Genoa, Italy to Tunisia

Saturday 12th November. We headed south across the foggy plains to the mountain pass full of bridges and viaducts to Genoa glowing in the bright Mediterranean sunshine. It was only about 13:00 but we headed straight to the port both John and Steve itching to get there. But it was about 5 hours to the boat left. I ‘m always keen to try and see a bit more and a trip down the coast to Portofino compared to the port activities appealed more to me. There were already about 20 vehicles there. Cars Africa bound full inside to the brim with only just enough space for drivers or any passengers and covered packages on the roof, uniquely shaped. Also a few 4x4s, African overland and a strange bright drag car. It then bucketed it down with rain and Genoa and the mountains behind were greyed out with the only visibility being the big ‘Excellent’ sign on the next boat beyond the Dagenham like piles of containers. We left just after 18:00 where Genoa did not look to appealing in the pouring rain and we retired to a beer. Sunday 13th November. Happy birthday Corinne! We got up to late to see any of Sardinia. Not bad Mediterranean cruise weather with a warm breeze and sunshine. We pulled into Tunis with a nice orange glow as the sun was setting. They don’t employ the cross channel ferry method of getting you off the boat as quick as possible as by the time we drove off the sun had set. The passport check and form filling was pretty quick and continued onto customs. This looked a lot more like Africa with lots of people milling round to help you, a few more official like men in grey suits and caps and cars parked up with some of the more laden cars having to remove everything from their boot. There were some impressive sights such as the smallest size van carrying the tallest fridge/freezer on the roof plus lots of other stuff on top and inside, but against the odds the back wheels still managed to turn. The first step was getting one of the car forms stamped and the next step a queue which resulted in a blue and green form for the car. This queue was not that long, but by the time we got to third, the lady was dealing with lots more passports and car forms from the side which meant we were really about 10th. Finally with all the forms we went back to the car where it appeared we still needed a final check of the cars contents and the import form we filled which asked us to declare what we were importing and how many for many household items including as refrigerateurs, sale a managers(!) and the bit more alarming arms and munitions. John declared the CB radio and a GPS which was a mistake as like Morocco, they ban these. This added a least an hour with lots of discussion and arguments between the grey suited men themselves with the result that we had to write these on the form and put the two items in what appeared to be a duty free carrier bag, tied tight at the top with newspaper binding tape and put them in the back of the car. Now with all the forms and the correct stamps, none of which cost money, we could get out and tackle Tunis. We drove across the causeway that runs inside a lake to the ville nouvelle. The streets were very clean with brightly lit fountains and lots of people out. Driving round we didn’t see a hotel that looked like it had secure parking. There are police on many roundabouts and traffic lights but if stop they stop you with their red baton they only seemed helpful. We had a short detour to the airport and passing of a Carrefour before heading out to Sidi Bou Said, with pictures in the guide book of a Santorini type appearance. Driving up to a couple of hotels in my guide book the area became a pedestrianised street and we realized we were on a one way street going the other way. Then asking a policeman for the way to a hotel we ended up at the Hotel Bou Said, well above our usual standard and certainly will not be continued, but at least it doesn’t appear as a western chain and has great views over Tunis. We then enjoyed a relaxing G&T (v expensive) and beer (reasonable taste and price). I had some great news when I asked the barman for the time. We found out it was the same time as Italy whereas on the boat we’d got the impression it was 2 hours ahead. So it was like the immediate announcement of a double daylight saving and meant we were drinking at 11, not 1 which was far more civilized. The receptionist said the hotel has guests for the internet summit. We laughed and was sure she meant just a conference, but I have just seen this on News 24 and Kofi Annan et al were in town. On Monday we went to Carthage to see some of the remains of the forum on the hilltop and the punic ports. Getting around Tunis proved harder than we expected, but we eventually found our way out on the west side and headed towards El Kef, but this took longer than we expected so we didn’t get there until dark. We checked into the Hotel Les Pins. Very nice but not quite as friendly as the hotel Lelkil down the road which was unfortunately full. Our first meal out in El Kef was interesting. The menu looked quite basis with individual items such as rice, petis pois and roast chicken. So John ordered these three which each turned out to be meals in themselves, each with meat and source. So I think John is on a sponsored weight gain. Fortunately the rest of us did not order so much. We then tried out our first bar, nice Celtia beer and yes Kathy and I were the only females in there, but they didn’t seem to mind.