skies and a moderate temperature.  It is supposed to get up into the low nineties today, but with the low humidity, we don’t expect it to be too bad.  Our first stop on the tour was the ancient ruins of the city of Carthage which I was really interested in.  I may have mentioned it before, but after our Mediterranean cruise back in 2017, I have been reading many books on the history of the countries that ring the Mediterranean.

Carthage was very prominent in ancient history so I was anxious to see the actual ruins.  Here is a brief description from Google.  "Founded by the Phoenicians in the first millennium B.C., it was once the seat of the powerful Carthaginian (Punic) Empire, which fell to Rome in the 2nd century B.C. Today it retains a scattered collection of ancient baths, theaters, villas and other ruins, many with sweeping views of the Gulf of Tunis."

Carthage is very near Tunis and La Goulette, but it took about a half hour to get there as we had to drive through Tunis which is a busy, bustling city.  We walked through a hilltop site of the ancient ruins as our guide gave us the history of what we were seeing.  The first part of the walk was through the early Carthage ruins and then it became an area built by the Romans when they rebuilt Carthage for themselves.

 

You can see our ship docked off in the distance.

After that we visited another site that was an ancient cemetery and then on to a Roman amphitheater that had been restored and was actually used as a theater today for all types of entertainment.  Although it had been rebuilt, it contained much of the original stone used.

An ancient Roman cemetery.

A Roman theater, it has been restored, but contains much of the original stone.

The theater is still used today for various types of entertainment.

Next we stopped at a World War II cemetery for the Americans killed in the fighting in Northern Africa.  There are also separate cemeteries for the British and Germans killed.  The fact that WWII was fought in northern Africa is sometime forgotten, but the cemetery was a reminder of the many lives lost here.

From there we went on to the picturesque seaside village of Sidi Bou Said.  Here is a description of Sidi Bou Said from Google.  "Known for its cobbled streets and blue-and-white houses, Sidi Bou Said is a charming town on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean, with al fresco cafes, Tunisian eateries, and small art galleries. Early-20th-century Ennejma Ezzahra Palace features arches, ornate stucco, and patterned tilework, while Dar El Annabi is a historic house with wax figures in traditional costume. A marina sits beside a sandy beach."

We walked up the narrow streets and ended up where we had some great views of the seaside below.  All along the walk there were homes, cafes and many, many shops all wanting us to buy something from them.  Val found a nice ceramic bowl she liked and surprised me with her ability to haggle and got it at a very good price (although I’m sure the shopkeeper still made money).

 

It was time for lunch and we returned to La Goulette for lunch at The Hotel Lido.  We ate out on a terrace with an ocean view and a cooling breeze blowing in, very nice.  We were served a meal of Tunisian food that was very good, we had four appetizers, a Tunisian brik which is a fried dough with an whole egg in it, and then a bowl filled with beef and cooked vegetables.  We finished it up with a bowl of pomegranates for dessert.  It was all very good, although one of the appetizers was very spicy and after trying a little bit on the top of my fork, I left it alone.  The only trouble was there was way too much of it; I don’t believe anyone finished everything.

We ate on a covered terrace, but there was also seating outside on the patio, but we had far to many people for the limited patio seating.

Val at the far end of the table.

The view of the coast from the patio area.

After a leisurely lunch we had one more stop, the Tunis Medina.  It was a half hour drive to the medina and after viewing some of the buildings and architecture, we were dropped off for a walk through the souk led by our guide.  It was an interesting walk, and while crowded with people, it was much easier than the souks of Marrakech as there weren’t all the motorcycles racing by.  We were able to spend some time shopping and I got my t-shirt (I like to get one from every country) and Val got a Morrocon/Tunisian pouf (a pouf is a leather bag that you fill with material to make it into a footstool).  The beauty of the pouf is that until you fill it, you can fold it up and easily pack it in your luggage.  Val once again was able to haggle the price down for my t-shirt and negotiated a very good deal on her pouf. 

Just outside the medina is Kasbah Square with the National Monument in the center.  In the background is the Tunis City Hall.

We walked through the souk of the Tunis Medina.

After the Tunis Medina it was time to return to the ship and our port.  This was a very good tour today and Val and I both really enjoyed it.  Our guide was great, lunch was very good and everything we saw was quite interesting.  Our guide was also very good and very knowledgeable about the history of where we visited.  He also did a great job of keeping track of everybody and keeping us together without being overly officious.  Thanks to Julie for organizing an excellent tour.

We were back just a little after four and after making our way past the maze of shops and through immigration, we were back in our room relaxing.

We did stop to get our picture taken with one of the camels before boarding the ship.

Now we know why these camels have a muzzle on, just before the picture was taken the camel lunged at Val.  You can see the look of surprise on her face.

The all aboard today was 5:00 and we were scheduled to leave at 5:30.  I was going to go up on the Lido Deck for sail away, but after relaxing a bit, I didn’t really feel like going back out so we decided to watch us sail away from our balcony.  5:30 came and went and there was no sign of us leaving and we figured there must be a ship excursion coming back late.  Sure enough, a little before six five buses pulled up and their passengers started through immigration which took a while.  That is one of the advantages of taking a ship excursion, they will wait for you if you are late.  It was a beautiful evening out on the balcony and Val and I waited outside until we finally sailed away and said goodbye to Tunis.

We sail away from Tunisia as the sun sets.

I didn’t know much about Tunisia before this cruise and didn’t know what to expect, but I have to say, we really enjoyed our visit.  The small part of Tunisia we saw is modern, but also has preserved its past.  The people we came in contact with were polite and friendly and we had a great time here.

It was dinner and the casino as usual except that I actually had some luck in the casino tonight and left with a little more than I started with.  The clock will be moved forward again tonight so we will be losing another hour of sleep and we were early to bed with that in mind.  Tomorrow will be a sea day so we’ll have some time to relax.