Truckin Around Tunisia (Or "Clutch in, Nerd out!!")

We're sitting in the "not picked up" section of the beach.  There was a couple taking what looked to be "wedding" or "maternity" photos over on the nice side and there were already kids getting in the way.  They didn't seem to mind, but we didn't want to add to it.

And back in the room we found "Bones" on TV.  This was a trip down memory lane for Mrs. Huntswoman and the boys (they used to watch it all the time)

It's well after 2000 now, and the power bank has been plugged in ever since we bought the USB-C charger.  The poor thing was at 14% after being plugged into the solar charger all morning, and now it's only up to 33%!  (it is a big power bank.  55000mah?)  We get to thinking that maybe that solar charger isn't that bad after all...

Good night everyone.

Some of these might look familiar now:

Source:  https://trueadventurestories.com/2018/02/20/life-of-brian-part-1/

(Always look on the bright side...)

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Definitely good nerd points, but LoB was never a thing for me.  I watched it once, didn't get it.  I tried again when Netflix added a huge amount of MP material and still didn't get it.

Holy Grail on the other hand, I watch that like 1-2 times a month.

In reply to Jerry :

Sames.  I could probably quote Holy Grail word for word to this very day.

Life of Brian?  Meh.  the part about "Biggus" was funny, but otherwise was a one and done for me.

You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

Well, there we were.  Last day in Monastir.

So we wake up at 6:30 and start our coffee routine.  We're supposed to have eggs this morning, but I forgot to snag the salt and pepper truck and don't feel like going back down (cant eat eggs with out S&P, yo).  Instead we're going to eat the last of the oatmeal packets we brought (smart move, by the way).  When I go to pack up our eggs (we bought a few more) we had one extra so I hard boiled it to avoid a mess in the truck later.

Laundry is still an ongoing thing.  We were hoping we were done with it by now, but Mrs. Huntswoman miscalculated the remainder of our trip so we had to do that as well (only 2 hours before checkout at this point, so we ended up nixing that idea).

we're obviously right on top of this organization thing...

In packing, Mrs. Huntswoman notices that there are two expiration dates on a can of corn we have.  One states the year as 2023, the other is 1400's.  We realize that this must be the Islamic year and we think that's pretty darn cool.  Otherwise it was just a lot of the morning routine:  showers, writing post cards using facilities while we have them, etc (Not all at the same time).

Oh!  This is what the butt sprayers look like here, by the way:

I know you were dying to know.

I actually forgot to take this picture and had to send the youngest Huntsman up to the room to get it.  Naturally, this lead to a LOT of questions.

We're taking our stuff down to the truck at about the same time that the restaurants are waking up.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I love watching these places come to life.  I've worked in a restaurant or two and opening was always my favorite part.

While Mrs. Huntswoman is doing her final room checks (she always goes over everything with a fine toothed comb) I decide to WD40 the window seals for our driver and passenger side windows.  The heat has been making them INCREDIBLY difficult to roll up and down and that's been causing the regulators to bind.  Hopefully this helps.

Last to go in the truck is our laundry bag, so of course that ripped itself open...

And we're off!

The local driving starts almost immediately.  Nothing like a little traffic to remind you that the relaxing part of your stay is over.

Actually, I had just been thinking that this place would be a WONDERFUL place to retire.  It's on the coast, the scenery is nice, the people are absolutely AMAZING, it's a cheap place to live, and best of all:  When you're too old to drive, no one will notice because they all drive the same way!

Our destination today is the "Magic Eye Museum" in Sousse.  This was something Mrs. Huntswoman found early in our planning.  Not knowing how the kids were going to handle this sort of vacation we decided that having a day set aside for a fun activity for them would probably be a good thing.

On the way we're passing a TON of walled resorts.  On the sidewalks are what look to be loads of Europeans who are either heading to, or returning from, local grocery stores (with beer).  I think we even passed an amusement park or two.  Looking at google maps now, I can see that this area is called "Skanes" and there is a Hilton Beach Resort.  We all agree that we'd rather be where we were.

In Sousse, I find parking in the most perfect spot and we're out and walkin!

^ Meh.  Mercedes drivers.  Whatcha gonna do?

The 3d museum is in a very nice part of town, and is right next to a giant Souk.  We get a laugh when the box office worker is also our cashier (she had to leave the box office and go inside so we could pay with card) and then met us at the door to take our tickets.  Inside, we're given instructions on how to take photos (because of the 3d effect) and away we go!

(We're very near the only people in here, so we have some fun)

The many faces of my eldest child...

Good times

Back out front, Mrs. Huntswoman poses with Hulk.  She LOVED the 80's TV show when she was a kid:

Google told us that there was a Life of Brian filming spot here as well.  Just like Jerry, I'm really not a fan of the flik, but why not check it out?  When in Tunisia, and all that...

To get there we have to head through that GIGANTIC souk.  Between there and us is a town square looking thing and there is a guy and a woman cleaning the stray kittens that reside in the area (I'm wondering if they're vets or volunteers)

This place is pretty cool, and it is just MASSIVE.  Somewhere among the infinite number of booths (selling an infinite number of things... but the youngest only wants futbol jerseys for some reason) I spot a passage way off to the left.  We take it, and it turns out to be a restaurant!

so we deiced to stop for lunch

The food took forever, but it was 100% worth it when we got it.  Looking at it now is making me seriously hungry again.  This is another place that I didn't think had anything vegetarian on the menu, but we were able to work with the waiter and the cook who got us something without meat for Mrs. Huntswoman.

definitely better than street pizza.

The passages continue, and open, and then close in again.  We turn here, take an alley there...  locals are lined up at a certian window for lunch and we think that maybe we should have stopped there (nah).

and there it is.  One scene from the Life of Brian was filmed there

That's about all the attention we gave that place.  The fiming was actually done around the corner but it was pretty hot outside the souk so we turned and headed back in

Heading back into the Souk, we did so via slightly different route.  In doing so, we passed the "West Gate" and then found a souvenir salesman with a Tunisian flag (which the youngest really geeks out about.  He's been talking about wanting one for days but we haven't seen one for sale).

And of course, the Souk stretches for a million miles.  You kind of start seeing the same stands over and over again...

But one stand kind of stood out to me.  It was a man hammering on cheap metal plates.  I eye his finished work and it looks 100% legit (like no two designs are exactly the same, there are imperfections.... the whole works).  A few paces beyond the stand I tell Mrs. Huntswoman "If you wanted something artisan made, that's probably as close as we're going to get"

she hand't noticed the stand and glances back.  This gets the attention of the owner who beckons us over (it's all good, this is what we were after)

We look at plates and talk about designs we like.  We pick one, but want something added to it.

"anything!" he says.  "Family name?  What would you like"

We ask for the Islamic date of our visit and the dude starts hammering away with his punch like a well oiled machine.

He tells us he's been doing this for 50 years.  And judging by the ABSOLUTE control he has over his tools, I 100% believe it.  His punch never stops moving and his hammer keeps perfect rhythm as it moves along.  Like a million tiny hits.  And just like that he shows us the finished product, we're happy with it, he wraps our plate for us, wishes us well, and goes back to work making another.

We see a couple other plate makers on the way out.  All look legit, but we're happy with the one we got (original price 65 dinar, talked him down to 45)

If you look at the picture of the Mercedes that was parked incorrectly you'll see parking attendants in the background.  This is important because I'm being approached by one as we get back to the truck.  I was paying attention this time after our experience in El Jem and I decide these guys are legit.

The one that approaches me is well dressed, has a high vis vest on, and a fanny pack that's neatly organized when he opens it.  He asks for 3-dinar ($1) for parking, I pay and get a receipt.

Far cry different than El Jem

On the road again, we're headed for our camp for the night.  In planning there were two options near Sousse that we were interested in.  One was a very done up established campground (I think it had a pool and everything!).  And one had grass huts and looked like it was on the barren edge of the desert.  The latter is the one we chose.

Unfortunately lunch and our plate purchase killed the money we set aside for camp.  We had to stop for an ATM and the funniest thing about it was that when it dispensed my bills, they were all out of order!  (I've never had that happen before).

This is where my OCD planning really helped us out.  I made a PPT before we left and printed out a copy of it for our binder.   In it was all the addresses and phone numbers of the places we would be stopping.  If there was something difficult noticed, then notes were made.

In this case we were given the address and it was found on google maps, but I noticed on my computer it could give us a completely different destination if you weren't SUPER careful.

So to help us in the field, I made note of a landmark nearby and noted that as a secondary destination if needed

Well, it was needed.

No matter what we did on the phone, it wanted to take us HOURS in the wrong direction.  With the secondary destination in, it worked perfectly.

The camp's name is il Sogno, and I was in contact with them on Whatsapp.  Looks like it will be 64 for the night (hence why we had 70 set aside), but when we get there we didn't see anyone.  Instead we just continued until we got to another car and parked next to it and walked back from there.  We found a little girl at the entrance and she woke up the man sleeping in the office. 

The man only spoke Arabic but with some use of google translate (which he couldn't use), some French (that we didn't understand) and some basic math (with pen and paper) we ended up with two grass huts.  It turned out that this place charges by the beds in the hut (so one of our huts has 3 one has 2) so there was confusion as to why we were being charged for "5 people" when there were only four of us.  When the lightbulb went off, we paid without complaint (and came in under our 70-dinar estimation, I believe).

We unpacked and sat in a covered area to stay cool.  The Younger Huntsmen found a cat that sneezed a lot so they named him "Snotty"

^That's the girl that helped us out.  She doesn't speak English, but that doesn't seem to matter when you've got a cat to pet.

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

 

 

You've made it this far, I hope this isn't a sign. ;^)

Also, I would have definitely bought one of those plates.  No question.

Jerry said:

Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:

 

 

You've made it this far, I hope this isn't a sign. ;^)

Also, I would have definitely bought one of those plates.  No question.

aha, nice try!  But you're not getting any spoilers from me, sir!

So there we were.  It's getting close to evening time in the camp and we're still enjoying the shade when a new man approaches.  he speaks pretty good English and directs our truck to a new parking spot before giving us a full tour of the facilities.  It's just him and the man that we've already met running the place and boy-howdy do they have some projects going.

Under construction they have underground sleeping quarters, a small outdoor theater, cabins that are made to look like western wagons....  They also have two full kitchens (which it looks like they use, as it looks like they also live here), and of course a building with a bunch of bathrooms.  And it also looks like they're somewhat eco-minded as I noticed that all the walkways were filled in with broken roof tiles and the like.  Similar sort of recycle/repurpose efforts were seen around the camp as well.  There were also a pretty diverse grouping of birds around the property...

The younger Huntsmen, of course, want to run around the property (heat or no heat).  The Youngest wants to play "War" so I do my best to appear energetic (I'm not).  Eventually I have to talk him into sitting on the swings, but he wasn't interested.

On our way back he spotted a little girl with a futbol and that was 100% that (I'm saved!)

I get the feeling though that Mrs. Hungary was enjoying the shade and silence:

All of a sudden though a WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE show up.  I mean, maybe not what you would consider a "whole bunch" but prior to this we were the only people here and now there are like over 10-kids and 6 or 7 adult men walking up to the kitchen building.

The doors and all the serving windows are opened, and the barbecue is fired up.

Everyone seems to know everyone and I mentioned that I thought the two people working/running this place lived here, so Mrs. Hungary and I are getting very worried that these guys might be preparing a big meal to put on our behalf.  This of course wasn't helped by the fact that they DO in fact, start cooking a big meal...

Never could I explain how well we've been treated by absolutely EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Tunisia (barring my complaints about souvenir salesmen) if it weren't for the fact that having an empty camp invite everyone they know over to randomly celebrate the arrival of two random people would have been 100% par for this trip's course.  Like, we were legitimately wondering how we were going to get Mrs. Huntswoman something vegetarian to eat without being insulting...

This fear is again not helped when the group of kids, having helped the adults set up to cook the meal, swarm our kids and take them with them to go play ball

Mrs. Huntswoman and I decide to try to be subtle and start shrinking away from the crowd.  We really weren't prepared to be this level of social today, and communication is just so difficult sometimes, and we are kind of tired from the heat and all the driving... we really want to just have some quiet time.  To try to distance ourselves a little bit (without LOOKING like we're distancing ourselves) I head over to the truck and snag our backup burner and our cook pot set.

In the background I can hear the Eldest Huntsman exclaim "oh!  Volleyball!" and then all the kids are at the volleyball net playing that (that's when I snapped the above photo).

The games go on for about an hour all while the men are still at the kitchen cooking.  And even though we've shrunk back to our hut, we're still worried that we're going to be invited over.

But alas.  we were worried about nothing.  (well, that's not true.  Had we not distanced ourselves we 100% would have been invited over to eat, as both Younger Huntsmen were invited in to the group by the children they were playing with but opted to join us elders at the hut instead).  In the end we were able to set up camp in our little corner and do some light reading (followed by a dinner of the WORST fried rice I've ever made, and then laundry)

It turns out that the kiddos that arrived were part of a "Scout Group" and this campground was part of that organization.  No need to explain to anyone here I think, but I thought it was pretty cool to see such a thing in North Africa.  I ended up running into an english speaker in the group and he mentioned that he had traveled to Acolpoco, Mexico to San Diego and learned about our Scouting program on the way.  He mentions that these kids get to travel as part of the organization as well.  So far they've camped in Jordan, Algeria, and Morocco (where they joined up with a scouting program there as well)

Way too cool.  Scouts was one thing I always wanted to do growing up (Not to say that I didn't still get to live my entire childhood in the great outdoors, but still).  Something always got in the way though and it never worked out

Anyhoo, the youngest Huntsman does drag me off for some games with the ball though.  When we do, I spot the bus the group of kids rode in on.  It's a big "tour" bus type of thing. I have no doubts they travel quite a bit (you can see it in the background, below)

After losing 7 to 0 to me in Volleyball, the youngest switches to futbol.

We decide that Tunisia is going to play Mauritania and Tunisia loses 1 to Mauritania's 5.

On the way back up, I can see that Mrs. Huntsman and the eldest have ventured out (with dinner over for all parties, I think we all decided we're safe from socialization again) and the eldest found his cat:

From here we're able to catch up on a lot of admin work.  We fill out post cards.. there are some banking issues with getting Vika some of the money I'm supposed to send her this month (for our Ukraine efforts), and I even update iOverlander with info from the campsite (positive reviews all the way around.  Plus gps coordinates to avoid nav issues in the future).

The troop of scouts has long since retired to their cabins.  And before we know it, the sun's starting to set and drinks start getting mixed.

We do end up swapping huts with the Elder Huntsman as our youngest isn't comfortable sleeping without us parents.  But still, the two of them do sneak in some video game time before bed (Stardew Valley, and Sim city)

So many cats on this trip.  I am happy.

In reply to Jerry :

Luckily we were able to escape without adopting one 

Hey everyone, no updates on Monday.  I'll be on the road for work and things are going to be busy again

;^)

I'm so sorry guys.  Just getting  settled into the new office for the month and it's been busy.  I'll try to have something typed up and posted soon.