Jul 25 2008
Tunisia, Sahara and Cartagina
The tourists who arrive in Tunisia thinking just about Sahara and the beaches on the Mediterranean coast will have a surprise of big proportions: the northern half of the country, where all touristic resorts are grouped is extremely potential over the areas of southern Greece. When you’re in Cape Bon Peninsula, near the capital Tunis, you can even believe you are in the temperate areas of Europe: the corn fields and the plantations of grapes do not suggest in any way that you have reached northern Africa. If you want oases, sand dunes, dromedary, shortly speaking the whole Sahara, you must register in the optional tours for two days, which will take you right into the heart of the desert.
In June, a one week stay at a new hotel of four stars, all included, costs only 299 euro, money which is added to airport charges. If we take into account the fact that these funds are deducted about 110 euro per person (cost to place a charter flight), we understand why Tunisia receives about 6 million tourists every year. In fact, extremely low prices charged by hotels are the reason that most tourists who come here choose the two weeks stays, costing around 500 euro plus airport taxes.
Things do not change even when you go out from the hotel: a meal for two persons, on a terrace at a near the great Roman amphitheatre at El Jem, costs 17 dinars, that is not even 10 euro. Normally, as in any Arab country, the tip has its place of honor, but at these prices it does not matter how big is the tip you give to the waiter.
An ideal climate, a long and gentle seacoast, Tunisia, the northernmost country of Africa has for over 3000 years witnessed the passage of Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Turks, Spanish and French. They came as fugitive s or adventurers, to conquer or to claim, warriors and missionaries, traders and farmers each leaving a part of their story in stone or mosaics, on hills of Carthage and the threshold of the Sahara. This heritage, Tunisia’s greatest wealth has been held in trust and preserved in hundreds of sites and museums from the small Punic museum in Utica to the vast collections of the prestigious National Museum of Bardo. Most Museums are closed on Mondays, whereas many on-site archeological museums and ruins are open all week. An entrance fee is usually charged and a caretaker will often act as guide.
Places to visit…
Sahara: the giant dunes - the desert offers adventure and magic, all without the need to give up comfort. You have the option of a luxury hotel and a car equipped with air conditioning. In fact neither holiday in Tunisia is complete without Sahara. You should try a three-day safari jeep with the unpredictable among the dunes of Sahara. But no one ever did it alone. Or simply, you can try something more quiet, such as the camel riding.
Cartagina: No other place in Tunisia does have such a strong resonance than Cartagina. Located in the suburbs of capital Tunis, the old fenician city reveals even today part of its agitated history. The National Museum of Carthage owns an impressive collection of vases, statuettes or old inscriptions. Besides, recently restored,the imposing Catedral of St. Louis, built on the same place where in 1270 Louis IX died during a crusade. But the best preserved Roman building remains the Theatre which, although mostly restored,it is hard to believe that bears the legacy of a so further past.