TELGEN VACATION
REPORT
Tunisia, February 2000
If
it's February break, it must be time for the Telgens to head to the
Mediterranean. Last year we had a long weekend in Malta, but this year we went
a little further south and took the opportunity to spend a whole week in
Tunisia. Tunisia is on the North African coast, at that place where the
continent takes a sharp turn southward and then eastward, and it borders
Algeria and Libya. A former French colony, Tunisia gained its independence in
1957 and is now fully democratic. The population of Tunisia is mostly Berber
and Muslim, and Arabic is the primary language. (French is secondary, but
strangely enough, it was Bill's German that got us by in the resort areas,
since about 40% of the tourists there are German.) After spending a few days by
the beach in the resort town of Port el Kantaoui, we embarked upon a four-day
safari into the southern parts of the country. Our first stop was Kairouan, one
of the sacred cities of Islam—it's actually fourth, behind Mecca, Medina, and
Jerusalem—because it was the place where Islam first gained a foothold in North
Africa. Here you can see David in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque of
Kairouan, with the minaret in the background. The mosque dates to the ninth
century, and besides the impressive minaret there is some beautiful woodwork
leading into the prayer area itself. The city also has a beautifully tiled
Berber Mausoleum, as well as the Aghlabite pools, a series of reservoirs dating
back centuries.
We
followed this encounter with Tunisia's Islamic history with a look at an even
more ancient influence: the Roman Empire. Ever hear of something called the
Punic Wars? A dude called Hannibal? A city called Carthage? Well, that city was
situated in northern Tunisia, and its empire threatened the Romans so much that
they spent over a century trying to squelch it. They were successful, and
Tunisia became an important part of the Roman Empire, supplying food and grain.
(Obviously the climate was a bit wetter back then.) The architecture of this
particular Roman remnant might seem a bit familiar. It's smaller than the Roman
Coliseum is, but the amphitheater at El Djem is in much better shape. The floor
of the stadium is still intact, and you can go below and look at the chambers
where the combatants would have awaited their encounters with lions, etc.
Still, it held around 30,000 spectators, and they have shored up some of the
stands so that they can hold an annual music festival here. The skybox view is
pretty cool, eh?
On
our second day we continued south, watching the landscape grow increasingly
more bare and arid. At first, it seemed reminiscent of the American southwest
(dry shrubs, cacti, etc.)—particularly when we crossed the Chott El Jerid, a
huge salt lake that was almost completely dry (even though we were still a
couple months away from the dry season) and reminded me of the salt flats in
Utah. Eventually we were near the edge of the Sahara desert—and so of course we
had to experience the proper mode of desert travel! Riding a camel is a bit
different than riding a horse. First of all, there's the manner of mounting.
The camels are trained to go down on their knees, so that you can just swing a
leg over and sit down. Unfortunately, they don't exactly stand up with all four
legs at once; the front ones go first, meaning that you have to hold on pretty
tight to avoid slipping over the back and landing on your bum. Second, the gait
of a camel is fairly uneven, so you have to grip it pretty tightly with your
legs to avoid wiggling too much from side to side. Finally, no horse ever made
the kinds of—how shall I say it?—unique stomach emanations that camels do. If
you've seen "Return of the Jedi," recall the scene in the desert with
the monster in the pit of Karkoum. After it eats a bad guy, it burps very
juicily—and that's just the sound a camel makes. All the time. Knowing that
George Lucas filmed all his Tatooine desert scenes in Tunisia, I can imagine
that's where he got the sound.
Speaking
of George Lucas and "Star Wars," our third day on safari brought us
the sight we had been eagerly anticipating. While earlier we had seen the cave
hotel where George & Co. stayed while filming the original movie
(unfortunately the bar with their autographed pictures was closed), this
afternoon saw us on the actual sets where they filmed part of "Star Wars
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace." (David uses the full title, so I do too.)
The filmmakers left the sets in the middle of the Tunisian desert, thereby
allowing some of the locals to make a living showing tourists the site. Here
you see David and one of the Star Wars-mad boys he befriended during the safari
in front of—well, something. Watto's junkshop? Who knows? We haven't bought the
movie yet, and four viewings just don't allow us to figure out all the
minutiae. But David (and I, I admit it) were still excited to see all the
places from the movie in person. Of course, the exteriors were the only
"real" bits—inside the "buildings" there were just
frameworks made of wood. And, as you can tell, the two years or so since the
filming has weathered the buildings considerably. In another two years, they
may be unvisitable. So whether or not this says anything about whether Tatooine
will appear in the next installment of the saga, I don't know. George Lucas has
so much money now he can reconstruct a thousand more of these, if he needs
to.
Okay.
Sorry about all the Star Wars-nerd digressions, but I know I have some readers
who will think that part of our visit was as cool I did. Our fourth day on
safari saw us turn back north, where we encountered some more remnants of the
very widespread Roman Empire. The ruins were of a city called Sbeitla, and here
you see the series of temples that formed part of the big marketplace/gathering
area at the center of this city. (Sorry, I forget which one is for whom. I like
to think that one was a Temple of Diane-a.) The site is rather large, and also
includes the remnants of a bathing area (with caledarium and tepidarium), a
theater stage, and a Christian church from the Byzantine area. For size, it
rivaled some of the sites we saw in Rome—and of course, the beautifully clear
blue sky and warm Mediterranean breezes only enhanced the view.
So overall, we had a great time in Tunisia! There
was the gorge train of Selma, the horse carriage ride through a real oasis, a
mountain view into Algeria, a mountain oasis with a waterfall, several lively
markets (and we did do a bit of shopping), a Roman tile museum, and a visit to
the home of a Trogolodyte cave dweller, among other things. Maybe some day we
can go back and see Carthage and Tunis and some of the other interesting sites,
but we're grateful we had as long a visit to Tunisia as we did. (Plus, now we
can say we've been to Africa!)
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© 2000 by Diane Telgen. All rights reserved.