Susan and I enjoyed our tour of Tunisia. Mohammed and Ramses were an excellent guide and driver team and both made us feel safe and comfortable. The Toyota Prado was a good choice for a spacious vehicle that could also handle a little offroading to see the Neck of the Camel near Tozeur in the South. The roads in Tunisia are very good compared to some we have been on in other countries.
We felt like we experienced a taste of the country, by spending 8 days traveling from Tunis to the Sahara and back. The pace was good for us, in that we are not trying to exhaust ourselves seeing absolutely everything like some travelers. We have traveled a fair amount, and this was part of our 5th trip to Africa in the past 2 years. We usually travel in a private tour at a fairly comfortable level and the hotels and guest houses you arranged were good enough. Honestly, the food was not great in most places, but great food has been the exception rather than the rule in our travels in Africa. The best meal we had was probably a tie between L’Auberge de Tamezret and The Resedence Douz.
La Villa Bleue is in a stunning location and we liked staying there. The staff was very friendly and wanted to help however they could. This was a common theme in our travels — friendly people and staff in hotels that really wanted their guests to have the best experience possible. It was nice to spend 2 nights at the first place we stayed. Packing up and moving every night is sometimes necessary on a trip, but having 2 nights makes for a more relaxing experience when it fits the schedule.
I have seen some coliseums, but El Jem is worth seeing because it is in great condition. We have been to a lot of mosques and cathedrals, so we skipped visiting those except to look at some from the outside. For personal reasons, we wanted to see some Star Wars film sites, and the tour included a few so that was fun for us. This would not be important for many guests. The camel ride was fun — we have been on a few and my wife is always willing to go on another. I really liked seeing the desert and mountain oases. This was my first time in an oasis. Mohammed explained that Tunisia is creating man made oases with geothermal wells to help create a barrier to the expansion of the desert. We found that interesting and Mohamed showed us one of these wells. Our nonprofit has drilled a well in East Africa for a school (www.theladybugprojectusa.net) but it is not much over 100 meters deep.
We do not shop much for tourist souvenirs, but Susan usually has a cultural item or two on her list to bring back to the US to put in our house when we travel. We bought two antique marionettes and several small paintings on glass. Mohammed did his best to make sure we were not overpaying.
We would certainly recommend Mosaic to anyone we meet or know who wants to go to Tunisia.
