Dear Adventure, I think about you all the time

Adventures pop up when least expected! We were asked to go to Tunisia for 5 weeks over the December period at short notice. Yes please I said, I mean, who wouldn't?

And soon we find ourselves at OR Tambo International looking out at a beautiful full moon, embarking on an adventure to a mysterious destination

I suppose when one thinks of North Africa, one thinks of deserts. This is anything but

Travelling seems to have its hiccups, and the beginning of this trip had its fair share. Eventually arriving rather frazzled at the hotel and being told you're in a dry zone (no alcohol) when all you'd like is to chill with a beer, is the cherry on top. But a walkabout relaxes one almost as well as a beer, and we discover we are near the Tunis Lake, aah, lovely!

I have the first couple of days to myself. We are staying for a time in a business district, and although there are a lot of restaurants, cafe's and hotels, there isn't much in the way of touristy attractions other than walks along the lake front. If it wasn't winter the water park might have been fun

Early morning winter fog on the lake makes for a mystical scene

A new day brings total calm to the lake after high winds and the peace is quite dreamy

... and brings a spectacular sunset at the days end

We move to the suburbs, a lovely area called La Marsa. The apartment is on the beach front with cafes, restaurants, a fresh produce market, bakery, supermarkets and shops within a short walk away

Avenue Habib Bourguiba and our new home for the next 4 weeks. The Cafe-lined boulevard filled with coffee drinking, smoking men, ice-cream parlors and street cats galore

Meet Lizzy, the house cat. There are literally hundreds of street cats. She was one lucky kitten, adopted by the crew and now lives in the lap of luxury. She fell in love with us and the feeling was very mutual

An early walk along the beach becomes routine, followed by a chocolate croissant and freshly ground coffee...

Shopping is an absolute treat with so much fresh produce available

I find someone who speaks english and the daily business of purchasing veg and fruit becomes easier (French being the local language and surprisingly very few people speak english)

The government bakery bakes twice daily - bread rolls, buguettes, flat-breads and croissants. I hand out a palm full of coins to pay (R2 for 2 croissants and a buguette!)

The morning call to prayer is our alarm clock

Netting is the preferred way of fishing on this stretch of the Med... this boat's seen better days though

I love this sculpture, so interesting. The old mosque the fish's kissing is abandoned and falling into disrepair

A few steps to get to the beach and back....

Some mansions are derelict. My imagination runs wild...

Street food is cheap and fresh

With apartment living, we seek out green spaces, to feel the grass, listen to the the bird-songs. The parks are not as we know them, mostly overgrown. This one has a good walking-running track that gives the exerciser a few km's without being run over by motorists

Most homes have lovely maintained gardens though. Its a pleasure walking and discovering plants like the South African spekboom are grown here as well as the beautiful bougainvillea

Tunisia loves to decorate their circles (round-a-bouts). When you are driving on the wrong side of the road and sitting on the wrong side in the car, circles are very scary things to approach and slide into! But the circles themselves are very pretty

Exploring a little further afield, we stop for a local coffee at Cafe Hawaii. This stretch of land lies between the sea and the Sebkha Ariana Lake. Boy the coffee put some hairs on my chest! It was undrinkable without a cube of sugar. Speaking of which, when last did you see a cube of sugar? Local is lekker

Its a strange beach, electric lights?

Flamingo's make the Sebkha Ariana Lake their home. We saw flocks flying in but couldn't get near

A walk to Gammarth along the seafront road, part of which has collapsed into the sea. The hill in the distance is home

This avenue of trees looks to have come out of a Lord of the Rings episode

A favourite treat, ice-cream and Alla Scala is the best

After trying several, my go-to is a scoop of mixed berry, topped with salted caramel. Ok, so 2 scoops are 4.50 Dinar which equates to R20. And yes, even John indulged once or twice, here's proof

A camel on the beach? La Marsa has one of those, together with a pair of body surfing black labradors

More street food, this is a Tunisian Pizza, complete with an egg in the middle

Fishermen pulling in their net

Christmas away from home is usually a non-event. Penny and Gordon went out of their way to make the day festive, fun, so special and lunch was incredible. A huge thank-you to you both

Another building past it's prime but could so be rescued

Bees getting busy...

An attempt to find the flamingo's fail, and we walk 17km's today

This reminds me so of Kathmandu

La Marsa train station is at the end of the boulevard and becomes our mode of transport exploring the Carthage ruins between our suburb and the Capital, Tunis. It is ridiculously cheap at 60c for 2 travellers one way and to the end of the line in Tunis. You can get off and back on at any station inbetween

La Goulette is the port suburb. We are looking for an ancient fort

Me and doors, umm, just love the designs

A short rest and coffee time

Ah, we find the Fort (but more on this in the next episode)

A little artistic flair with these archways

Graffiti is on everything and everywhere. So sad. However, this one appealed to me as an artist

And, of course, no blog of mine is complete without unique flowers, wow this bloom is huge, would really love to know what the plant is

New year is not something we stay up for. Tonight we took ourselves over to the Corniche Plaza Hotel and enjoyed a quiet, lovely meal together with some red wine

Every restaurant in Tunisia brings a plate of appetisers, usually including olives, a paprika sauce and baguette, absolutely delicious!

What, no place for desert? I will make space

A park is not a park without date palms and fresh dates are everywhere, another yum treat

Who's trying to rest and read? Oh no, not allowed, it's play time

This is only the first chapter of our trip to Tunisia and covers the area where we lived. The ground work has been set to stage the treasures to be disclosed.....a sneak peak? Sure...

Until next time...