Viridian has now been moored in the marina at Monastir in Tunisia since November 2018. We plan to leave in the last week of March 2019 weather permitting, so will have been here almost 5 months by then. At no point did we plan to do this. Last year rather than over-winter in one port, we kept travelling through Spain for most of the winter and this year we planned to do the same but in Greece. Talking to others with more experience than us, we decided it might be a bit cold in Greece, so instead decided to check out Sicily, Tunisia and Malta. However, once we arrived in Monastir and were met with the friendliest of welcomes, we were hooked. Its fair to say that the friendliness has continued, and we have felt very at home.
We have tried to blend this blog so it contains technical information and prices for other yachties thinking of coming here and more general stuff for non-yachties who are just interested in the travel.
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| Monastir Ribat. our viewers we arrived! |
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| The view from the top! |
Well it would be disingenuous not to start with the fundamental underpinning reason - which is cost. After 5 months we still marvel at the very small cost of eating out. There are currently about 4 Tunisian Dinar (TND) to £1. A typical three course meal in a restaurant without wine would cost about 50 TND for two of us – about £12.50. Only a few restaurants have a licence to sell wine, so if you get lucky its about 28 TND for a top-quality bottle i.e. £7. We will be highlighting the restaurants that we recommend throughout this blog and will mention whether they have wine or not. Four restaurants around the marina have alcohol licences and another four don’t.
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| A typical grilled fish main course |
There is also excellent street food near the main market which is ridiculously cheap. Greg recommends a Chawarma – which is a sort of kebab and consists of chopped lamb and salad in a wrap. 3.8 Dinar 😊. You also get chips with it.
The cost of the marina for our boat which is 15.1m long is 680 TND per month – about £170/€200 including unlimited water and electricity which is very important in winter. Compare with winter rates in Ragusa in Sicily of €600.
The marina has been surprisingly full. There are only a few Brits here, but there are a lot of Canadian and American sailors managing their Shenghen timing and there are also many French sailors, who pay for yearly berthing here but sail in Italy and Greece in the summer. We have had a very sociable time meeting up on Sundays at the communal BBQ and occasionally having games evenings/eating on each other’s boats. It appears that gradually small numbers of tourists and yachties are returning to Tunisia after several very bleak years. So, if you are planning to winter here in 2019/20 it might be worth booking.
The marina itself is generally well kept and is served by 24-hour marina staff. There don’t seem to be any problems with security. The port police and customs offices face onto the marina and there is a general police station at the entrance to the marina. We regularly see patrol vehicles and it is impossible to drive into the marina complex without passing the security guard and having the barrier lifted. There is a marina social room with lots of books to swap in a courtyard behind the main office.
In high winds which we have experienced this winter – as much as 55 knots, we have felt very secure in our berth.
There is a CrossFit gym and a range of restaurants all facing onto the marina with apartments above them. Greg and I have joined the gym and have been going every day because it is so convenient.
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| The gym is next to the marina |
We also tend to use the showers in the gym. However, the marina showers are clean and work fine - the cleaners are constantly in and out to make sure they remain clean.
There is no chandlery in the marina. There are hardware shops but nothing specialising in marine equipment in the main part of the town. The only local specialist chandlery we have found is at the fishing port which is a few kilometres south of the marina. Even that chandlery is limited, and ordering parts is possible but anything coming from overseas is painful. Most people bring parts back with them from overseas trips.
However, some boat services are very inexpensive. We are having Viridian lifted out next week for the equivalent of 157 Euros and the bottom cleaning with 3 coats of antifoul applied is 200 Euros. We are hiring an apartment overlooking the marina whilst the boat is out of the water which is 66 TND per night for the two of us.
There is also a very keen sail maker and maker of boat covers. Almost every boat in the marina has got matching covers, sometimes it looks like the owners have got giddy with the excitement of the ridiculously cheap prices.
We have had a couple of hatch covers made and had our steering wheel recovered. The quality has been excellent.
Lots of people are having stainless steel work done which is also very competitive. We are having some extra struts made to support solar panels which we plan to fit this year. However, we won’t be getting that work done here as we haven’t found a good marine solar company here.
Importantly there is a small Mg (Auchan) supermarket just by the entrance to the marina (with a massive alcohol room discretely off to the side) which sells top notch wine for less than a fiver – the alcohol room is open every day except Friday which is a religious day. You will be amazed by the length of the queues and hauls of alcohol being furtively shipped out of there by Tunisians!!!
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| Our favourite wine |
In our first couple of weeks we decided to check out Hammamet marina which is the other main marina in Tunisia. Hammamet marina is quite a way out of the town of Hammamet in what was destined to be a massive holiday complex, so it is surrounded by hotels, restaurants and shops most of which have failed in the last few bleak years when tourists have not visited Tunisia. The marina is more expensive than Monastir and felt closed down and soulless, so we were pleased with our choice of Monastir.
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| Lots of motorboats in Hammamet - it was very soulless |
Monastir town
The main languages here are Arabic and French so we have dusted off our school day French and found we have managed very well especially in the brilliant fresh food and fish market (open every day except Mondays) where we buy most of our provisions. It makes cooking a pleasure, so we have experimented with lots of new dishes on board.
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| Tuna sashimi |
We were excited by the Medina (the old walled city) where you can buy anything from traditional crafts to a live tortoise or hedgehog. Gradually we have worked out what is on offer in the many fascinating little shops and can usually find what we need. We have realised that most large towns have a Medina and some of them are enormous. Tunis and Sousse have spectacular medinas. The butchers tells you what they have in stock by what heads are hanging outside ☹
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| One of the spice merchants in the Medina |
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| Baby tortoise for sale! |
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| Nice to know your meat is fresh! |
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| To find the Hamman go through this entrance opposite the Monoprix |
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| Then turn immediate left. The revolving sign is red for women only and blue for men |
In our first week we visited the Ribat and the Bourguiba Mausoleum which are the main tourist attractions in the town.
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| Monastir Ribat - the location for The Life of Brian |
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| Habib Bourguiba Mausoleum |
We also cycled out to visit the Habib Bourguiba palace/museum which was not very extensive but worth a visit and we had a nice lunch (without alcohol) at a nearby restaurant called Le Pelican with excellent sea views
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| The Habib Bourguiba Palace |
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| President Habib Bourguiba's Merc! |
Down at the fishing port there is a massive open-air market on Friday and Saturdays which is definitely worth a visit. We also tried the five-course fish menu at Le Pirate restaurant which was mountains of food for 45Dinars per person. Sadly, no alcohol licence.
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| Le Pirate restaurant |
Exploring Tunisia
If you are spending months in a place its good to get out further afield and we have had some excellent trips to other parts of Tunisia. We have tried different types of transport, car hire, taxi, and train but not yet the bus!
Tunis
We spent a couple of days in Tunis inside the medina at El Patio Courtyard boutique hotel which was beautiful, very traditional and extremely convenient.
Exploring the maze of small shops, the mosques and restaurants was wonderful.
We took a taxi the 180kms from Monastir to Tunis for 160 TND/ c£40
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| Door to our room - very pretty |
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| Breakfast at El Patio Courtyard |
Exploring the maze of small shops, the mosques and restaurants was wonderful.
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| Some interesting fish in the market |
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| The fruit and veg were good.... |
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| The dates were amazing! |
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| The decoration in the Dar El Jeld was splendid! |
Had a delicious but more expensive meal at Dar El Jeld.
We took a train out to Carthage to see the ancient remains - the amphitheatre, the baths and the Roman Villa. This was very easy and there are frequent trains. You can get on and off at any stops, so we stopped off on the way back for an excellent meal at La Spigola in La Goulette - with alcohol.
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| You can meet interesting people on the train in Tunisia |
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| The baths at Carthage |
El Jem
We hired a car to visit El Jem which was one of our favourite trips. We passed through very poor rural areas and the amphitheatre was spectacular.
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| A rural petrol station.... |
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| The amphitheatre at El Jem |
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| El Jem |
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| Graffiti has been around for a long time!... |
Sousse
We were thinking of hiring a car for a day to go to Sousse but then realised we could easily get the train. It cost us 4 TND return for both of us. ie 50pence each!
The Medina is definitely worth a visit in Sousse and we discovered a good restaurant called L’Escargot which does sell alcohol 😊
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| The medina in Sousse |
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| Greg was sure this interesting cafe would be full if only it sold beer!! |
Tozeur
This week we hired a car for three days and headed for the desert. We based ourselves in Tozeur and stayed in a good small hotel called Residence L'Oued. We would definitely recommend it.
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| Residence L'Oued |
We arrived late afternoon with blue skies and a blazing sun, so we strolled down to the Medina and explored the town centre. Tozeur is striking for its brickwork. Every single building has a different brick pattern making the buildings very ornate and interesting. As Greg said - the evidence of a place where labour and craftsmanship is still very affordable.
If you look on Trip Advisor for best restaurants you will find restaurant Le Soleil which we ate at and I tried the camel stew. It wasn’t that tasty to be honest and the stew was watery. Should have picked up on the fake palm tree decoration strewn with Christmas lights and tinsel. All in all, a bit of a disappointment compounded by no alcohol. Definitely not worth the guilt of potentially eating baby camel.
The waiter was so eager that we had three courses in half an hour so ended up back at the hotel a bit early. Luckily Greg has got the measure of Tunisia now and had packed a bottle of wine and a cork screw! 😊
On our second day we drove out to the massive salt flats at Chott El Jerid and then to the Star Wars film locations…... the first is the canyon at Sidi Bouhlel which is not far from Chott el Jerid.
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| Nothing for miles..... |
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| Standing in the water... |
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| The 'Star Wars' canyon at Sidi Bouhlel |
Then we went to the abandoned film set which is 20 km from Tozeur It’s accessed by a tarmac road presumably built by the film company and which has the equivalent of a snow plough to keep it clear of sand. It isn’t in a town, it’s in the middle of the desert – but the nearest town is Nefta.
All were interesting but you definitely don’t need to hire tour guides and dune buggies if you have a rental car. There is a bit of hassle at the Star Wars film site where the tradespeople are absolutely desperate to sell you some rocks or sand! We think they would do much better to put up a sign saying they look after the site and a small donation would be appreciated. They would get more money that way but our French wasn’t good enough to suggest it.
On arrival back in Tozeur we made a great discovery which we really wished we had discovered the day before. At the Palm museum and park called Chak Wak there is a café/bar/restaurant. It has an alcohol licence and the food is great! Bilal the main waiter speaks great English. You can have a beer in the afternoon sunshine outside under the palm trees and/ or full evening meal with wine inside later on. Highly recommended (the bar not the park!) 😊😊.
On our final day we were travelling home to Monastir, but we did a small detour and went via the mountain oasis of Chebika. There are several oases near here, but we decided only to visit one as we wanted to get back to Monastir before dark and its quite a long drive. We were approached by Hassan, a very personable and knowledgeable guide who spoke English and escorted us throughout the abandoned Berber village and the oasis, adding a lot of value. Definitely worth the 20 TND he asked for.
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| Greg with Hassan |
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| The oasis in Chebika |
Driving back through the desert we spotted these three mums with their matching coloured babies. What a privilege to see them.
Well there must be some bad things about Tunisia……..what aren’t you telling us we hear you say.
Well of course there are some irritations. The Tunisians are pretty crazy drivers, so it is a bit stressful on the roads.
The lack of alcohol may not be a problem for some, but we found it a little frustrating. Greg likes a beer when its sunny and we both like wine with dinner, but hey look on the bright side, we have had 5 months of reduced intake!
Many Tunisians are cripplingly poor. In the medina the stall holders will try to invite you into their shops. They are however very accepting if you decline politely. We have purposely not bartered them down and have tried to support the local economy wherever possible. The average monthly salary is 700 TND. Even a small tip is greatly appreciated. Wherever possible we buy from the market rather than from the big French supermarkets like Auchan (Mg) or Monoprix and we bought most of our Christmas and birthday presents for the year in the medina.
There are some products you can’t get. If you like tuna tartar or sashimi the tuna is very inexpensive, but you can’t find soya sauce or any Japanese condiments anywhere so if you are coming here bring some with you!
Finally, this is a double-edged issue – we have found the Tunisians to be really friendly and extremely keen to make visitors happy. They have obviously had a huge economic set back with the collapse of their tourist industry and they are hell bent on ensuring you are happy. However, as a result they tend to over-promise. This is most irritating when you are trying to get work done on the boat. They will promise a time by when it will be done but knowing it is impossible. Rather than tell you the truth and risk your disappointment they prefer to tell you what they think you want to hear. Its best to ask them to be honest and say you would prefer the truth rather than be disappointed later.
But apart from that we have had a brilliant time here and will definitely return.
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