Night in Tunisia

Preparing for the Desert

We arrived in Tozeur in the dark. For the past two hours we had been driving across increasingly flat land, speckled with scrub and stones. Mountains lay like sleeping giants in the dark on either side of the car, and as we traveled the moon and stars came out overhead. It seemed very magical and we were happy to drive in the dark as though towards some ancient city of mystery.

Tozeur wasn't that mysterious, but it had enough elements of an ancient city to keep our imaginations sharp. We didn't have a reservation so we circled the town a couple of times in search of the tourist district. We found it, but the hotels were big and they looked to be out of the price range that we could afford. After a while we stopped to ask a police officer where we could find a decent hotel for a reasonable price. With a smile and thoughtful look he gave us directions to Hotel Karim and sent us away with a waive.

People in the south are renowned for their kindness and hospitality. Like in Canada the environment dictates that people help each other or perish, and that kindness to strangers and travelers has survived even though modern technology has made living there much less hazardous. Seeing the smiles on the dark brown faces reminded me of home and I felt more relaxed than I had since the trip began.

Hotel Karim was a gem. It was built on the corner of a street and it's structure is triangular. The centre is open to the sky and has a courtyard with potted plants, a fountain and several small tables. Looking up you see a balcony running the three connecting walls and doors to individual rooms behind them. I didn't realize at first that it was open air, and kept looking for the hallway where the current seemed to be coming from. Loren finally helped me by stopping me in the courtyard and making me look up into the sky full of stars and wispy clouds. It was quite a sight.

We were hungry and the local couscous was on the menu at the restaurant connected to the hotel. Before we made it to the restaurant, our one-armed hotel manager asked us why we had come and when we told him it was to do a Sahara trip he suggested he could be of service.

We were reluctant to let him arrange anything for us to begin with as we didn't want a package tour with cars and oasis-tourist stops. We wanted the real thing, out into the Sahara for a night and then back. He assured us that he worked privately with a local Berber man who didn't do group tours and who could take us off the beaten path. He said he would call and ask if he was available and then we could make up our minds after dinner.

Dinner was good if not fabulous. I think we all agreed that Loren's lamb couscous stole the show, and as a result Jason and I kept stealing bites from his bowl.

Back at Hotel Karim the hotel manager had called and told us the guide was available and it would cost about 85 DT each for one night in the desert, but that he would take us to the dunes. The dunes are the largest sand dunes in Tunisia and they provided the backdrop for the Star Wars films on the planet Tatouine, which by the way is the name of a Tunisian city. Our hotel manager figured that was about 40 km away and it was fairly deep into the Sahara. We would be fed and given a shelter to sleep under at one of the local Berber family tents. He had even made the guide promise to cook Berber bread in the sand. We were sold. It was more than we had planned on spending, but it covered the cost of the guide, the food, the camels and a very authentic non-tourist experience.

We retired to bed, knowing that we would have to wake early to be ready to leave by 9AM. Before we could nod off we had to repack our bags, and Loren had to make a couple of calls to deal with our BC Student Loans. You can't get away from student loans, you know. Not even in the Sahara.

We met for breakfast at 7:30 the next morning, ate our complimentary coffee, baguette and fig jam and jumped into the car to head to the central market. We were in need of a couple of things. The first was a whole lot of water for the trip, as we were responsible for our own beverages. The second was head gear to protect our fairer skin from the strong Saharan sun.

Have you ever seen a picture of the Touareg? They live in the desert of Algeria and Morocco dressed in dark blue-purple and black. They are usually depicted riding on camels and they are famous for having never fully integrated with modern society. The head scarves that they wear are lengths of fabric, about a foot and a half wide by about nine feet long. This they wrap around their head, leaving a third of it to then wrap around their mouth, nose, cheeks and neck. By the time the vendor had us all wrapped up there was nothing left of us but our eyes. Loren, Jason and I each were presented with different colours - Jason's was black, the darkest, and Loren's was cream coloured. Apparently only darker-skinned folk should wear the lighter wraps as the lighter colours won't block any UV rays, and you can still burn. Jason also bought a black and white checkered head scarf in the Arab tradition so that he could be sure that his neck was covered.

With our essential supplies now in hand, we returned to the Hotel to wait for our ride. Ten minutes later a horse and carriage pulled up and took our things. Then we climbed in and headed for the local park and monument to the poet Chebbi where our desert adventure would begin.

posted by tiaraletourneau @ 1:05 p.m.