Tunisia - 30 August - 1 September 2007

The border at Ras Ajdir was relatively painless and cost us nothing for a change. We only had a 3 day transit visa so things were disappointingly rushed as Tunisia appeared to have great potential. The people are welcoming and there are great ruins, filmscapes and architecture, but we were on a clock and headed off for our first overnight in an average hotel outside Sfax at Mahares. It was an eye opener to see the hanging sheep outside countless restaurants en route, often not skinned yet!

On the way to Tunis we drove past countless olive groves and spent a few hours at the 2000 year old impressive colosseum in the town of El-Jem - known as the Roman Las Vegas in its heyday. The best preserved Roman Colosseum which showcased executions and gladiatorial combat even had a state of the art moveable floor!

80km from Tunis it struck again - another 2 punctures for 'My Van' (GR3). This took us a few hours to sort out as we were on a freeway with nowhere to turn around and Tipperdee's spare wheel couldn't come off as the studs thread was worn. Gary and Eddie's vehicles headed to the capital to repair the 2 punctures and Eddie returned to deliver the tyres while Gary sourced someone to angle grind the stud off to free his spare. All worked out in the end and Jo-Anne met them along avenue Habib Bourguiba (first president) while Gary searched for parking and accommodation.

We spent the night in the basic hotel Salammbo and enjoyed easy going Tunis ' French colonial architecture, café's and glamorous city slickers. The structured pattern of modern Tunis is in sharp contrast to the maze of alleyways, overhanging bridges, fantastic souqs and shops of the Medina. We had our Globeriders Africa farewell supper at restaurant Carcassonne - an affordable 4 course meal with spicy harrissa as an appetizer, mopped up with baguettes. The street food however, dazzled some taste buds, especially the briq - a tasty pastry envelope with tuna, eggs and salad.

We were lucky to secure ferry tickets to Italy for the night of our 3 rd day and after all the running around GR1 and GR3 were through only to have GR2 (Eddie) stopped by ferry authorities as they did not have proof of accommodation in Italy. They waited for 5 hours until everyone boarded before the captain allowed them aboard after a lot of explanations. What a worry! The boat eventually departed at 2am and we spent the night sleeping on the carpeted floor and across seats amidst crying children and snoring adults! But we were off to Europe and excited to taste Italy , with Palermo , Sicily our destination.

Regards