Berber Tents Camel Rides and so much more...

We are currently in the city of Sousse. Let me paint a picture of the last couple of days for you. We left Tozeur and headed for Douz which is the gateway to the Sahara. We passed many small villages and saw many shepherds with their small herds. We stopped at the monument just outside of Tozeur where the movie The English Patient was filmed. We learned songs and shared stories and our guide Hammadi gave us a colorful history of the people and different tribes that we would encounter. Most of the people would be of the Berber origin. We stopped at a museum where we learned about the customs and habitat of the Berber people. Family ties are strong and many that have houses still prefer to live in their Berber tents rather than in a more modern home. They are patriarchal so we did not see many women in the streets or in the market. Douz was the one place where we actually saw a procession of men heading towards the mosque when the call to prayer came. We visited the market and were introduced to the Taurique people. I think these must be the most handsom people I have seen thus far. Their turbans are black and wrapped differently. Each family wears a pendant of a cross specific to their group which identifies their family on sight. They also sport a small tattoo. When a woman marries she takes on the identity of the new family and wears the belt, tattoo and cross of her husbands family.

I was fortunate to be able to sit with our guide and some local people to talk about many things. A woman alone would not be able to do this.

Douz is also the sight for the International Sahara festival which is usually held the end of December. It is supposed to be quite the event and demonstrates camel racing, fine horsemanship and many other desert skills.

We also had our camel rides which was great fun. All across the country we have seen that litter has been a problem. Plastic bags and bottles are strewn across so much of the area. Fortunately the Sahara has been spared. We all got dressed in robes and turbans and headed out to meet our guides and camels. One thing that I learned is that the turban is not my best look, but it was part of the fun. Getting on the camel is not so hard, but when the camel gets up you lunge forward as it gets up on the hind legs first. We all rode out as a group with our guides. Everyone had a great time and one of the guides sat us down to watch the sunset over the dunes and began to sing. He wrapped his headscarf/turban or shieba around one of the students wrist and the wrist of her guide. He sprinkled sand on their hands and sang. He then pronounced them married. Apparently she is worth 1000 camels.

After a good night of rest we left for Sousse, a modern seaside town. We made one significant stop at the home of a Berber family in a region where they literally dig their homes out of the sandstone. It was very interesting because we had seen several along the road. They showed us how they grind grain and served us fresh tangine bread and mint tea. We then went a little further down the road to the place where Star Wars was filmed. The hotel and bar are, like the Berber home, carved out of the sandstone. If you have ever been to Cappadoccia you may have seen something similar in that region.

Sousse is a modern seaside town and when I saw that I had a view of the ocean from my room I was quite pleased. I went immediately to take a walk along the shore. It did seem odd to go from such a remote area where the sheep and goats outnumber the cars on the road to a place where traffic is crazy and modern city life includes discos and all the amenities of the twenty first century.

Today we backtracked to see the Roman amphitheater we missed yesterday. It is third in size and could accommodate 30,000 people. Now of course it is used for concerts and festivals. It is the best preserved amphitheater. We also visited the musem that housed the most remarkable mosaics I have ever seen. The detail and color was exquisite.

Back in Sousse it is dinner time. Tomorrow we return to Tunis for one last evening. Then back home through Paris. Capucine and I have a date at LaFontane for the most incredible gateau on our last evening. It is hard to believe that our time here is nearing an end. It seems we have seen and experienced so much and we are still struggling to process it all. I know that we are looking forward to sharing as much as we can on our return.