Two planes, two taxi rides, a bus and a Louage...Your browser may not support display of this image. I had a sinking feeling we wouldn't survive the flight to Tozeur on TunisAir. A small plane in a foreign country with questionable security and unknown technology added up to surefire disaster in my mind. Geoff comforted me saying my biggest problem would be the smell emitted by some other passengers. We waited hours at the airport although the flight was never listed as late. Children amused themselves by climbing around signs, running in circles, and lying on the floor. The adults just sat. Finally we went through security x-ray where our bags got caught up in the rollers causing the entire luggage carousel to collapse. I bit my lip to avoid bursting out laughing and calmly took my bags away. Afterwards, we laughed imagining next we'd lift the armrest and rip out the whole seat of the plane or lift the window shade and inadvertently pull off the entire window. Well if we were going to die, at least we would go out smiling. On the evening flight, I looked out the window below and saw scattered white lights on dotting...
Two planes, two taxi rides, a bus and a Louage...I had a sinking feeling we wouldn't survive the flight to Tozeur on TunisAir. A small plane in a foreign country with questionable security and unknown technology added up to surefire disaster in my mind. Geoff comforted me saying my biggest problem would be the smell emitted by some other passengers. We waited hours at the airport although the flight was never listed as late. Children amused themselves by climbing around signs, running in circles, and lying on the floor. The adults just sat. Finally we went through security x-ray where our bags got caught up in the rollers causing the entire luggage carousel to collapse. I bit my lip to avoid bursting out laughing and calmly took my bags away. Afterwards, we laughed imagining next we'd lift the armrest and rip out the whole seat of the plane or lift the window shade and inadvertently pull off the entire window. Well if we were going to die, at least we would go out smiling.On the evening flight, I looked out the window below and saw scattered white lights on dotting the darkness like stars in a night sky. We had...
If things tend to be closed during Ramadan and things tend to be closed Sundays, what happens when you put the two together?If things tend to be closed during Ramadan and things tend to be closed Sundays, what happens when you put the two together? We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the beach. On the path we spotted a snake which Geoff was very excited about - only the second one he's ever seen "in the wild". Unfortunately, despite his looking for it every subsequent time we went out there, we never did see one again. On the beach, there were camel, horseback and 4-wheel drive rides, but no water sports.After loafing around for the day, we decided to head into the big city of Tunis despite the fact that we didn't expect anything to be open. The taxi cost us only nine dinars - half as much for twice the distance of the airport. The centre touristique of the city had modern buildings - many of them clearly French inspired. We took a table at the only open café and had some tea. Served piping hot in tiny glass shot glasses, the...
Located between Algeria and Libya, Tunisia doesn't sound like it should be a friendly, peaceful country. But we had decided on a brief beach getaway, and discovered it was a popular destination for the French for a few reasons - 1) It's only a 2 hour flight. 2) It's a tropical climate. 3) They speak French.Before this trip, my mind's image of Africa was indigenous bushmen, rainforests and jungles, elephants and tigers. In Tunisia, we would find none of these things. But perhaps we would discover something even better.Approximately 98 percent of Tunisia's population is devout Muslims. Their native language is Arabic, but the business language is French, having only been liberated from France a few decades ago. We arrived at the end of Ramadan, a monthlong religious fasting which is one of the five pillars of Islam.When we first stepped out of the airport, the palm trees and sunshine conjured up my mind's images of any warm place - Florida, Mexico, California. We walked over to the 'official' taxi stand after dodging several shady characters offering us a ride. Since there were two rival companies at the stand, members from each immediately swarmed around Geoff trying to grab his...
