Election blues smoothed by the sands of time in North Africa
by Allan Thompson
TUNIS, Tunisia — After a gruelling election campaign, there’s nothing quite like a week in the Sahara desert, the souks and kasbahs of North Africa to clear your mind and restore the soul.
Before departing for Tunis to give the keynote at a conference on media and conflict, I joked with family and friends that with some extra time for vacation in this spectacular North African country it would be nice to look at some Roman ruins instead of the ruins of my political career.
It had been almost three decades since I last visited the country that is the northernmost point in Africa, tucked in between Libya and Algeria. I was a young journalist on a sabbatical from The Toronto Star when my wife Roula and I did a five-month research trip in the region in 1991.
This time around, after close to two years of intense campaigning and the crash of defeat on election night, I couldn’t believe my good fortune when I received an unexpected invitation from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to make a speech at a conference on media and conflict on Dec. 2 in the Tunisian capital. Since I had to be back in Ottawa for meetings at Carleton University on Dec. 5, I couldn’t extend my stay in Tunisia beyond the event, so opted to arrive a week early to stay with friends and take some time to relax and tour the country.
I put everything I had into the election campaign in Huron-Bruce, but it was not to be. And it has taken some time to come to terms with the result.
For that reason, it is hard to overstate how important this trip was.
The moment when I literally felt my emotional gears change was one day just before sundown, in the sand dunes of the Sahara at Ong Jmal near the Tozeur oasis. I caught myself howling with laughter for no reason at all as our four-wheel-drive vehicle bombed through the dunes, finally coming to rest at the top of a hill just in time to see the sun go down. Magic.
I know from the comments online that many friends and family were following my daily Facebook posts. (Others have probably been waiting for it all to stop). If for no other reason than the creation of my own personal archive, now that I’m back in Canada, I will reprise some of the highlights here for those who are interested. But feel free to just scroll through the pictures.
TUNIS — After arrival Nov. 25 in the capital I stayed for a couple of nights with friends Rania Fazah and Elie Abouaoun at their home in a suburb of Tunis and then moved as planned to visit another friend, Hilary Childs-Adams, at her home in La Marsa, a seaside town on the edge of the city. I slept until nearly noon on the first day after a long journey that had included a 24-hour flight delay by Air France in Toronto. (That’s another story). When I finally did get outside the weather was a pleasant 20C and sunny. To my surprise, most of the Tunisians I could see on my afternoon walk were wearing heavy fall or winter jackets, bundled up against the wind while I was basking in the sunshine, still pinching myself at my luck to be invited on the perfect trip at the perfect time. I just can’t thank Elie enough for thinking of me.
SIDI BOU SAID — My first real outing was to the stunning seaside town of Sidi Bou Said on the evening of Nov. 26 when Rania took me for dinner. It is already the off-season for tourism in Tunisia and by night, the cobblestone streets of Sidi Bou Said were virtually deserted. We had tea in the famous Cafe des Delices, popularized by the Patrick Bruel song and featured in virtually every travel article about Tunisia. Later in the week I returned to Sidi Bou Said by daylight to see the whitewashed buildings in the sunshine and to do some shopping. Nothing like a bit of retail therapy.
DOUGGA — Had a simply amazing visit Nov. 27 to Dougga, the archaeological site in northern Tunisia that is a UNESCO world heritage site and described as “the best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa.” This day-trip was also organized by Rania. Dougga is located on a hilltop in the countryside about two hours west of the capital Tunis. One of the reasons the site is so well preserved is because of its remote location and the fact that it hasn’t been pillaged, rebuilt or built over. It was amazing to walk the streets of a town that was a Punic, then Amazigh then a Roman settlement. The centrepiece of the site, for me at least, is the Capitol building, with its four majestic pillars still intact. Awe-inspiring.
TUNIS — I spent Nov. 28 around Tunis, putting in a few hours in the covered souk, the traditional Arab marketplace of small stalls and winding alleys. The medina in Tunis has one of the best preserved souks in the Arab world. For lunch I visited an old favourite in the seaside town of La Marsa, the restaurant Au Bon Vieux Temps. Roula and I ate there frequently when we stayed in Tunisia in 1991. It is also located right across the street from the bookstore that has been owned for more than 30 years by our friend Lotfi El-Hafi. While Roula has seen him often over the years on her visits for work, I hadn’t set eyes on Lotfi for close to three decades. When I popped into the shop, I could tell he didn’t recognize me at first, but then it clicked and we both had a good laugh and agreed to get together again later in the week.
HAMMAMET and NABEUL — Our friend Hilary took a day off work on Friday to take me to the famous beach town of Hammamet and then to Nabeul. Hammament has one of the best preserved Kasbah fortresses in North Africa and also a thriving souk market as well. Travelling with Hilary has a number of advantages, not least that she knows all of Roula’s favourite shops. We visited the remarkable seaside villa of the Romanian millionaire George Sebastian. The home became a gathering place for the world’s elite. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright called it the most beautiful house he had ever seen. Erwin Rommel, the German general during the WWII campaign in North Africa, known as the Desert Fox, seized it briefly as his headquarters. Winston Churchill came here after the war to write his memoirs. This fabulous home is now the International Cultural Centre. Hammamet is on the Mediterranean coast, halfway between the Tunisian capital of Tunis and Sousse and is known for its fabulous beaches. It was a Roman settlement in the 2nd century but was put on the map in the 1920s when Sebastian built the spectacular villa here, attracting the international elite. Hilary and I visited the souk in the Medina, the fortified Kasbah fortress and the Great Mosque. (That’s Hilary enjoying some tea in a rooftop cafe in the kasbah). We also made a brief stop this in Nabeul, just north of Hammamet and the administrative capital of Cap Bon. The travel guide says it is known for its beaches, market and ceramics. We visited the souk area, the mosque and some of the pottery shops.
TUNIS — Back in Tunis at dusk on Friday evening and visited the area of the medina around the Zaitouna mosque and the offices of the prime minister and other senior members of the government. Spent some time at the remarkable Eddar emporium of carpets, silver, jewelry, antiques and other artifacts from Tunisia and across the region. The store houses an unbelievable collection spread out over four floors, including the best selection of rare carpets in Tunisia. The shop is owned by brothers Ali and Youssef Chammakhi, who lovingly curate the collection and seem to know every item intimately. It also features a roof-top garden with jaw-dropping views over downtown Tunis and the tower of the mosque. I could have spent a week in the shop, which is part museum, part boutique.
THE HAMMAM — There is a first time for everything. Back in Tunis, I made my first visit to a Turkish bath, having a steam, body scrub and massage in one of Tunisia’s famous hammams. In this case, it was in the luxurious surroundings of the hammam at the Dar El Jeld hotel in central Tunis. While I have always known about the baths, common all across North Africa since Roman times, I’ve never been in one. So why not? In the car on the way back from Hammamet, I called the Dar el Jeld and made an appointment for 6 p.m. On arrival, I made my way down to the lower level of the hotel, to the hammam and checked in. I was shown to an ornate locker room, where my locker contained a loofah glove, a towel, flip flops and a pair of shorts. Long story short, you strip, put all your belongings in the locker and don the skimpy shorts and towel. I handed the locker key to the attendant and was introduced to the woman who would be guiding me through the bath. You will be glad to know there is no photographic evidence of the rest of the evening.
I have to admit, I had visions of chubby, hairy men sitting about in the steam. (Like the caricature hanging at the reception). And I think in more traditional bath houses, there are separate times for men and for women. This one was definitely unisex. First order of business was a rub down with some kind of oil, followed by a quick shower, without soap. Then I was taken to the steam room. Speaking in French, the woman said I would be in the steam for two minutes. “Deux minutes.” Or maybe it was 10 minutes. “Dix minutes.” After a while, I realized it had to be ten, because she wasn’t coming back. Finally she appeared. “Ca va?” she asked. “Alright?” Yes. Then, back into the shower, before heading into another small room for my body scrub. The marble chamber’s only feature was a slab table, kind of like an operating table, covered with a towel. I was asked to lie down first on my back. I have to admit, I felt a little bit like a corpse lying on a slab, waiting to be embalmed. Then, the scrubbing began. And at first, it actually hurt a bit as she scrubbed every inch of my body. I felt like a giant vegetable, getting cleaned up for the oven. But it was rejuvenating. In between scrubs and oils, she hosed me down with warm water, then flipped me over and repeated the same procedure. The scrub was followed by a body massage, and then another shower. Now I was ready for my proper body massage, performed by another employee. And it was lovely, but again, at times a bit painful as she pushed hard on pressure points in the middle of my back. And when she massaged my stomach, I felt at one point as if my gall bladder had flipped. But in the end, I emerged a new man. One more shower, then back into my street clothes and on with life. One more thing off the bucket list.
KAIROUAN — On my trek to the south of Tunisia, I stopped first in Kairouan, a major centre in the Islamic world. My travel companion for this two-day excursion to the south of Tunisia was a man name Oussema Labidi, who I’d hired through the friend of a friend to rent a car and drive. Only after Oussema picked me up before dawn on Saturday morning did I discover that he spoke neither English nor French. We managed, through sign language and his little bits of English and French and my snippets of Arabic. In Kairouan, we stopped first at its celebrated Great Mosque, on the edge of the ancient medina, a major pilgrimage site for devout Muslims. Our guide, who did speak English, said that seven visits to Kairouan are supposed to equal one hajj to Mecca. We also took in the winding alleys of the souk and the Bir Barouta, where a camel in a harness walks in a circle and draws water from a century’s-old well that some locals say is linked to a spring in Mecca.
TOZEUR — Arrived in the desert oasis city of Tozeur in the late afternoon and quickly checked into the hotel, located just a few blocks from the medina. My priority today, with a few hours of sunlight left, was to get out into the Sahara even though I hadn’t done any advance planning. The nearest spot was about a half hour away, past a place called Nafta. With no firm plans for a tour we zoomed across the desert to Ong Jmal, where scenes from the Star Wars prequel Phantom Menace were filmed.
We met a lovely herd of camels along the way, including several young ones who were nursing. Ong Jmal was pretty cool. It looks authentic for the region, but was actually constructed as a movie set by George Lucas, then left behind in the desert as a minor tourist attraction. Some people come just for the Star Wars connection, but the location is also nestled among some spectacular sand dunes. Oussema and I couldn’t communicate all that well, but he could tell I was dying to get out into the desert. We asked one of the tour operators who was sitting in his four-by-four if it would be possible to jump in and head out into the dunes, but he said all the vehicles would have been booked up ahead of time by groups from Tozeur. I had resigned myself to a walk into the dunes nearby, but Oussema found another driver who had a spot left in his vehicle if I had $20. Deal. It was an amazing ride out into the desert to a vantage point with a stone outcrop that provided spectacular views. Then we sped back through the dunes to Ong Jmal, to catch the sun just as it was disappearing behind the dunes. Perfect.
Tozeur is home to a remarkable stand of date palms and a centuries-old irrigation system. Most of the buildings are constructed of distinctive yellow brick, with remarkably intricate patterns of brickwork. On Sunday morning, before heading out for another epic drive, we made a quick trip through the market, sampled some dates and fresh bread and eyeballed the fish and camel meat in the fresh food department. Yes, camel. One of the butchers had a camel head on the thick wooden block and several others hanging on the wall. They were a bit freaky, after seeing so many of the graceful creatures in the Sahara the day before. But I’d made a meal of them the night before, when I dined on camel couscous at a restaurant near the hotel. Oussema and I also visited the palmerie, a maze of roads and pathways through the dense stand of date palms for which Tozeur is famous. Days could be spent here, but I had to head out across the causeway traversing the vast Chott El-Jerid, a salt lake. Our next stop was Matmata.
MATMATA — Matmata is a small, isolated village in the rocky desert of southern Tunisia, famous for its so-called “troglodyte” structures, homes that were built into the earth to protect local Amazigh (Berber) residents from heat. Star Wars fans would recognize one of the sites in the area, the Hotel Sidi Idriss with its underground maze of cave-like rooms was used by George Lucas in the first Star Wars as Luke Skywalker’s home on the planet of Tatooine.
Just before reaching Matmata, we saw several of the dug-in homes along the side of the road. A little boy beckoned us to stop at one of them and offered a tour for 5 Dinars (about $2.50). Rjab and his younger brother Mohammed live nearby and earn some cash showing the home to tourists. The pictures tell it all. A tunnel from the first chamber takes you through to an interior courtyard, a deep bowl in the earth lined with rooms. Pretty incredible place. Later, we dropped in on the Hotel Idriss, a major tourist attraction in the area.
Sunday’s final tourism stop in Tunisia was at the breathtaking Roman amphitheatre at El Jem, a couple of hours south of Tunis. The amphitheatre was built around 238 AD in what was then Thysdrus, located in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.
The UNESCO World Heritage site is one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world and arguably the best in Africa. On arrival, you can’t help but be struck by the fact that this remarkable ruin is now completely surrounded by the city. An ordinary street lined with shops and restaurants suddenly gives way to this towering structure. It is estimated that it had seating for more than 30,000 people. I went down into the tunnels beneath, where gladiators would assemble before entering the oval. This had to be one of the most impressive sites on my whirlwind tour of Tunisia. With nearly 14 hours of driving spread over two days, we covered much of the country and made it back to Tunis in time for a dinner hosted by Rania an Elie, on the eve of the conference that brought me here.
TUNIS - The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), is a Washington-based think tank funded by the US Congress and “dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential.” Our friend Elie is USIP’s Middle East and North Africa program director and was the organizer of the one-day conference ‘Rethinking the role of media in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.’ I gladly accepted his invitation to deliver the conference’s keynote address first thing on the morning of Dec. 2. Among those attending the conference was Nicole Choueiry, a colleague of Roula’s from her work for IDRC in Tunis.
In the end, just a fabulous week in Tunisia. My eternal thanks to my hosts — Elie Abouaoun and his wife Rania Fazah, as well as Hilary Childs-Adams. All went out of their way to take care of me and help me to make the most of this important week away. It was wonderful to connect after nearly three decades with Lotfi, and to meet Roula’s friends Nicole Choueiry and Manal Warde.
After an exhilarating but ultimately bruising experience on the election trail, a week in Tunisia was a tonic. I will be forever grateful to those who made it happen.
