Sahara Desert Camp

Our Sahara Desert Camp was quite remote. There was not a lot to it: tents, a dining room, a shower room, and a fire pit, but not much more. It was hot in the day and cold at night. The stars shown brightly. It was as quiet as can be. We loved our time in the Sahara, except for the flies…which were relentless during the day. 

These are photos from our Sahara Desert camp. We enjoyed our time in the Sahara Desert so much that we would have liked more time there but we made the best of the time that we had.  

     The first photo is one view of our camp. I’m trying to show that it’s rather simple and isolated.

     I know that some people ‘worry’ about Vicky and I on our crazy travels, such as camping in the Sahara. I put in the next two photos to immediately relieve any worries that we were suffering out in the Sahara. 

     The tents are much bigger than they look, even just standing next to them. They were quite spacious and also included a bathroom with sink and toilet. We were not suffering.

     It’s easy to think that you are all alone out in the Sahara but if you pay attention, you quickly realize that you are not all alone. I’m not sure what critter we were sharing the desert with from these tracks.

     As far out in ‘Tatooine’ as we were (for Star Wars fans), we could not seem to shake Obi-wan Kenobi on our travels in this part of Tunisia. He seemed to be following us across the Sahara.

     You can take Vicky off the farm, but she’s still Vicky, even at sunrise in the Sahara Desert.

     I loved just looking at the dunes and the extended views of the Sahara. It seemed very magical.

     No trip to the Sahara would be complete without riding camels. We had an hour camel ride and loved every minute of it.

     We have ridden camels in multiple countries such as India and Mongolia. Every other time, the people have had us sit up close to the front of the camel’s head and even told us we could put our feet over their necks. But in the Sahara, they told us to sit way back in the saddle. I don’t know why but it felt odd to be sitting so far back in the saddle.

     Vicky is comfortable no matter what she’s riding or where she’s sitting in the saddle.

Sahara Desert Camp Dinner

     I noted earlier that our Sahara Desert camp was quite simple. After arriving, I walked the camp to check out the facilities. The one facility that I didn’t find that concerned me was a kitchen. I was willing to sacrifice to be out in a remote camp, but not to the extent that we didn’t have a good supper. I needn’t have worried but it was an unusually prepared meal. 

     Our guide suggested that we go over to the fire pit and said something about dinner that I didn’t understand. I thought that perhaps we were going to barbeque something and maybe we would even be helping. I was wrong. The guy first pounded out some dough. Then he raked an area on one end of the fire clean and put the dough on the ground in the middle, which you can see in the photo. Next, he completely covered over the dough with the coals and ash that he had raked aside.

     The second photo shows the end product: bread. He uncovered the bread from the fire, brushed off the coals and ash and served us some fresh hot bread. I thought it would taste like ash but I was wrong again, it was delicious.  

     Then, they raked off another section of the fire and dug into a half-bowl base which contained three pottery vessels which you can see in the photo. 

     The next photo shows one of the pottery vessels being opened with our dinner inside. It included lamb with potatoes, carrots, onions, and tomatoes. The rest of dinner was bread, barley soup, a brick, and grapes and dates for dessert.

     The party didn’t start with dinner. You can see me at sunset with a bottle of Tunisian wine hosting the setting sun.

Making the Desert Bloom

We left our Sahara Desert camp and drove back to Douz, a small town on the edge of the Sahara. We drove past date palms trees for most of the afternoon. Our guide said that there are three million date palm trees, just in this area of the Sahara. He said that Tunisia has 150 different varieties of date palm trees. He said that all the date palms are hand pollinated and handpicked. He said that one tree can produce up to 220 pounds of dates.

     The obvious question to me was: where do they get the water? Our guide liked a lot of my questions and comments on this trip. In this case, he stopped and showed us a well that had been dug to irrigate the palm trees. The well is 650 feet deep and it produces water that is boiling hot, probably from some volcanic activity below.

     These are photos from a well that produces water for the palm trees and the oasis.

The first photo is a pump setup to bring the water up from 650 feet below the ground.

The second photo shows that the boiling water is sent down multiple concrete ditches and then dispersed further, all to cool the water down.

A pipe like in the center of the prior photo is in the upper right in the third photo. Water then runs through the downhill labyrinth, with no power or labor involved, and cools down in temperature as it flows down. It’s a cheap and efficient system.

The water eventually ends up in irrigation canals that send it off to the date palm farmers, cooled and ready to irrigate.

Another highlight of this simple system was another section of the operation. In this case, the water is initially pumped up from the well to a great height at the top of this building. Its design reminded me of a car radiator. The water worked its way down the system cooling off, but in the meantime, local people could come here and get a hot shower, for free, from the leakage and overflow.

Chott el Jerid

Driving past Douz, we came to the biggest Salt Lake in the Sahara Desert. Chott el Jerid’s English translation is something like ‘Lagoon of the Land of the Palms.’ Its surface area is 2,700 square miles or more than one and a half times larger than Utah’s Great Salt Lake. It borders millions of date palm trees. Our guide said that in southwestern Tunisia, there are fifteen times more date palm trees than people.

     Our guide said that this area has almost no fresh water and few natural resources. The salts vary in color from white to pale green to pinks, vivid orange, and red. The salt here is harvested and sold but not for table salt. It’s used for salting roads in the snowy places in Europe and the world.

     The whole area looks other-worldly. It’s a natural and stunning space. It has sand dunes, the Atlas Mountains, salt flats, and canyons. For those reasons, it has been used for a variety of films including Star Wars. Lucasfilms built the Lars Family Homestead at the lake’s northern point.

The first photo is just to show some of the three million date palm trees located in this area.

The second photo is a lousy photo taken while driving in the bus. Why show it? It’s the only photo I got that shows the Atlas Mountains, strips of date palm trees, strips of the salt flats, and the Sahara Desert all together in the same photo. 

The third photo is to give an idea of the expanse of these salt flats.

Vicky is down taking a close look. It was loudly crunchy to walk across the salt flats. There would be no sneaking up on anyone out in the salt flats.

The last photo is another bus photo but the best one I got of them processing the salt.

Tozeur Hotel

We reached the town of Tozeur late in the afternoon. Tozeur has a long history. It was an important Numidian town on the ancient caravan route. It’s an oasis and was an important stop on the way through the Sahara. It was also settled during the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the Vandal Kingdom, but with the name Tusuros. Berber tribes eventually conquered this area. The area has hundreds of thousands of date palm trees.

    Due to this areas physical features, it was also used as a filming location for both Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, especially Sidi Bouhlel canyon outside of town and the salt flat areas nearby. Lucasfilms built two entire sets in this area a few miles from Tozeur in the middle of the desert for Star Wars movies. The sets were used for the Lars Family Homestead and Mos Espa. We were told that the English Patient was also partly filmed outside Tozeur.

    For my part, I always wanted to visit an oasis. I guess from movies that I saw when young, the whole idea of an oasis in the middle of the desert greatly appealed to me. This post is from the hotel Diar Abou Habibi which is where we stayed in Tozeur. 

     The first photo is the hotel entrance. It was not like most hotel lobbies.

     I think there were about 20 units in this hotel. The entire hotel looked like this with a roadway and the hotel rooms off to each side in the trees.  

     This is our hotel room. They all looked the same. The ground floor was empty except for a hammock. The entire room was one floor up the stairs.

     Vicky and I were very comfortable, both inside and outside our room. The room even had AC.

     This woman brought us our breakfast each day and set it on our outside table.

     We ate out on the deck and could even pick a few extra dates from the nearby trees if we wanted to.

Touring Tozeur

Like most of the places such as Tozeur, there is a much more modern town today. But we, of course, were much more interested in the more ancient parts of Tozeur. We toured quite a bit of Tozeur but really, it mostly looked similar. It’s an oasis and has hundreds of thousands of trees, of all sorts. It is divided up by owner or farmer and has fences and gates for each but the land itself is mostly just one big oasis.

    Tozeur has thrived for 2,000 years on the edge of the salt flats and the Sahara in a remote and lush oasis. It seemed like just a giant date palm grove but we learned otherwise. We saw the following trees touring and hiking in Tozeur: pomegranate, figs, olives, bananas, apricots, plums, oranges, and lemons. They also grow vegetables underneath the trees with the same irrigation water. With all the fresh fruit and veggies, I told our guide that I was thinking of dropping off our tour and staying in Tozeur. 

     There are lots of ways to get around in Tozeur, but we went by horse carriage. It was very quiet and comfortable.

     We walked through one of the farms with a local guide, met some workers, and enjoyed every minute of it. 

     The date palms are the main source of revenue and work in Tozeur. One tree can produce 220 pounds of dates.

     All date palms are hand pollinated and handpicked. One of the workers demonstrated by going clear to the top and showing us how he worked. I gave it a try but those dates would never get pollinated by me.

     We saw this irrigation setup in the middle of the farm. Spring water comes from higher ground in the mountains through irrigation channels and is shared communally by everyone. They used to have unlimited amounts of water but no longer. Irrigation has been reduced and farmers are allotted a certain amount of time and water. They have also had to dig some very deep wells for water as they can no longer get by with just the water from the mountain springs.

     You can see a banana tree in the center and some figs and other trees around it. We could pick a ripe banana or dates if we so desired….and I did.

Mohammed the Brick Maker

One visit that we made in Tozeur was to Mohammed the brick-maker. He is 79 years old and he works by himself. When he was younger, he made 1,200 bricks a day. Now, he only makes 400 bricks a day. His bricks are façade bricks, not construction bricks. He demonstrated his entire brick-making process for us. He bakes them to 1,000 degrees and then they turn green.

     Mohammed has a wife and eight grown children. He said that one of his children stopped by today to get some money from him. He said that he doesn’t have to work every day, but he does. He said it’s better than staying home all day.

     Some people in our travel group felt terribly sorry for Mohammed because they said he had such a terrible life. I disagreed. I saw a man that loved what he did. I saw a proud man that had raised his whole family and was still funding them to some degree. I mostly saw a man with a huge smile on his face much of the time that we were there. 

     The first photo is Mohammed holding the mold that he uses for his bricks.

     Our local guide is interpreting as Mohammed tells us about each step of the brick-making process, starting with the kind and amounts of dirt, etc. 

     He has mixed the ingredients, added water, and is now putting the mix into his brick molds.

     Before firing up his kiln, he had some points to make to us about the process and results. 

     Mohammed mostly uses dried up palm fronds for his fire. That makes sense since they are readily available to him and probably free as well.

Sbeitla Roman ruins

On this day, we drove from Tozeur to Kairouan. We crossed the Atlas Mountains and passed dozens of “camel crossing’ signs. We passed phosphate works, a major industry for Tunisia. We saw many new oasis in the making with mostly olive trees and pistachio trees. All the new oasis being created made me wonder where all the water is coming from. I know that the answer is ‘underground’ but how long can their underground water supply last with all the oasis being created?

    Our main stop this day was in Sbeitla at the Roman and Byzantine ruins. They were excavated and restored between 1906 and 1921. Sbeitla was originally a military settlement but quickly became wealthy due to its agricultural lands. With a great climate and at a time of more rain, it became the granary of Rome. Also a large number of ancient olive presses were found here. 

     The first photo is a far view just to give an idea of the scope of this settlement. It was large with an amphitheater and all the normal Roman and Byzantine buildings.

     Sbeitla has the best preserved Roman forum temples in Tunisia: the temples of Minerva, Jupiter, and Juno. 

     Those Romans sure knew how to bathe, although I’m not sure if this tub was a public bath or in the brothel area.

     Much of the Roman mosaic floors that we saw had been lifted and preserved on museum walls but at Sbeitla, we saw some large areas that still had the original mosaic floors. This was a very large building and that’s only about half of it.

     I also wanted to show some of the more creative mosaic work that we saw. This was in another bath in the ruins. I must say that the Romans seemed to be big on bathes.

Kairouan

We left the oasis of Tozeur and drove northeast for over five hours to Kairouan. Kairouan is between the mountains and the coast and is about 30 miles from the east coast. It was founded in 670 AD and is one of the holy cities of Islam, since founded by a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. It’s been a key administrative, commercial, religious, and intellectual center of Islam. 

     Modern Kairouan is important for grain and livestock raised in the surrounding area. It also an important center for carpets and handicrafts. It has a university and light industry. Tourism has also started to make a financial impact in Kairouan. We arrived in Kairouan late afternoon and went straight to our hotel. We stayed at the La Kasbah Hotel which was originally a 9th century palace. The tile work was fabulous.

     The first photo is our hotel entrance. It definitely looked more like a 9th century palace than a hotel.

     The second photo shows the hotel from the back side. I think they upgraded since the 9th century. And yes, we did go swimming and had the pool all to ourselves.

     Our room was on the top floor, directly overlooking the pool in the second photo. This is our shower. As you can see, it does pose challenges to convert a 9th century palace into a modern hotel. The shower was one foot from the window.

     We had another home-hosted dinner in Kairouan. The family that hosted us in the fourth photo. It was a multi-family household. The father, now grandfather, and his two sons live there with their wives and four children. He also has a daughter but she lives with her husband’s family. They had plenty of room, two kitchens, etc. The family was super nice. The two brothers own a coffee shop.

     Dinner was fresh salad with tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, etc, bricks (deep-fried stuffed pasty), bowls of pomegranate seeds, vegetable soup, and the main was couscous with beef and chicken and vegetables, and fruit and tea for dessert. Vicky helped out serving dinner as you can see.

Touring Kairouan

We spent several days wandering around Kairouan and the surrounding areas. It has a long and rich history. I could put out a lot of posts from here but I’m going to shortcut it with some highlights.

     Other than the first photo, we did spend a lot of time visiting Islamic sites in Kairouan. They were interesting but the main points are the significance of them, not the facility so much. We also didn’t run into any crowded situations here in Kairouan.

    The first photo is one of the Aghlabid Basins, built in the 9th century by the Aghlabid Dynasty. Kairouan is a dry area and known for droughts. The Aghlabids brought water from the hills via a 36 mile aqueduct. They had 16 connected basins, like the one in this photo, in an open-air reservoir system. It was considered the greatest hydraulic construction of the Middle Ages. In the photo, the smaller basin beyond the big one served as a filter, collecting sediment and debris, before flowing into the larger basin. The larger basin is 16 feet deep by 420 feet in diameter. It’s not a circle but a 17-sided polygon. 

     The second photo is the Abu Zamaa al-Balawi, a mausoleum. It contains the remains of one of the great companions of the Prophet Muhammad. He died in battle fighting the Byzantines in 654 AD. The architecture is influenced by Andalusian and Ottoman architecture. The photo is just the courtyard as we were not allowed inside.

     We were allowed to ‘look’ inside the mausoleum through the door, however. And when we were done, they washed our hands in ‘orange-water’. They soak pales of orange blossoms in water and it’s really a nice gesture.

     The Great Mosque of Kairouan is partially seen in the fourth photo. It’s a huge facility. It’s the oldest place of worship in Africa, built in 670AD. This mosque is the 4th most holy site in all the Muslim world. The mosque is almost 100,000 square feet in area but the entire facility is much larger. We spent 45 minutes talking to the Imam in his office during our visit here.

     The last photo is Mosque of the Three Doors, located in the Medina. It is also one of the oldest mosques in the world and is a good example of Aghlabid-era architectural design. The mosque is in the back of the photo.

Kairouan Medina

Our hotel was right near the medina in Kairouan. After lunch one day, we walked to the medina and spent two hours walking through it. The vendor areas were quite busy and they sell everything you might want. The other areas of the medina were actually quite empty. So why walk through this medina and make a post of it?

     The simple answer is that the Kairouan medina substituted for a 1930’s Cairo, Egypt in the movie, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ The scenes start with Indiana Jones and Marion shopping in the medina. Then the Nazi’s attack them. Indy tries to protect Marion but the Nazi’s get her anyway. Later in looking for her, Indy confronts a swordsman looking for a fight but Indy just shoots him. He eventually loses her and stops in a bar to have a drink. All of this occurred right here in the Kairouan medina.

     These are photos from streets of the Kairouan medina. I offer no explanations for what streets were in the movie but we walked for two hours and lots of places looked familiar. As an Indiana Jones fan, it was just a fun experience. 

Kairouan Medina House

As we walked through the Kairouan medina, we passed many doors. Many were fancy but most were not. We learned that we could not tell what was behind the doors we were walking past. Most of the Kairouan medina was tall white walls and blue doors.

    Our guide suggested that we go into one such door. He said it was a business that makes and sells carpets and Kairouan is the Tunisian capital of carpets since they are its main craft product. We met the owner or manager upon entering. He gave us his carpet spiel but told us to look around the house. His business occupies what he claimed was the “best house in the Kairouan medina.” The house was huge and was fabulously rich in marble, tile, wood, etc.

    Between all the carpets everywhere plus much of the original furniture, it was hard to capture this house in photos. We think that a family still lives in this house. The house was two stories and must have had more than a dozen rooms and perhaps even twenty rooms. They let us wander around and enjoy ourselves. It was a very comfortable house. So don’t let the modesty of the medina streets fool you. 

     The first photo was a very large room, where I was standing to take the photo, and a smaller sitting area in the photo. I have no idea what the function was for this room.

     I just took the second photo to remind me that this was indeed currently a working carpet factory.  

     The third photo is another very large room with again, no obvious function. Perhaps it’s a ‘living room.’

     The fourth photo is a bedroom and like the whole house, very fancy. Our friend Karen is in the photo and she was a fellow traveler.

     The last photo is another unknown room. The detail of some of the pieces was incredible. For instance, the sideboard and the octagon table were both wooden with inlaid ivory and mother-of-pearl and with exquisite workmanship.

Driving outside of Kairouan

We drove from Tozeur to Kairouan and we also drove out of Kairouan to visit other places in the area. These photo are taken on one or more of those drives. For those of you who follow my travels, you know that I like the country and farming areas.

     Three of these photos (1,2,4) are ‘bus photos’ but for the other two, we insisted that our guide stop the bus so that we could do a closer inspection. He was happy to accommodate us.  

     We saw dozens of ‘camel crossing’ signs in this area. They had two kinds, the one in this photo and another much larger one with a big camel on it. My guess is that it’s a genuine problem for drivers.

     They weren’t kidding about the camels crossing the road, as we found out.  

     We passed several orchards with a tree that we didn’t recognize. Do you know what tree is in the third photo? We made our guide stop the bus for a closer inspection. This is a pistachio tree, with nuts almost ready to harvest. We harvested a few ourselves just to make sure about the whole pistachio orchard. They are growing lots of pistachios in Tunisia.

     The fourth photo is a field of cactus. A large percentage of agriculture fields in this area had a row of cactus growing alongside the crop, next to the road. In some cases, like this photo, we saw whole fields of cactus.

     Like many warm weather cultures, certain areas of Tunisia grow and use lots of peppers. In some situations, they put them on a grand display for all to see…and purchase.

Mosaic Factory

     We drove from Kairouan to El Djem through the coastal plain and some great agricultural land this day. Our first stop, however, had nothing to do with agriculture. We stopped at a mosaic factory. It proved to be a fascinating stop and I must say, we saw some really excellent mosaic works.

     The owner met us and gave us a tour of his whole operation. He overseas every step himself from buying the different rocks that they use to cutting them in slabs, to polishing them, to cutting up the needed pieces by size and color. He had quite a few people employed and we got to see it all.

     The first photo is the owner out in back of his factory. He showed us the rocks that he buys and the different colors. He would pour water on the rocks to show the actual colors when the rocks are cut and polished. 

     After cutting the rocks into slabs and then strips, they get cut to size for a particular mosaic. We were allowed to try our hand at rock cutting for one of the mosaics being worked. Vicky was an old pro from the git-go. For the man working to her right, he has the mosaic all laid out on the paper and he cuts his pieces to fit in the drawing. 

     You can see four workers tending to a larger mosaic in the third photo. This was by no means anywhere near the largest one that we saw at the factory. I saw one gigantic one out in the back and asked what it was for. The owner said it was going to be installed on the bottom of a swimming pool.

     Mosaics could be nature, flowers, religious tones, animals, patterns, people, geometric designs, birds, fish, or anything else.

     The last photo is just to show a mosaic that sort of defines that they can be anything. It looked more like a “Dali” painting than some scene I expected to see in north Africa.

El Djem Amphitheater

We drove from Kairouan to El Djem to see their Roman amphitheater. It’s the third largest amphitheater in the world that’s still in existence. The Colosseum in Rome holds 50,000 people. The ruined theater in Capua, Italy was also larger. The El Djem amphitheater holds 35,000 people. It was built in the 3rd century and still hosts the El Djem International Symphony Festival.

     This theater was a gladiator venue and also used for small-scale chariot races. It remained almost entirely intact from the 3rd to the 17th century. Then people started to steal stones to build the nearby village and for the Great Mosque in Kairouan. The worst damage came from the Ottoman Turks using canons to flush rebels out of the theater.

     It’s still in great shape and was declared a World Heritage site in 1979. It would take many posts to show all the underground and behind the seats areas as this is a huge and very complex theater. They had to handle water, sewage, horses, chariots, and of course, for the upper crust of the periods to be made highly comfortable. The only real disappointment was some graffiti that we found carved onto rocks. By who? By U.S. soldiers stationed here during World War II.

    These are only big picture photos of the El Djem amphitheater.

     The first photo is from the coffee shop across the street where we relaxed before tackling walking the entire amphitheater. 

     The second photo is a small section of the outside at one end of the theater. Notice how thick the walls, which is why it’s still standing today. 

     The third photo is inside the outer wall but you can see that there is still lots of infrastructure within the theater.

     I think Vicky is indicating that she feels slightly insignificant standing in the middle of the arena.

     This was probably my best top-row photo. You can see a couple of people standing in the arena to gain perspective. We went up and down all sides of the arena and theater and that was a lot of steps up and down.

Hammamet

     We left Kairouan and drove northwest the short distance to the coast. Our first stop was in Hammamet. Thanks to its location and beautiful beaches, it’s a popular destination for both tourists and locals. We visited a villa where Winston Churchill stayed when he visited north Africa during World War II. Our guide said that Sophia Loren lives here along with other famous and wealthy people.

     We stopped in town on the Mediterranean Sea for a drink and some ice cream. Then we walked the medina. Our stay here was short but I thought it worth a post. After all, not all of Tunisia is desert.

     People in this part of the world were first and foremost concerned about security. So what do you do when you are right on the coast and ships can pull right up to your town? You build a big, defensible wall around it, like you see in the first photo.

     Vicky and two of our fellow travelers couldn’t resist dipping their toes in the Mediterranean.  

     The next three photos are behind the wall in their medina. It was not too different but a nice combination of white walls, blue highlights, art on the walls, and many other decorative touches.

     Some streets were so narrow that I could touch both side buildings with my elbows. The twists and turns in the narrow streets made it very difficult for invaders to find their way through the medina in an attack, helping the defenders.

     Doors were a real highlight here, as well as most of north Africa.

Sidi Bou Said

We spent our last couple of days in Tunisia in the city of Sidi Bou Said. It’s on the coast and right next to the city of Carthage. As we drove around to see the various sights, we went from Carthage to Sidi Bou Said and back again.  

     This first post from here is all Sidi Bou Said. I just want to give a flavor of what this area is like.

     The first photo is from a walk and very near our hotel. Sidi Bou Said is a beautiful coastal town. You can see that the café’s and restaurants are crowded, the harbor, and the beautiful views that we had.

     The second photo shows some of the housing near our hotel. This was a very nice area.

     The market near our hotel was very crowded and it seemed like everyone was eating a doughnut. So we figured that they must be good and decided to give them a try. They were very good.

     The highlight of our walk in Sidi Bou Said was a visit to the Ennejma Ezzahra Palace, in the fourth photo. It was the home of Baron Rodolphe d’ Erlanger. His home is a historic monument and considered a jewel of Arab-Andalusian architecture. It is considered a testament to the Baron’s love of Arab culture.

     His house was huge but I’m only putting in one photo. I was most impressed by all the marble but the ambience and comfort of his palace were exceptional. It overlooked the coast and Mediterranean. He was an artist, a musician, and he supported music in his home, even having a large theater for musical performances. The arched doorways, the wood carvings, mosaic tiles, plasterwork, and all the fine details were really well done.

Carthage

We are now right next door to Sidi Bou Said in Carthage. Carthage was founded in 814 BC by the Phoenicians. It was a thriving port and trading center in the ancient world and developed into a major Mediterranean power and a rival to Rome. It was the center of the Carthaginian Empire with its heyday in the 4th century BC. The Romans eventually captured it, destroyed it, and then rebuilt it. Carthage has thrived due to its strategic location, access to fertile land, and major maritime trade routes.

     I’ll just include a few photos where I’ve tried to capture some of the ancient aspects of Carthage. 

     The first photo is some remains of the Zaghouan Aqueduct or the Aqueduct of Carthage. The Romans brought water to Carthage from springs over 4,200 feet in elevation and 82 miles away from Carthage. These were amongst the longest aqueducts in the Roman Empire. You can see that this was once a huge project with lots of different aqueducts.

     The second photo is just a close-up to help understand just how big these aqueducts pipes were.

     The Roman Carthage Amphitheater is in the third photo. It was built around the end of the first century and expanded in the third century. Winston Churchill spoke here to 10,000 British soldiers during World War II.

     The fourth photo is the Punic Catacombs. Most graves were above ground but we did go into a cave to see some others. There were some pretty creative gravestones, considering their age.

     I don’t know how many times we had a glass of pomegranate juice but it was frequently as it’s a very popular drink in north Africa. They were surprised to hear that we drink it at home.

Antonine Roman Baths

We are still in Carthage. The Antonine Roman Baths were originally built between 145 and 165AD. They were the largest Roman baths on the African continent and one of the three largest baths ever built by the Roman Empire. They were mostly destroyed by the Vandals in 439AD and further by the Arabs in constructing Tunis, using the baths’ stones. 

     The baths were huge and impressive, even though mostly destroyed. It could accommodate a multitude of visitors. It was originally a multi-story building but what is there today is almost entirely the lower level. The baths included many rooms and chambers, hot rooms, cold rooms, hot baths, a gymnasium, an enormous seaside swimming pool, and views of the Mediterranean Sea.

     I think the topper for me was the impressive public toilet amphitheater with mosaic floors, music, and 80 seats, plus a view of the Mediterranean. WOW!  

     The first photo is an overview photo from higher ground but this is only a small portion of the entire baths.

     The second photo shows the thickness of the walls, many rooms, and the great arches between rooms.

     The pillar in the third photo looks like Aswan Red Granite from Egypt, so no expense was spared in this construction.

     We wandered about for over an hour and the size and scope of these baths was astounding.

     Most of the detailed parts have been destroyed but a few are there to give a hint at the beauty and enormity of these baths when they were constructed.

     This is one side of what’s left of the original public toilets located here at the baths.

North Africa American Cemetery

This is the North Africa American Cemetery and it is also in Carthage. It is the only American cemetery located in Africa. It holds soldiers, sailors, flyers, and army personnel, primarily from World War II. It holds 2,841 of our military dead but the wall of the Missing has 3,724 names engraved on it. This cemetery was dedicated in 1960, replacing several smaller facilities. 

     I learned quite a bit about the war in Africa and why the US was there. It was all new information to me but the things we learned made sense. For instance, at the start of WW II, the US only had the world’s 5th largest army. Our military was untested and Africa was an opportunity to get our feet wet, learn, and prepare for Europe. We had some interesting discussions with the man in charge and his Tunisian assistant about the war and various activities that happened.

   This cemetery is well maintained and really beautiful. We met the American in charge and the head Tunisian assistant.

     My father served very briefly in north Africa (Morocco) during WW II. He was on a destroyer but they had shore leave and he got designated as an MP. I asked to be the group member to place the wreath for our group.

     The wreath was laid on the altar in the chapel that is part of this cemetery.

     The cemetery had several areas with quotes from people during WW II, a missing man grave, and some really incredible murals of the war with maps and various attacks and routes that the Allies and Nazi’s took leading to battles.

     We walked some of the cemetery and read many gravestones.