Ken Tucker, Dorset, UK.

The holiday was booked fairly last minute with Thomas Cook for £219 per person half board at the Hotel Jinene, Sousse (good but basic). Car hire for the week was expensive at around £250 (Hertz).

Driving

Although we had been advised that driving here was difficult, it was much less stressful than expected and even driving at night (often strongly advised against) was not too problematic. Other road users were quite amazing (especially overtaking skills, use of lights/horn, distance from bumper), but we drove defensively and had no problems. I felt happier driving here than I did in Italy!

People

Very friendly, helpful and welcoming everywhere. Can hassle you to buy things, but in a very relaxed way and left well alone after a couple No thank you's in French. On one occasion boys hassling me did interfere with my birding (see 23.12.04) but on no occasion did I feel unsafe or threatened. Helps a lot if you speak a little French (or better still, Arabic).

Birding

I used the range of trip reports easily available on the net. The sites I visited are generally well know and referred to in these other reports so have not given detailed directions unless something has changed.

Birding was easy, although I did miss a couple of species which I thought were almost definite (marbled duck and red-rumped wheatear). Views were generally good to excellent but I often spent a little less time with each species than I would have liked as there was often somewhere else to move on to. I was on holiday with a non-birding partner and there were other things we both wanted to see. Distances are relatively large and I think we could have done with an extra couple of days in the desert areas of the south (perhaps staying at Matmata for two nights and exploring the area around there). This might have made for a more relaxing holiday with more ambling and less dashing. I am not, however, disappointed with the experience. It was one of the best holidays I've ever had. even without considering the birds which were superb in themselves.

Other practicalities

The weather was far from warm, despite forecasts of 19^oC before we left England. It was quite hot in the sun but there was always a cold wind and in the shade and at night it could get very cold. Go prepared for this during winter. Our hotel in Sousse was warmish and had adequate bedding. However, in other areas we visited (always the budget option) the hotel beds were provided only with a sheet and a thin blanket, or just the blanket. I would recommend taking a sleeping bag which we found made it much more comfortable than it would have been otherwise. I would imagine the more expensive hotels would be better equipped in this respect.

Take a toilet roll wherever you go! Toilets were generally the sit down, rather than squat variety but were generally disgusting and often without paper or a flush that worked.

Food was generally good and very cheap. We avoided the salads and drank only bottled water and managed to avoid any serious stomach upsets.

Itinery

20.12.04

Around the Hotel

I got up early and took a walk to the sea and back. Birds seen in and around the hotel included;

El Jem

We left the hotel around 11am and drove off to El Jem. This took a little over two hours as we needed to get water and food and find our way out of Sousse. Few birds on the drive south (lots of s-g shrikes). Birds around El Jem coliseum and town included;

Thyna (south of Sfax) and on to Matmata

Because of our rather late start, there was no time to stop but a lot of waders and several flamingoes as we drove by. Arrived in Matmatta after dark and stayed at the Hotel Sidi Driss. This is one of the locations where Star Wars was filmed (the first one which is now episode 4) and much of the set is still in place. It is an underground troglodyte hotel, was relatively clean (not for the fastidious) and cheap. Dinner (3 course), bed and breakfast (bread and coffee) was 17TD each (about £8.50). It was a real experience staying here and highly recommended.

21.12.04

Mamata

I woke to a strange nasal-sparrow type call and went out into the central courtyard to discover a couple of house buntings as well as 'Italian' and Spanish sparrows. At breakfast we decided to join a party consisting of two Australians and four Canadians who had paid a guide to take them to Douz for a camel ride, doing some sight-seeing on the way. The others wanted just a couple of hours on a camel but we were particularly interested in spending the night in the desert and we negotiated a price of 50TD each (£25), leaving in the afternoon and back by the following lunch time. As it turned out, our guide just took us to the 'camel point' in Zaafrane and handed us over to the guides there which is what we had intended to do anyway. so you might be able to get a similar experience more cheaply by doing this.

A stroll around Matmata before we left produced excellent views of some key species just around the buildings. The Galerida were not especially difficult to separate here, but after Matmata, I tended not to bother trying too hard;

As we left Matmata in the car, I spotted an over-flying raven which was almost certainly brown-necked, but we were unable to stop.

Drive from Matmata to Tamezret

Tamezret

This Berber village was very interesting and I would recommend a visit to the Berber museum here. The custodian gave us a very interesting talk. Birds around the village included;

Douz

We stopped here for something to eat. House bunting was common about the town.

Zaafrane

We drove on to Zaafrane through the huge date palm oasis. Laughing dove was common here. We stopped at the Syndicat d'Initiative 'camel point' just beyond the town. The noise of so many camels was an experience in itself! Here we waited for our camels to be arranged.

Birds here;

We should have left by 3pm but did not actually get underway until almost 4pm. This was really too late (as our camel guide agreed) but didn't really detract from the experience - we just had to do some of the travelling in the dark. It was just the two of us and our Bedouin guide and we trekked for 2.5-3 hours into the desert to a small oasis with tents where I would imagine a lot of people would stay at high season (about 12km south of Zaafrane). As it was, it was just the three of us. We arrived in the dark, collected firewood, were cooked for beneath the bright full moon (a simple vegetable stew) and our guide made a flat bread in the hot sand and ashes. Very 'touristy', I'm sure. but another high point of the trip. We chatted (in French) with our guide while we cooked and ate before sleeping on camp beds in a standard tent. A traditional Bedouin tent was available, but needed setting up! If we had arrived earlier (when it was still light) we might have tried for this option. Sleeping bags were essential here as the night was very cold indeed.

Birding from the back of a moving camel isn't really possible, using binoculars. However, I did manage good views of;

22.12.04

Oasis in the Sahara, south of Zaafrane

An early morning walk as the sun rose over the apparently endless dunes revealed;

Camel ride back to Zaafrane

This was very peaceful and very special. It also almost yielded a most unexpected species. Birds seen included;

The almost was Houbara bustard. I believe this species is very rare indeed in Tunisia, if still breeding at all. From the camel we saw fresh tracks which could only have been this species. They were large (10-14cm across) with just three fat toes and a large, broad sole. They reminded me of small ostrich tracks and I immediately looked around knowing that the bird might be crouching nearby. I saw nothing at first but then noticed a large, long-necked bird flying in the distance and eventually settling and disappearing among the dunes. I could see no detail of is plumage. I've not included it in my list as the evidence is not water-tight. But in my mind I have no doubt that this was houbara bustard.

Syndicat d'Initiative, Zaafrane

Marshes just north of Zaafrane

We stopped here in the car to gather ourselves together and flex our legs as we could barely walk after our camel rides! There was little open water visible.

Pools north of Blidette (also sp. Blidet)

We decided not to try to find the marshes (and potential marbled duck) in the immediate area of Douz and instead went north as we wanted to get to Nefta before it got dark and there was quite a lot of suitable habitat along the way. We stopped wherever possible to look across the various marshes we passed but never did find marbled duck. The only water which held any birds of note was the large lake north of Blidette;

Chott el Jerid

We continued north west towards Tozeur, crossing the great salt lake (Chott) - another fantastic experience. Few birds seen except on pools immediately beside the road just before coming out onto the Chott;

Nefta

A walk around the town and oasis in the hour or so leading up to dark;

We stayed overnight in the Hotel Habib. The cheapest hotel in town. and you could tell! The proprietor was so incredibly friendly and helpful and there was a shower in the room, which we welcomed. However, there was no bar (contrary to as mentioned in The Rough Guide) and it was rather noisy at night. The flushes on 2 of the 3 toilets did not work, but it hadn't stopped people using them (don't think about this for too long). Our stay here was yet another memorable experience and more interesting than horrifying. but one night was enough.

23.12.04

Nefta to Metaloui

North of Tozeur;

Gorges de Seldja

While my partner took the tourist train through the Gorges de Seldja (The toilets at the station in Metaloui were immaculate! This may not seem important to you now, but at the time.), I was dropped  off to explore the desert here for larks and other specialities.

Coming from Tozeur, the road to the gorge is on the left immediately before entering Metaloui. A short way down this track, and before the gorge, it forks with the right-hand fork sign posted to Seldja. I was dropped at this fork and almost immediately connected with desert lark off toward the right within a fenced area.

After about ten minutes two boys (about 14 years old) appeared and hassled me for some time; wanting to show me the mountain and gorge and wanting to know what I was doing. I explained I was looking for birds and at first they thought I wanted to eat them (understandably, really). They followed me around trying to get gifts/cigarettes/money from me and generally frightening away the birds. Unfortunately, I had left almost everything in the car and had nothing with which to pay them off. After about 30 minutes they could see they weren't going to get anything and wandered off towards the gorge. I managed about another 30-40 minutes of birding before they returned with four friends and did not leave me for the next 2 hours during which time I saw almost no birds. If I were to return here I would;

Certainly take sweets, money, pens or pencils (or other gifts) and give them to get the boys to leave me alone (perhaps only giving them once they had sat away on the side of the road for an hour or so!). The problem with this is that they would come to expect these things from birders and the problem could become worse.

Alternatively, as the boys had demonstrated that they used little spring-traps to catch songbirds, they might well know the best areas for particular species and could be paid for showing them to you (especially if you can show them in a field guide). In this way they might find you species like thick-billed lark which occurs here but which I failed to see. This could certainly prove beneficial to both parties (and perhaps even the birds if they were given some monetary rather than culinary value!).

A third option would be to find the area around the gorge so that you can identify the habitat, and then drive a few miles back in the direction of Tozeur where there was plenty of similar habitat away from human habitation (especially if you can find another watercourse as this probably is what attracts some of the species to this area).

I would like to stress that at no time were the boys threatening and I did not feel unsafe. We even had a bit of a laugh at times. but after almost 3 hours of it (and seeing my available time slipping away) it became very frustrating. If anybody visits this site and tries any of the above, I would be very interested to hear their success.

When the boys were not present, birds were seen;

Metaloui to Sousse

I ran out of time at Seldja and we began the long drive back to Sousse. Birds seen on this journey;

23.12.04

Hotel Jinene, Sousse

Common crane - 109 coming in off the sea and heading inland at about 9.30 am.

Other common species were seen as on the first morning.

Decided to take it easy today after all the driving of previous days. We visited the salt lake just north of El Kantaoui and south of Hergla (Sebkhet Halk el Menzel). Stopped at three points around the edge:

1. Where the road north from El Kantaoui meets the lake;

2. Inland from this point along the south side of the lake to the raised area sign-posted 'Sky Fun'. Much of the same here plus;

3. Continue along this road to a town called Sidi Bou Ali. Here follow the A road (not the motorway) north and shortly after the town, before a bridge over a stream it is possible to park on industrial land between this bridge and the motorway bridge. On the stream between the two bridges I saw;

Other reports recommend walking down beside this stream to the edge of the salt lake. I did this (over an hour's walk) and saw little new and although there were good close views of some species, they were only as good as at point 1. Species added here;

On the other side of the 'A' bridge, things looked more promising (reed-fringed pools) and I saw some good birds although not the marbled duck I was hoping for;

Drive back round the north of the salt lake to Hergla

On this drive there were quite a few distant flocks of cranes and some flying overhead;

Hotel Jinene - beach and around

The hour or so leading up to dusk produced;

24.12.04

Enfidha - The little swift stake-out (also called Enfidaville)

The church-museum was easy to find but as most other winter visitors have discovered, the birds were not. We did not see them and I wonder whether they leave the country during winter (contrary to the literature) or at least head up into the hills.

Immediately north of Enfida on the A1

Over fields just north of the town I stopped the car to watch a large raptor;

A1 north of Enfida between posts for Tunis 76km and 75km

Another stop for a large raptor wasn't a raptor at all;

Pools on Cap Bon peninsula between Nabeul and Menzel Termime

We had decided to visit Cap Bon on Christmas day. The drive was a very long one as the road along the south of the peninsula is extremely slow from the A1 through Hammamet to the other side of Nabeul. Unless you particularly wish to see these pools, it was much quicker coming back along the north coast to the A1 through Soliman and Grombalia. I would recommend this route for going to and from the Cap. We seemed to spend most of the day driving and little actually seeing or doing things. Next time I would spend a night in a hotel in the area.

The pools - these looked good, but we only stopped to look at a few;

Caves and surrounds at Cap Bon (El Haouaria)

Northern peninsula road from El Haouaria to Aissa

Viewpoint above Korbous

We drove from a village called Brij along the road to Korbous looking for habitat which might have been suitable for Tchagra and bulbul. Just before the road drops down to the sea and Korbous there are pull-ins near a small, square, white tower on the right. We stopped here and took a walk through the scrub for about 40 minutes. I would be surprised if our target birds were not here. but we did not see them;

26.12.04

Our final day - mostly shopping around Sousse and Monastir

Summary

A superb holiday in a truly wonderful country. The scenery was stunning, there were so many quirky and memorable experiences and the people in particular were so friendly and helpful. I would recommend a trip to anyone who is just that little bit more adventurous than your average package holiday punter. However, compared to the adventures of many birders, it's a walk in the park. I saw 95 species in total (see below), 14 of which were new, but don't just go for the birds!