Having no expectations about Tunisia whatsoever, we were blown away by the beauty, friendliness and diversity of this country. Welcomed everywhere we went, amazed by the landscapes during our road trip to the south, we did not only fall in love with our constant companions, the camels. Now we are looking back at 8 wonderful days in Tunis, on the road, discovering oases in the middle of the desert, eating couscous and ‘Harissa’ (the typical Tunisian hot sauce, to be eaten with anything, at any time), riding camels, watching (and smelling) them enjoy their food numerous times, spending the night under the bare stars in the Sahara, and eating fresh bread that’s been baked in the sand of the desert by our Beduin guide. Speaking of underestimated and misjudged countries, Tunisia should be on the very top of that list.

Our trip started with two days in the capital. We arrived to the Tunis-Carthage airport, which is conveniently located only 20 minutes from the northern “European” neighbourhoods of Tunis, such as “La Marsa”, “Sidi Bou Said” and “Gammarth” (where most of the airbnbs and nice restaurants are located), and which separates these from the actual centre of Tunis. Strolling through the Medina (old town) of the city and doing the obligatory shopping for fake leather bags, silver plates or other Tunisian souvenirs, a hidden gem is the roof top terrace of the Cafe M’Rabet. The cafe is like a little oasis in the middle of all the busy vendors, locals and tourists, and you shouldn’t miss out on the delicious sweet mint tea ‘Té aux pignons’ with pine nuts. After treating ourselves to some of the best food the city has to offer at the restaurants Au bon vieux temps and Le Golfe, we (my boyfriend Max, my former roommate Mareike, her friend Agnes, and I) rented a car for 7 days to make our way south.

‘Té aux pignons’ with pine nuts

Beautiful Sidi Bou Said

Breakfast at ‘North Shore’ Cafe

Typical breakfast in Tunisia

Our gorgeous Airbnb in Sousse

Plate Tunisien – a typical dish with tuna, olives, harissa, salad, half-baked egg and bell pepper salad – served with baguette

First stop was the impressive amphitheatre in El Jem, which could easily pass as the little brother of the Colosseum in Rome. Countless toll booths later (charging between €0,30 and €1,30), and passing through Sidi Bouzid – the city where the revolution started back in 2010 – we arrived to Tozeur. The oasis city in the south-west of Tunisia functions as a starting point to visit the surrounding oases and the Chott el Djerid salt lake. After a luxurious breakfast on the balcony of our Airbnb – consisting of freshly brewed Colombian coffee, which we bought in Tunis, olives, nuts, fresh fruit and delicious French cheese -, we took a half-hour drive to the first oasis “Chibika”. Here, we bought our first desert dates and admired the power of nature, which placed an underground spring in the middle of the desert to nurture a bed of palm trees, plants, a little waterfall and other flora and fauna you wouldn’t expect in such a deserted place. Another 30 minutes down the road, we got surprised by a big celebration in the oasis of “Tamerza”, with a theatre play about the discovery of the oasis, street food, and bus loads of locals on a pilgrimage to the city. Our last oasis experience was supposed to be the “Basket oasis” of Nefta, a city half an our west of Tozeur. While we couldn’t stop taking pictures and feeling amazed by the beauty of these little green paradises in the middle of the desert in the morning, a full day on the road and numerous oasis stops took their toll on us, and Nefta couldn’t really awe us anymore like her sister oases before her did. Still, experiencing and walking underneath fresh and green palm trees, when only 5 minutes earlier you’ve driven your rental car through plain nothing, is pretty impressive.

Road trip through the South

The oasis of Chibika

Amphitheatre in El Jem

Agnes with Beshir’s mother

And just when we thought that nothing could beat this experience, another magnificent thing happened to us: the desert. With only a vague description of a location where we should go to start our tour, given to us by the son of our Beduin guide, we started driving towards the Sahara. Our surroundings were slowly beginning to change: towns turned into villages and ultimately, into conglomerations of houses, palm trees got fewer, and the road sandier. Finally, we arrived to the (even sandier) courtyard of our guide Beshir. We parked our car and immediately got invited to a big bowl of couscous – cooked for us by Beshir’s wife -, followed by oranges, dates and sweet mint tea. Beshir’s comment to us saying that we had specifically booked the tour without lunch (since we had adapted to the Tunisian lifestyle and developed into late breakfast eaters during our trip), was simply: “I know you booked the tour without lunch, but I was really sad about that, so my wife cooked lunch for you anyway” – can’t argue with that logic. Stuffed but happy, we awaited the arrival of our new companions, the four camels, which would carry us into the Sahara. Beshir and his friend Muldi quickly loaded our bedding, water, food, and cooking utensils onto our friends once they had arrived, and so our desert adventure began. Hours of riding through the Sahara, overwhelming, never-ending sand dunes, long photo shoots, a breath-taking sunset, dinner cooked over the fire in a tin pot by a Beduin, comforting drum and pipe sounds, sleeping next to camels under the bare sky in the sand, seeing more stars than we’ve ever had in our entire lives… and this doesn’t even begin to describe our experience. All of this was only beat by Muldi pulling out a loaf of bread from the sand, which he had freshly baked for our breakfast in the desert the next morning. Could our desert experience have been any more exciting, authentic or beautiful? I don’t think so. And therefore, there’s nothing more for me to say. Except maybe a last message for everyone that’s been getting excited while reading this post: don’t be afraid and come visit this amazing, underrated country! We did not feel unsafe at any moment and if I could, I would return right away. To those people walking in the middle of the road, even if a car is right behind them, the hot Harissa sauce and way too sweet mint tea, the smelly but unbelievably adorable camels, the amazing sun sets, the date-nuts-olives-cheese-bread-coffee breakfasts in the sun, the medinas, the  €0,30 espressos, the blue and white neighbourhoods of Tunis, the ruins of Carthage, the palm trees in the middle of the desert, the amazing street food, the striking ATMs in the entire city, … and the list goes on and on. But you got to experience it yourself to really understand all of what’s mentioned above.

Our camp for the night under the stars

Bread, freshly baked in the sand of the Sahara

MY TIPS & RECOMMENDATIONS

• order a ‘Té aux pignons’ or ‘Té aux amandes’ in one of the many cafes or restaurants – but watch out: the traditional mint tea is loaded with sugar
• ‘Le Saf Saf’, ‘Fattoum’, ‘Le Golfe’, and ‘Aux bon vieux temps’ are excellent places to have lunch or dinner in Tunis; ‘Cafe des delices’ in Sidi Bou Said offers a beautiful view and some good coffee; ‘North Shore’ has delicious breakfast options right at the beach of La Marsa
• ‘Dar Deda’ in Tozeur has a great menu at very low prices – you might also want to try dromedary meat here
• ‘l’escargot’ in Sousse is probably the nicest French restaurant in all of Tunisia with the cutest old Tunisian waiter
• the exchange rate is fixed by the government, which means that you can exchange Euros for the same rate everywhere you go (airport, banks, exchange shops, etc.)
• a 10-minute taxi ride costs around €1 – just make sure they turn on the taximeter
• renting a car cost us €120 for 7 days with a €500 deposit, which we got back without any problems – gas costs €0,60/l – our road trip to the south totalled 1600km
• take home as many dates as you can – they’re probably the best you’ll ever taste!
• Airbnbs are around €10 per night p.p. – my personal recommendations: in Tunis, Tozeur, Sousse
• do a Camel-Sahara tour with Beshir and Muldi – I promise you won’t regret it. You can simply contact them via a text or phone call. Beshir’s number: +216 95 914 887; Beshir’s son: +216 26 245 082 (both speak good French, but communication via phone is probably easier with Beshir’s son)
• work on your French skills before coming to Tunisia – the majority of the people speak good French, English is rather rare
• enjoy every single second in this beautiful country!