My First Solo Trip: Tunisia

A series of unfortunate events

After months travelling, days postponing writing, rearranging my room, and deciding where to go after…. I finally decided to talk about my first solo travel experience.

I decided on no other continent than Africa.

A decision totally influenced by the comments and typical questions that sound like this…

"Don't go to Africa by yourself, it's too dangerous". Is Tunisia a safe place for women travelling alone? Why go backpacking in Tunisia? In conclusion, I had to go there.

I chose Tunisia as my first solo trip as it was next to Sicily (where I spent a month doing a work exchange with Worldpackers). From there I thought about going to Algeria and Morocco… It was here that I bumped into my first obstacle. I needed a visa to go to Algeria, so I crossed it off my route. I did discover later on that in certain countries you can get the Visa the moment you get there.

I was determined to reach my destination." Tunisia, by boat on a random Tuesday from Sicily's port".

*Spoiler alert* Always read the small words of any document.

I arrived at the port.

Why aren't here any boats, any lights, no people? I astonished wondered.

I found a security guard and explained that my ship was leaving in two hours....

The next thing I heard was "Boarding is closed, it's too late".

Too late? I arrived two hours earlier!

I was left without transport. I went back to the hostel where I had worked for a month and rested while I decided my next steps.

*Lesson number too many: Arrive 4 hours before embarkation*

Among jokes, laughter, and some tears, I bought a plane ticket for two days later, which only allowed me to stay in Tunisia for a few hours so that the next morning I could go to Morocco and not miss my flight.

The moment I arrived at the Tunisian airport I questioned all my decisions. I was very nervous and even the man at passport control asked me why I had decided to go there, laughing. No one spoke English or Spanish and on top of that, the taxi driver ripped me off.

*You can always convince the taxi driver not to charge you more than 10 Dinars, but believe me, it is impossible. Oh, and you can only pay in cash.

Maybe it was because he previously scammed me that the taxi driver tried his best to get to my hostel by car, which was located inside the medina. Every person walking by was making signs at us and even blocked the car letting us know we couldn't be driving there. My driver started shouting in Arabic many things that to my non-Arab speaking brain, sounded like death threats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtVYhsHwuY

When I finally made it to the hostel, I had a breakdown. Not because of the previous situation but rather because I had spent my savings and dopamine on something I didn't find enjoyable.

After a while, I gathered my strength and decided to follow the plan I had prepared for myself, Sidi Bou Said, and Carthage.

But once more the plan changed, it didn't happen.

*It turns out that public transport in Tunisia is unreliable and it is recommended to take a taxi, with the high chance that you will be scammed.

I had no internet… just Google Maps GPS which by the way always works, even if you don't have internet.

*One trick I learned is to start your route when you are in the hostel with WIFI and it will last you to your destination, even if you don't have data.

Unfortunately, I learned this a few days after being in Tunisia.

I decided to get out of the little bed I had crawled into and explore.

I was determined to get to Habib Bourguiba, the main street. I knew I had to go through the medina.

What should have been about 5 minutes turned into a hell of 45.

I kept getting lost, hearing the call to prayer and bumping into the same handicraft stalls over and over again.

After asking people for directions, I arrived at my destination.

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Sicily had been the warm-up for Tunisia. I had got used to walking through rubbish, but the centre of Tunisia was worse. It was quite discouraging to see all the buildings falling into pieces, emaciated street animals everywhere, aggressive beggars and a s*** ton of pollution.

Cats are everywhere in Tunis. Following them is the best way to get to know the place

*A detail to be taken in mind is "driving rules". They are pretty much non-existent. Either you throw yourself on the road or you may find yourself waiting for half an hour at an imaginary traffic light.

A part of me had been driven by fear, by the danger that everyone had warned me about. Therefore, I didn't think twice about going out at night.

At the hostel, I met my roommate from Tunisia and two guys, one Portuguese and one from Israel.

I ended up overlooking the fear and went out with everyone I had just met...

We ended up at a street concert, walking 30 minutes to decide where to eat and another 30 minutes to go home. Avoiding at all costs the medina (warned by the Tunisian girl).

Have you realised how important it is to keep going?

At first, I didn't see the point of this little trip, this madness as many adults would say but something so simple for a tiny adult.

Once again, I have come to the conclusion that staying in the capital of a country is not going to offer you the same satisfaction as getting to know the place by exploring a city 300 km away from the tourist area.

Tunisia, believe me, we will meet again, but this time Djerba is my new destination.