not sure if this is the right thread to ask this question.

2005 festival of the desert... any idea of dates?

thanks for your help

is the trip to the star wars site good for children ,going to tunisa in 2 weeks ,are there any other trips suitable for kids

Maxine, not sure how old your children are or what they are thinking they will see, but the trip includes a visit to the troglodyte houses where parts of Star Wars was filmed. It is a trip to see the landscape around Matmata, and nowhere did I see any Star Wars memorabilia on my trip! It is also a long way to go in heat. Hope this helps

We did the 2 day Sahara trip last September when we were staying in Sousse. It was booked through the rep at the hotel.
You do need stamina for this trip as it is whistle stop but can't be faulted for seeing everything you would want to in the time. We opted for the carriage (that's a laugh) trip in the desert instead of the camels and it was made all the more authentic by the traditional dress they provide for you. I know that one or two of the locals try to make a dinar or two by appearing dressed up on a big black horse but so what it was a photo opportunity for us!

As for the value of this trip at £70 each, including an overnight hotel stay and meal, could not possibly be faulted. Our tour guide spoke excellent english and gave us a lot of information.

All in all we were shattered on our return and were glad that we had arranged it in the middle of the holiday so that we still had time to relax. We felt that it was the only excursion we needed to take that holiday as it encompassed everything we wanted to see, and some.....

Hope anybody taking this trip enjoys it as much as we did. Personally I wouldn't take a child(ren) as it is very hot and there are some long spells of coach travel, especially on the return journey from south to north.

What should I wear on the sahara trip, I'm travelling alone and dont want to cause offence.

Angela

You'll need to keep your shoulders and knees covered if you go anywhere religious. In general the more you cover up, the less attention you will attract! If you are planning on doing the camel ride then you will probably be better off wearing trousers as the saddles are quite rough. I wore loose linen trousers, a vest top and a long sleeve shirt when i did the trip. Don't forget your sunhat!

Hi all,

Have just returned back from Tunisia last night. A most wonderful trip. we have had, and so so child friendly. Our 3 year old was the centre of attention with most locals all through the trip.
We did the Sahara Explorer tour ( 2 Days) with our little girl. All I can say is that she had the time of her life on that trip. The coach rides were a bit testing for myself and the wife, but otherwise, when off the coach, it was a dream.
Our little girl even did the mini trek on the Atlas mountains to get to the Mountain oasis with the waterfalls. And not via the steps, but the hard way through all the uneven loose terrain.
She found the camels to pong a bit, so her and the wife did the Horse carriage ride through the Sahara. The camelride was OK. I would personally not go again.
The hotel you stay at in Douz is excellent and so is the food mostly throuout the trip. The only dissapointment was the last lunch at Dafsa.
A lot of the other people on the trip were not happy with the first lunch at Matmata, but we opted for the Vegetarian version and that was great. Couscous with veg, brilliantly cooked.
There must be lots of tour guides working with Thomsons, but the one we had was absolutely amazing. His knowledge of not just the trip itself, but almost whatever you would want to know about North Africa was refreshing. And that too with very good English.
I would most definitley want to do a longer Sahara trek next time.

Hi, can anyone tell me if you can take the 2day sahara trip from Hammamet Yasmine? Really like the look of this resort but want to make sure I can do the trip from wherever i'm staying!
Also, i'm going in July, what sort of temperature should I expect?
Thanks!

We visited Yasmine Hammamet back in September. Seems like a lifetime ago now, but the Sahara trip was something we felt just had to be done - being so close to it and then coming home without going would have been such a wasted opportunity. I won't lie and say its a relaxing 2 days because its not. There are early mornings, long distances to be covered by coach and a lot of this in the heat of the midday sun. What you do get though is so rewarding, its hard to put into words or describe the emotions.

If you take things on a very basic level and you get a great two days. Go deeper though and try to stay awake for the whole of the two days coach travelling... then you will really see Tunisian life, warts and all. You'll see families playing, animals grazing on the grass verges alongside the main roads, elaborate costumes, bizarre monuments on roundabouts and other such odd things that will make you smile. But as a warning you'll also see things that might upset you, like dead animals by the side of the road or freshly slaughtered sheep hanging on hooks (with tomorrows offering happily grazing underneath it).

On the first day its an early start as you travel from your hotel to El Jem and then via a brief stop at Mahres on the coast down to Gabes and then inland to Matmata. Here you have lunch and then might visit a Troglodyte house before a long drive to Douz. This road is the first real sign of the desert as it stops being rocky and biblical in appearance and starts becomes to become more sandy looking. Overnight stop in Douz (but not before the Camel ride to see the sun going down over the Sahara). When we arrived at our hotel there was no electric, but you could still bathe as the water here is naturally thermally heated. The hotel had a sort of colonial feel that was very charming. Next day its another wake up call to see the sunrise over the salt lakes (our coach was late so we missed it - but it was cloudy anyway) before driving over to an oasis at Degache. Here you can take a horse driven buggy ride through the date plantation before hopping onto the Landcruisers for the next part of the journey. You're really getting out in to the edges of the desert now as you head along to Chebika oasis which is fed by one single source of water the seeps from the Atlas mountains into a beautiful turquoise pool. Then onto Tamerza to a magnificent waterfall before meeting back up again with the coach in Metlaoui. Its then onto Gafsa for lunch, and after a quick stop at Jelma its the last leg back to your hotel. I won't give the game away by telling how far you've travelled because that's something that the tour guides like to tease you with.

And talking of tour guides, if you happen to go from Thomson's and get a slightly rotund guy with a thickset moustache called Mohammed then you are in the best hands possible. The guy is a legend and can't do enough for you. Very knowledgeable and willing to answer any question you might throw at him. He even gave our coach a very quick history of Islam that did more for peace relations than you'd get in 50 years of political negotiations. He is genuinely someone whose touches you, as you have just put your well-being in his hands for the last 48 hours.

A few tips - well, grab a good seat on the coach if possible, take a cpl of loo rolls and wet-ones if possible as the toilets are dodgy to say the least, plus have some small change for tipping at the loos... Plenty of water is obvious, as are some snacks (especially if the idea of Tunisian cuisine doesn't appeal to you, or if you are just wary of food you haven't made yourself). A good sun-cream is vital as you will be outside at the most fiercest times of the day. You are somewhat herded around the place a little bit, particularly at food stops, but these coaches are running to strict time limits. On the camel ride be wary of the men on horses as they will try to fleece you for taking pics of them (whether you did or not). I got the impression that they look out for red lights on camcorders as well. At the Landcruisers, the longer it takes you to get off the coach the further up the convoy you'll be, so if you like to see exactly where you are going with no vehicles in front of you, make sure you dawdle a bit here. My last tip is to stay awake as much as possible, especially in the early mornings and in the desert - its hard in the heat but its worth it.

There are probably different times when you should use different cameras - certain things happen very quickly so always keep your handheld or digi camera handy, but on something like the buggy ride on day 2 just keep your video camera rolling as its not to long of a ride and the riot when the horses all arrive by the coach is amazing to see. If you do have a digital camera then just take as many pictures as you can as you'll have plenty of time to delete the naff ones when you are back on the coach. Take plenty of media cards for your camera as they are very hard to get hold off out there.

You'll see so much and learn so much that the only word to describe it is an 'Experience'. And so much of it will be personal only to you.

The oddest thing that occured to us was being driven through the desert whilst listening to the radio playing the damn Bee-Gees... My three favourite sights over the two days were a road signpost showing you which way to go for Tripoli, a hedgerow built of dried palm leaves which had a gate made from the door of a beige and white VW camper van, but the best overall was simply the smiles on people faces whenever you met them.

What a wonderfully comprehensive report. If that doesn't whet people's interest I don't think anything will. Thanks so very much for posting it.

Hey there,
I am going to Tunisia PEK in June with my fiance and I am definatley going on the Sahara desert trip!!! There is just one thing, I heard that part of the tour includes going near or into Algeria. Is this true? As I myself had wanted to go to Algeria in November to visit close friend but was put off by warnings from British, American French and Irish embassy websites According to all of them there is a serious risk of kidnapping and terrorism. But then my friend says its long time over and the country is getting back on its feet.

There is practically no information whatsoever about Algeria in any travel site ! I know there were a lot of political problems in the past. But I really want to see my friend. Does anyone know anything about getting to Algeria from Tunisia? Is it safe or even possible? Or could we even meet at the border between the two countries. If anyone knows anything about this I would be so grateful for some answers!!!

Hi
went on sahara trip last year - comes to within 40 or so miles of Algerian border, so nothing to worry about

have a great time
mgb

hi just been looking on another forum and somebody has suggested upgrading to the select option where there are only 25 people on a 52 seater bus and you can go in the atlas mountains 4WD. has anybody else done this and do you recommend it. Apparently you get to the sights first aswell, all for an extra £20.00 each

Hi again

on our trip last year, we went into the atlas mountains by 4X4, visiting Chebika and Tamerza. It was magic! AT first I couldn't see why we had to go by 4X4, but it didn't take long till we encountered our first hairpin bend!

Regards
mgb

ps our trip was booked via our Thomas Cook rep

how much is the 2 day sahara trip?

we were £159 for 2 adults plus one child - excellent value for money.

regards
mgb

How much is the trip in dinar per person? I know people have said in sterling. It would be great if anyone remembers in dinar as I can convert it into euro.
thanks

Hi
We did the excellent 2 day Sahara Explorer trip which we booked through our Thompson Rep .- this included the land cruiser 4x4 trip through the Atlas mts. The price in dinar was 165 TD ( £70) for adults and 82.5 TD (£35) for children. Th Sahara Select which means only 25 people max. in a 52 seater coach and no children allowed is 220 TD ( (£93).
hope this helps - enjoy

Thanks I am just trying to get used to converting the currency as I have to divide everything by 1.5. I think Ill bring a calculator with me as I ll just give myself headaches doing the maths
Thanks again and I will definately do the trip!!!
Can t wait