Monday, August 18, 2008 - GULF ISLANDS

I just returned from a 3-day kayaking tour of the Gulf Islands. It was arranged through the Women's Travel Club at Totem Travel. I don't normally do "women only" tours but this one looked interesting. My sister Simone even agreed to go - and she hates camping!

We mustered at the Sealegs Kayaking center at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith. I was surprised at how old some of the women were. Half of the group were in their 30s and 40s and the other half were 55 and over. Some of the older women looked quite fit and confident while others...um, didn't.

The Sealegs Kayaking staff fitted us for PFDs and then inspected our baggage. They made quite a few of the older women move their belongings into dry bags. (One woman brought luggage, can you believe that?!?) A van arrived and transported us to a beach north of Ladysmith, where the kayaks were pulled up onto the beach and the rest of the Sealegs staff were busy packing supplies into the kayaks.

Loading the kayaks was a bit confusing. The owner of Sealegs Kayaking, Bud, said in a half-jokey voice that we might have to leave some of our stuff behind if it didn't fit into the kayaks. He made it clear that the camp supplied were more important than our gear. I thought he was joking, then saw how much stuff had to be loaded into the kayaks that I realized he was serious. Luckily we managed to get everyone's stuff into the 'yaks - phew!

Simone and I shared a 2-person kayak. It was quite heavy - we were loaded down with equipment - but glided through the water quite nicely. We paddled from the beach to Ruxton Island, where we had a "float break". From there we paddled down to De Courcey Island. We pulled into Pirate's Cove on De Courcey for lunch.

Simone in ze kayak:


Lunch was Greek salad, chicken, potato chips - my favorite! - hummous and pita, etc. Yum. We tried to help set up and serve the food but the Sealegs guides chased us away. After lunch we had a long paddle over to Valdez Island. We pulled in to our campsite at Blackberry Point around 4pm.

Fantastic rock formations on De Courcey Island:


The Sealegs guides set up the kitchen in less then 30 minutes and set about making dinner. The rest of us paired off and set up our tents. They had 3-person and 4-person tents so that meant sharing. Simone and I hooked up with Donna, who I met on the Tunisia tour. An older woman named Sam asked to share the tent as well. We agreed but it made things quite tight inside.

The outhouse, get it?:


Dinner was a gorgeous shrimp and veggie stir fry, followed by cake for dessert. I tell you, they fed us well! A lot of us broke out bottles of wine at "wine-thirty". On the advice of an experienced kayaker at work I'd packed a "bag" of wine - you buy a box of wine and then pull out the bag inside. It packs into small spaces, is flexible, and when you're done you don't have to haul back empty bottles. Genius!

After dinner Crazy Pete showed up. Bud had earlier explained that Crazy Pete was a guy who'd been living in the Gulf Islands for the past 30 years. He was a bit of a vagabond, camping illegally, getting evicted from one island or another, and collecting a suspicious variety and amount of stuff that he sold every now and then to make money. I found him really interesting and we talked about everything from raccoons to marine legal rights to herbal remedies. Everyone else in our group avoided Crazy Pete, which was fine by me because it meant I got Pete all to myself! He told a few tall tales, but there was a surprising amount of truth in what he said.

Chevy, Crazy Pete's fetch-loving dog:


No one slept well that night. Sam was a snorer and had wicked bad sleep apnea. Also, we managed to set up our tent on a slope so everyone was fighting gravity. For me, the worst part was the bump under my back. I couldn't sleep on my back because the bump would over-extend my spine and I'd get back spasms. I couldn't sleep on my side because the bump would force my spine into some kind of wicked scoliosis curvature. I resorted to sleeping on my stomach, but that meant cranking my neck to the side.

Breakfast was eggs, pea-meal bacon (yum!), yoghurt, and fruit. After breakfast the guides had a confab and suggested that we stay in camp for the morning to conserve energy and go out kayaking in the afternoon. As a substitute for the morning kayaking they proposed a full moon kayak at night. Everyone thought that was a good idea.

Some people went for a hike that morning. Others lounged on the beach. The guides helped Sam set up a small tent just for herself, which put her at ease and made Donna, Simone, and I very happy. I roamed around aimlessly and then finally went into the tent to lie down and see if I could catch some extra winks. It was really hot so I didn't sleep, but lying down did help me relax and recoup some energy.

Kathy lounging on the beach:


Seastars were abundant along the beach:


For our afternoon kayak trip we paddled down to Shingle Point, which is native reserve land and technically off-limits, but it was common for people to go there for picnics and suchlike. We paddled past Shingle Point and south to another beach, where we stopped for a break. A lot of people went swimming. The beach was lined with blackberry bushes so there was a lot of blackberry picking going on as well.

The beach just past Shingle Point:


Sam being Sam:


Back at base camp, the guides cooked up another fabulous dinner. I got into the wine a bit and remember having some hilarious slurry conversations. After everyone departed for the full moon kayaking trip I happily trotted off to the tent and went to sleep. I don't even remember Donna and Simone coming into the tent. Unfortunately I snored until around midnight, which made it hard for them to fall asleep.

Breakfast was superb once again. After that we all broke down our tents and started packing our dry bags for the return trip. The guides broke down the camp kitchen and started loading the kayaks. We were ready to leave by 10am.

Left to right: Joanne, Brendan, me, Colleen, Kathy, Sam, ?, Carolyn, Marilyn, Simone, Donna, Sally, ?, Anne-Marie, ?, Ericka, Lauren, and Chevy pleading for more fetch:


We paddled from Valdez Island to Thetis Island, stopping mid-route for a water break. On Thetis we went into a very shallow cove that was full of eel grass and sea cucumbers. The guides pulled up a couple of sea cucumbers for us to marvel at. Simone gave the guides an impromptu lecture on sea cucumbers and the importance of the eel grass as a nursery for sea life.

After visiting the shallow cove we paddled around to a rock beach where we pulled up the kayaks and the guides prepared lunch. I was tired so I stretched out my PFD and laid down on it - I know, I know, you're not supposed to do that but I was tired! I managed to catch a bit of shut eye, waking up only when the guides got into a wickedly funny debate about the best way to dispose of human "scat". The preferred method seemed to be the "shit put", or pooping onto a bit of wood and then flinging the poop into the ocean or the woods.

After lunch we embarked on our longest paddle, from Thetis to Ladysmith Harbour. We were asked to travel in a much tighter group because of the prevalance of marine traffic. We got to ride a couple of wakes, which was fun, but most boats slowed down as they passed so they didn't cast such a big wake into our group.

We pulled up onto Shell Beach, just opposite Transfer Beach, for a rest. We were quite the sensation with the other beach-goers when we pulled up in our 13 kayaks! The guides had a swim and then lay down on the beach for a rest. They were clearly tired after waiting on us hand and foot for three days! I sat apart from the group, enjoying a bit of alone time. After 30 minutes or so we got back into our kayaks and headed for Transfer Beach.

Shell Beach rest stop:


Kalvin and Brendan resting up on Shell Beach:


There wasn't much shoreline at Transfer Beach because the tide was high, so we could only beach two or three kayaks at a time. The Sealegs Kayaking folks carried the kayaks up the steps to the grass, and asked us to help unpack the kayaks. Sealegs gear went into one pile while our gear went into another pile. Simone and I recovered our gear fairly quickly and hit the road, eager to get home, shower, and go to sleep! The trip home was mercifully quick with just one point of congestion on the Malahat. I had a good long shower, a bit to eat, took two Ibuprofin and hit the sack by 7:30pm. What a trip!

Sunday, April 20, 2008 - VICTORIA

We arrived home late Friday afternoon and stayed up until 8:30pm in the hopes of sleeping through the night. I woke up around 2:30am with a growling stomach and a great desire to start the day. I gave in and got up at 3:00am, hoping not to wake up Mom, but discovered that she was also awake. We had coffee and then Mom unpacked. I was starving so I made soup and then watched a bit of TV. We went back to bed around 5:30am and slept until mid-morning.

Today we woke up at 6:00am, so we seem to be back to the correct sleeping schedule. I was ready for dinner as soon as I woke up, though, so it looks like it'll take a little longer to get my stomach back on track.

I was reading my blog this morning and I realized that I was very factual, which is kind of boring. So, here are some of the lighter moments and observations from the trip:

It isn't as bad as Asia, but ... driving any vehicle in Tunisia requires equal mixtures of balls and precision.

You need an advanced degree in jaywalking ... to cross Tunisian roads safely. The traffic rarely lets up so you have to get halfway across the road then wait as cars whiz by on either side for an opportunity to complete the crossing.

Tunisian wine is dreck ... but you're lucky to get it in a Muslim country. The waiters in the hotels carefully pour a bit of wine into your glass for you to sample, which is laughable because the wine always smells like industrial cleanser and tastes only marginally better.

When it's 30 degrees outside ... it's still considered winter. The "air conditioning" units in Tunisian hotels blast hot air into rooms from October to April. At the beginning of May the system is cleaned out and configured to distribute cold air. We didn't learn this until the third or fourth hotel, of course, which meant a lot of unnecessarily sweaty nights.

There are almost no public toilets in Tunisia ... so at some point it is necessary to walk into a cafe full of men and ask the owner if you can use the loo. This request is met with smirks. You understand why when you're hovering over the cracked and dirty bowl. Toilet paper is rarely available so you need to get used to drip-drying. Tunisians actually think that toilet paper is a very dirty way to clean your bottom bits and prefer to hose themselves down instead. So, cafe toilets are often very swampy.

To Tunisians, there is only one province in Canada ... Quebec. So many tourists from Quebec visit Tunisia that when you say you're Canadian, the natural response is "Ah, Quebec!"

There is a definite hawker lingo ... including the opening bid "How much for this bouche-bouche in Canada?" Don't bother asking what a bouche-bouche is, because it doesn't matter. The key objective is to get you to look at something. Don't believe a hawker who says he won't bother you and that you can look "slowly slowly". Run away from the hawker who says he won't "eat you" and makes biting motions with his hand. One of the funniest hawkers was in Hammamet. He'd been spending a little too much time with English tourists, because when I walked past his shop without looking he called me a "cheeky monkey" and then said "I can't believe my bloody eyes" in a very heavy Arabic accent.

Elevators in Tunisia don't have sensors ... so don't shove your arms or legs into a closing door. The door just closes on your limb(s) and stays closed. You have to press the up or down button again to get the door to open.

There's so much more, but these are the best bits. I wish I could record everything but unfortunately we don't have the technology for brain-blog transfers at the moment.

Until the next trip...

Thursday, April 17, 2008 - PARIS

We arrived in Paris around 3:30pm. We got through security with no problem, but had trouble finding the gate where we were supposed to catch a shuttle to our hotel. We did eventually find the correct gate and the shuttle arrived in due time, but the shuttle driver was obviously flustered at the prospect of picking up 16 people at one stop, not to mention loading all of their damned luggage.

We only had 30 minutes to check into the hotel and freshen up because a van was supposed to pick us up shortly and take us on a tour of Paris. Everyone made it to the lobby by the requested time and began studying maps of downtown Paris in anticipation of a night on the town.

An hour later it was clear that we'd been scammed. The van didn't show up, the tour business wasn't listed in the telephone directory, and the hotel staff said that our tour vouchers looked fake.

Cheryle, who had arranged the tour, was obviously devastated. She canvassed the group to see who wanted to go into town on their own steam for a self-guided tour. More than half said they'd do it, so she arranged for a cab.

Mom and I stayed at the hotel and enjoyed a quiet dinner in the pub. After dinner we went to our room to watch TV but the only English channel was BBC and the only subject they seemed to be covering that night was the Poop's visit to the US. So, we shut off the TV and I played a DVD on my laptop instead. Mom fell asleep halfway through the DVD. I watched a bit more but turned it off and turned in early.

The next morning we learned that the people who'd gone into Paris were scammed once again. The cab that took them into town charged EUR$125 for the trip. When Cheryle asked if the cab driver could return at 10:00pm to pick the group up and return them to the hotel, he agreed but asked for a EUR$50 deposit, which he was given.

At 10:00pm the group showed up at the designated pick-up location, but no cab. After 45 minutes of waiting in vain for the cabbie to show up, the group hailed two cabs and headed back to the hotel. Surprisingly, the cost of the two cab fares, added together, was less than the EUR$125 fare the original cabbie charged for the trip into town. Sigh.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - HAMMAMET

We tried to sleep in this morning but couldn't. After two weeks of 6:30am wake-up calls and 8:00am departures, out bodies we trained to get up and go.

After breakfast we met with the tour representative. We provided some feedback on the trip and she gave us some suggestions about how to spend our free day at the hotel, around Yasmine Hammamet, and in the town of Hammamet.

Seven of us decided to catch cabs into Hammamet to tour the medina and the harbor. It's a good thing we'd been "in country" for two weeks because the hawkers in the medina were the most aggressive we'd encountered on the trip. We ran into an English family in one of the alleys and their two girls were clearly terrified of the hawkers. We stopped to talk for a few minutes until they'd calmed down and then ran a bit of interference as they exited the alley.

I was hoping to find a silver shop that the tour representative had mentioned. We asked a local vendor to point out the shop but she took us to a relatives' shop instead. He locked us into the tiny shop, explaining that he had fake watches and could get shut down by the police if they caught him. He tried to sell us a few things but we ended up leaving without buying anything. We literally had to unlock the door ourselves to escape.

We did find the silver shop near the end of our time at the medina. It was an oasis of calm. The owner and his son/shop assistant were there watching Tunisian soap operas. They welcomed us but left us alone to shop. If we asked for a price he provided it then went back to his desk. I wanted to buy everything I saw but couldn't afford it. I ended up borrowing some dinar from Tamara so I could buy something for my sister, but left empty-handed myself.

We had lunch at a restaurant outside the medina before catching the tourist train back to Yasmine Hammamet. The train was hilarious. We were seated in the last car and it kept swinging wildly to the left and right as the driver sped through the small streets. We'd also bounce off our seats at every speed bump. There were no seat belts or safety gear which added an element of excited fear to the trip.

We kept a low profile for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was a low-key affair because we knew we had an early departure the next day.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - HAMMAMET

Our first stop this morning was the Roman amphitheater at El Jem. It's smaller than the Colliseum in Rome, but according to Mom it's more impressive. Parts of the amphitheater are partially restored so you can climb up to the top ramparts. You can also go underneath the amphitheater floor to see the rooms where animals and people were kept and the ramps they used to move them up to the surface for fights.

Views of the amphitheater at El Jem:












It wasn't on the itinerary but we also visited the museum of El Jem. It had the most amazing mosaics and backed onto the ruins of the old town. Like most of the museums we've visited in Tunisia, the museum at El Jem didn't contain any household or personal items recovered from the site. It's like they're not important enough to display. Either that or they were ransacked and are not available. It's sad because I always find the household and personal items the most fascinating.

From there we drove to Monastir, had lunch, and then toured the ancient fortress called the Ribat. I'd left my camera on the bus during lunch and didn't have it with me at the Ribat, which is too bad because it was really amazing. The highlight was climbing the narrow circular staircase of the watchtower to get a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

Outside the Ribat:


We walked from the Ribat to Bourguiba's Mausoleum. Bourguiba led the country to independence in the 1950s. Three generations of his family are buried at the mausoleum, which tool over 30 years to build. It was beautiful, but also a little creepy.

Views of Bourguiba's Mausoleum:







Our next stop was the "prix fixe" tourist store in Sousse. Many of the ladies in the tour had complained that they didn't have enough time to shop, so Mohamed added a shopping stop in Sousse to the agenda. I could have done without it - imagine four floors of camel teddy bears, 6' tall houkhas, brass plates with camels on them, stinky perfumes, Tunisia t-shirts, ugly knock-off purses, gaudy scarves and dresses, and cheap rugs. I spent most of my time outside in the traditional medina fighting off the hawkers.

Our final stop before the hotel was a marina on the outskirts of Sousse. A few people walked to the marina but a large group of us followed Mohamed to the local supermarket to buy dates, harissa, olives, capers, and booze. It was the best decision, apparently - we learned afterwards that the hawkers at the marina were particularly aggressive and foul-mouthed.

Our hotel was located in the tourist area of Hammamet called Yasmine Hammamet. Some of the hotels in the strip have Vegas-style themes. One of them had a truly ugly Aladdin/Arabian Nights theme and we were happily mocking it, thinking we were going to stay in a classy hotel, when Sharif turned the bus into the entrance. Egads!

The entrance to the Lella Baya:


So, yes, we stayed in the ugly Vegas-themed Lella Baya hotel. In the rafters Aladdin was riding his magic carpet and below were belly dancer mannequins. You could sit and smoke sheesha from garish houkhas in the bar. Outside, next to the pool, was a South Pacific-style tiki bar. Go figure. I've included some pictures but they really don't do the garishness justice. As I said at the time, the owners paid a lot of money to make the hotel so ugly.

Inside the Lella Baya and the view of the pool from our room:

Monday, April 14, 2008 – SFAX

We left Djerba early and headed for the ferry terminal. You can access Djerba via a causeway (which we used the day before) or via a ferry. It was nice to be on the water after so many days driving through the desert.

Views from the ferry:









We drove from Djerba to Gabes, where we stopped for 30 minutes to visit the spice market. The spice hawkers were very aggressive and most of us left the market in a few minutes. Outside of the market Mom and I met up with Tamara, who had discovered a carpentry shop while holding the toilet door closed for her mother. She led us back there and a man who spoke German described the type of furniture they created, the type of wood they used, and where the wood came from. It was lovely to smell the wood chips and rest in the cool of the shop.

Views from the spice market:







After Gabes we drove north and stopped for lunch at a roadside café. We had salad, pommes frites, and grilled lamb. Unfortunately the lamb was mostly bone and was raw in some places. We still cleaned our plates, because we knew it would be hours before dinner.

Our next stop was the hotel in Sfax. It’s located in the heart of downtown, unlike the other hotels where we’ve stayed, which are located in “zones touristiques” that are typically several kilometers away from town so that the tourists are protected from themselves. A few people on the tour went out and explored the Medina. You can guess from the number of posts today that I stayed inside and blogged. I am an unashamed nerd.

Sunday, April 13, 2008 – DJERBA

Our hotel in Tatouine was beautiful on the outside and disappointing on the inside. In particular, the food was the worst we’ve encountered. The “highlight” of dinner was half-raw BBQ chicken. Everyone took a piece and everyone left it on their plates. Breakfast was leftover desserts from the night before.

The restaurant at Tatouine:



From Tatouine we drove to Djerba, an island on the Mediterranean. Our first stop was a pottery store. It reminded me of the pottery store that we stopped at in Trinidad, Cuba. It was a family business and the art of pottery had been passed down from generation to generation. I bought three pieces of pottery for myself and one for my potter friend Michael.

Views from the pottery shop:







Our next stop was the marketplace in Houmt Souk, the capital of Djerba. Mohamed took us to a reputable silver and gold store. Unfortunately nothing appealed to Mom or I, so we didn’t buy anything. We had lunch in Houmt Souk and then Mohamed unleashed us on the market – unsupervised! – for an hour.

Mom bought some small kilim from a vendor who spoke terrific German and was an expert salesman. I bought a supposedly silver bracelet from a jeweler who was very intent on copping a feel. Mom got harassed by a vendor who wanted to sell her a 5 dinar package of dates for 50 dinar. He literally followed her down the street for 30 feet until Mohamed told him to leave her alone.

From the souk we traveled by bus to a Jewish temple, the largest on Djerba. Apparently a lot of Jewish people moved here because of strife in other countries, but the majority left Djerba for France or Israel in the 1950s. They made us go through a security check, including scanning our bags, before granting us access to the temple. After I passed through the metal detector the guards were motioning me and saying things in French that I didn’t understand. One finally made it clear that he wanted to look in my purse. He searched it and pulled out my Swiss army knife, which I’d forgotten was in my purse. He agreed to hold it until I returned from the temple.

Inside the temple there were four men reading the Torah. It was beautiful. We covered our heads and took off our shoes as asked, and I told Mom to put some coins into the collection box. When we stepped into the next room, however, a man indicated that we had to pay additional money. I balked and pointed to the collection box, and the man responded with a barrage of Arabic that I didn’t understand but I could clearly interpret his body language. I refused to enter and walked away.

I heard later that he was quite upset that I left and that he yelled at me for a while as I walked away. I was really just interested in leaving. I didn’t object to paying entrance, but I did object to being insulted. A few women followed me and walked back to the guard post. The rest of our group returned shortly afterwards, and they said it was hardly worth the visit or the entry fee because no one explained the significance of the temple or the architecture.

From there we drove to our hotel. It’s the first time that Mohamed or Sharif have stayed at this hotel so we got lost and had to ask for directions. We finally found the hotel and checked in. We did some laundry, I checked my email, and then we went for dinner. Another day done in Tunisia.

Saturday, April 12, 2008 – TATOUINE

We left Douz early. Our first stop was the side of the road in the mountains. Our bus had broken down again. Sharif replaced the broken belt and we were on our way again. Our next stop was the “troglodyte” village of Matmata. They call it a troglodyte village because the houses are carved into the rocks and look quite primitive. They’re not primitive at all, as we discovered when we stopped at a house near the roadside. We were invited inside, offered bread and mint tea, and encouraged to look around.

Views from the troglodyte home:







There was a room for the family’s goats near the entrance. Inside there was a store room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a work room that contained hand tools and a loom. On the walls and ceilings you could see tool marks from the adze used to carve out the rooms. It was really impressive and ingenious.

We stopped for lunch in Matmata. We ate at the Hotel Side Driss, which is a troglodyte hotel with rooms carved into the mountain. Apparently some parts of Star Wars I was filmed at the hotel, but none of us could recall any scene featuring the hotel.

Lunch shots:







Our next stop was the ancient central market in Medenine. The market is lined with ghorfas, or storage rooms. In the past each family in the surrounding had its own ghorfa, in which they stored grain and other products for consumption or sale. Families from throughout the region would meet once a week to exchange goods at the market. We learned that in recent history the ghorfas in Medenine were converted to hostel accommodation, which explained the electrical hook ups.

Views of the ghorfas in Medenine:





Next was Ksar Haddada, another ghorfa site that was converted to a hotel and then abandoned. According to the sign outside, they filmed Star Wars IV there in the late ‘90s. It did look like some of the places on “Tatouine”.

Views from Ksar Haddada:







Our final stop for the day was another troglodyte village, or perhaps a troglodyte city, called Chenini. The entire mountainside was covered with paths and doorways into houses carved into the stone. It was a wicked walk up the hillside but worth the effort to see the ancient houses up close.

Views from Chenini: