Our 2019 Tunisia expedition ended a little over a month ago and we have all had some time to reflect on the trip. One of the areas of reflection is the country of Tunisia as a destination for adventure travellers. I thought that I should jot down some thoughts while they are still fresh in my mind.

Safety…

The first question everyone asks is about safety: “Isn’t Tunisia dangerous?” So suppose I should address this question first. Since my day job is analysing travel risk for aid workers, I tend to do this everywhere I travel. My first response, and I believe this feeling is shared by all the PPE crew, is that at no time did I feel threatened or unsafe during our expedition. Indeed, our experience was that everywhere we went we were made welcome and never felt uncomfortable at all. There are still a couple of areas that travellers should avoid like the Kasserine area along the Algerian border. Extremists hiding from security forces in both countries pop back and forth across the border in this mountainous region. The deep south is also a no-go military zone as it borders on Libya. But the rest of the country is as safe as Morocco or any African destination.

Getting your vehicle into Tunisia….

Prior to our expedition I had done quite a bit of research on what the situation was with temporarily importing vehicles into Tunisia for an overland trip. There are a few accounts on overlanding forums but they can be a bit short on details. We chose the CTN ferry from Marseilles. This Tunisian-operated service met our basic requirement of getting us to Tunis as quickly as possible, coming as we were from the UK. The ship is a bit run down but the staff were cheerful and I think our crew managed to put a good dent in their beer supply.

I cautioned everyone to manage their expectations on arrival and no matter how frustrating it might seem, keep a smile on your face. It turned out however that the process was actually quite simple and quick. Coming off the ship you are directed to booths where your passports are checked. There are small, white arrival cards we were supposed to have filled out, but I had a one-page print out of all our names, passport numbers and vehicle details handy which was gladly taken in their place. They also wanted some general info on our route and if we were taking a guide. From here, we walked over to a small booth with our passports and vehicle V5s (UK vehicle registration document) and a couple of minutes later had our temporary import permits and were free to go.

One point that everyone should keep in mind is that, unlike Morocco, there are no booths outside the port selling vehicle insurance policies to visiting foreigners. This may cause concern for some travellers, but to be honest, the Moroccan insurance is more mental security blanket than anything that will actually do you any good in the event your vehicle is stolen or you have an accident.

Desert destination…

I can’t speak for all the sights to see in Tunisia for our purpose was to head directly to the Grand Erg Orientale sand sea. But if you are looking for sand dunes, Tunisia has far more to offer than Morocco’s tiny little islands of sand at Chegaga and Chebbi. In fact, it would be wise to remember how vast the sand sea is and think about how you would manage a situation in the deep desert.

My recommendation…

Go. Now. Tunisia is starting to show it’s first signs of commercialization of the adventure travel industry. At the moment, things are still simple and the few desert oasis are not plagued by touts on mopeds chasing you around. Everyone is friendly and prices are decent. If you decide to go with a guide service, get a fixed quote up front and be careful of unknown extras. But a good guide service can come in extremely handy if you need advice on desert routes, finding a repair shop to get something fixed or coming to the rescue if you break down. Our guides didn’t travel with us, we just met up with them at various points. But they did come running when we broke an alternator mount and bent a steering track bar. Both parts were whisked away and returned a few hours later repaired and ready to go again.

So my advice is, if you have already done Morocco and want to try something new and in some ways familiar but in others widely different, Tunisia is a great adventure destination.