For many years I anticipated that my first post-retirement trip would be to Africa, though of course that was long before covid. When I pictured my first trip to Africa it was always to Sub-Saharan Africa to go on safari and see wild animals in their native habitats. The possibility that Tunisia would be the first African country I would visit was never something I considered.
In any case, today Tunisia became the first country I visited in Africa (my 6th continent) and the 57th country in which I have found a cache.
We arrived to clear skies with lots of wind. Three of us had breakfast together departed off the ship, with the travel documents the ship provided. Of note, we did not get our passports stamped, only the stamps on the travel documents. There was an obvious presence of heavily armed police. We made our way through the gauntlet of vendors, declining the opportunity to pay for the privilege of riding a camel for a short time, and toward the beach. The sand was made up of very small particles but the wind was so strong and prolonged that it formed wave patterns on the sand. We walked down to the water and dipped fingers into the warm water. I found a very cute little white-ish snail on a date palm tree. As with other Mediterranean stops, I recognized some of the flora from my childhood: cacti, bougainvillea, palm trees, and others.
Many of our friends and fellow cruisers joined us near the beach for a quick event cache. That’s where I learned that one of the cruisers took a picture of a building and was asked (in French) by a policemen to either surrender her camera or delete the offending photo….needless to say, she chose the pat of least resistance and deleted the picture. A more positive interaction with the police occurred when two of then came to the event to see what the gathering was about. After determining it wasn’t a problem, one officer left while the other joined us for some pictures.
Most of the people traveling with us were on the same afternoon tour. As a result, we needed one long bus and one short bus. By virtue of being among the last to arrive to check in, Don and I were on the short bus. I offered to be the “leader” or contact person for our bus of 13. The boat company had contracted with the tour company, and those who arranged it had been told to consult the drivers about finding a cache or two along the way. So Helen, Chris, their guide, our guide (Hanine) and I met to talk about geocaching and our special request. Uh oh, this is.a problem. The guides, and the ship company’s rep, were reluctant for anyone deviate from the scheduled route because of the security they had arraigned “for your protection”. Indeed any change would need approval from the Police who did not grant permission (it is unclear if they were actually asked).
Tunisia has about 12 million residents, of whom half live in one of the three largest cities. We landed in La Goulette which is the name of the port that serves Tunis, the capital and largest city with 2.5 million residents. Education in Tunisia is compulsory to age 15, and is free through college. Arabic is the primary language, with French also being an official language. Kids start learning French in the 1st grade. There are eucalyptus trees planted along the sides of many roads to protect the roads from the summer sun. Seems they roads don’t hold up well during peak summer temperatures that reach 50C (122F) in the shade. Hanine was a bit chilled and wore a jacket because it was only about 25C (77F).
Our group of 13 intrepid geocachers (or maybe a slightly smaller number and their patient spouses) asked the guide to help with a geocaching adventure lab at the first of our four stops. EHanine agreed but suggested it would cost the group two kisses. Matt immediately volunteered to provide payment but Hanine declined (of note, homosexuality is a crime in Tunisia). Alison and I, always wanting to help out, immediately went one on either side of him. Cameras came out so he turned 180 degrees but we also turned to face other cameras. Two simultaneous cheek kisses later he tried to help. Later in the day I mused about whether it would have been a problem for him had he known of my religious situation.
Quick history lesson about this location: The Phonecians established Carthage in the third century BC (or BCE for those who prefer that nomenclature). Phonecian Carthage. Families would sacrifice babies to various deities. Their grave markers are the only part of the Phonecian Carthage that remains. Eventually, the Romans defeated the Phonecians in a war and destroyed the city. To ensure the Phonecians could not rebuild, the put salt on the city so nothing would grow. In the 2nd century AD (or CE), the Romans re-established Carthage in more or less the same locaiton, destroying all of the Phonecian Carthage except for the childrens’ grave markers and building over the original city.
After a sobering stop at the graves of the babies who had been sacrificed, we went to the Roman baths. Impressive architecture. From there we could see the armed guards at the president’s palace, which might explain some of the security measures that precluded visiting caches. We then proceeded to the Roman baths where we saw some of the luxury of the era as well as some engineering feats such as sewers and aqueducts. It was also a chance to see the colors of the Mediterranean Sea again. There was a third stop that I did not entirely understand.
Our final stop was to the community of Sidi Bou Said (“Siddy boo sah-eed”) where the buildings are all white and most of them have blue doors and trim. We started at what seemed to be a high quality handicraft store run by the government to learn a bit about Tunisian crafts (I did not see anything to buy either there or in the town). Hanine came up to me to ask my name, pronounced it correctly and commented that it’s a beautiful name. I thanked him, and replied that my parents had selected it just for me.
It was interesting to walk around for a bit, but the number of aggressive shopkeepers was a bit sobering and frustrating. We saw a sign for beignets and Derek asked about the priced. Seems it was two for a euro. Derek bought 4 to share.They were hot cooked dough covered with sugar granules that were absolutely delicious, much tastier than the ones I’ve had at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans (I type this with some trepidation knowing someone might object to this characterization).
On the way back, it seems we were indeed able to stop at one of the physical geocaches. Three of our group went to search with Hanine and he was the one to spot it. So the tour ended on a high note as we applauded him for his accomplishment.
Some day I will visit Sub-Saharan-Africa but today’s visit was an interesting introduction to the continent.
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