Tunisia: Day 8

The sun came up through some thin gray cloud, birds were chirrupping in the grain store, flying in and out as fast as they could. A strongish wind had been blowing most of the night, rocking the Landy on its suspension, almost like being on a boat.

My route today took me to Ben Guerdane, a largish town near the Libyan border and right on the coast. Tarmac followed the last section of piste into town. Rubbish lined the road, in greater amounts and variety as I got closer, including car bodies standing on the mounds lining the road and separating traffic from the olive trees growing behind. Every now and then, Lavender was growing in clusters. The terrain changed as I go closer to the coast too. The Mica based fields gave way to tussuck covered low dunes, similar to many coastal areas. It turned I had to drop off another section of the plateau to get to the coast, so another sweeping set of bends in the road took me down.

Passing through Ben Guerdane took me through the car section, then into the roundabout which marks the centre of town, before heading north to the beach at El Marsa. There, the lagoon of Birhet El Bibane was that typical deep blue that is common across the Mediterranean basin. 

On the road upto Zarzis, I saw Flamingos, Egrets and what looked like Dippers to my untrained eye, feeding in one of the small lagoons along this stretch of coast. A bit further on, I found a lovely dirt track running next to the sea. Fishermen were sorting nets and/or fishing in the open sea but near to the rocks. Great Cormorants and Black Backed Gulls were hunting there as well just off the rocks. I also found a dead turtle whilst taking photos, poor thing had its head and flippers cut off. A coffee stop stop and some watching time ensued. 

The Ile De Djerba has a causeway to access it on its SE corner. Its the largest island on the north african coastline. Once on the island, the roads go through the middle to the main towns and the tourist ville on the north coast. I slipped onto a little dirt road that took me out along the coast for aways. There, I saw loads of birdlife. Some stray dogs and the islands dump. The first place in Tunisia I've seen an actual sanctioned, working tip. It's not used by all though, as the island is like Italy and Tunisia, rubbish everywhere. With the exception of the tourist spots on the north coast that is.

That north coast turned out to be Tunisia's version of Marbella and Spain's south coast. You can hire quad bikes, donkeys, camels, horses etc. You can go kite surfing on the beach and there are loads of western type bars, restaurants and Club Med type hotels which are behind high walls and big gates. Alongside the golf courses. It ws also 22 degrees today.

At Houmt Souk, there is the sand spit of Flamingo Island, ironically, with no Flamingos. I tried to eat in a popular cafe there, but it was packed with French and German people, with no tables free. So I went a little ways along the spit before heading to the second way to leave the island, the ferry. 

The ferry was a bit like the Scottish islands ferries. 25 ish vehicles drive on. Wait to cross, then drive off. It was 8 dinar one way, so £2. (Oh and a tank of 70 litres of diesel fuel for the Landy is £38!!)

Once off the island, I headed back to the hills. 1.5 hrs saw me parked up next to a freshly plowed olive field high up on a ridge looking back towards the coast.