Our penultimate landing on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was to Tunisia. My third new country for the cruise. The Spirit of Adventure sailed into the port of La Goulette. This is the port for the capital Tunis, albeit it was about three-quarters of an hour in a coach away from the city centre. There were complimentary coaches into the old centre of the city.
The ancient city of Carthage is on this old headland
The modern port of La Goulette
My plans for Tunis changed, when I realised that the ancient city of Carthage was fairly close to the port. I made a last minute booking onto one of the Saga coach trips to explore some of the highlights of the old city. I had expected all the sites to be close together, but in reality, they were spread over a several square miles. It was clearly a large city for those ancient days. The city was founded about 800 BC by the Phoenicians. They were a maritime civilisation who expanded their range, as they traded along the Mediterranean coastline from modern day Lebanon.
A Giant Little Egret on a roundabout just outside the port (through the dirty coach windows): There was a large area of water, the Lake of Tunis and surrounding rough ground that looked worth exploring further. However, the ship didn't make the electric bikes available to borrow for this landing
Our first stop was the Carthage Punic Ports. These are the old ports for the ancient city that date from the 2nd century BC. The site of the original port for Carthage in its first few centuries has yet to be discovered.
The Carthage Punic Ports: This was a large almost circular area, with a second neighbouring lake, which could accommodate over two hundred ships. They had sea entrances, that could be closed using heavy chains
I can remember reading about Carthage as a kid and have long wanted to visit the ancient city. Carthage was a major competitor to the Roman empire and three Punic Wars were fought between the two regional powers between 264 BC and 146 BC. The Second Punic War began in 218 BC, when Carthaginian General Hannibal's crossed the Alps, along with his legendary Elephants and invaded of mainland Italy. Hannibal captured much of Southern Italy and his armies occupied the area for around fourteen years, until the Romans invaded the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204 BC. This led to Hannibal's recall. Two years later, the Hannibal was defeated, which ended the second Punic War. The two warring powers agreed a peace deal, which resulted in the loss of much of Carthage's North African territories. Just over fifty years later, Roman attacked Carthage again in the Third Punic War, when they sacked and destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. They then rebuilt it as a Roman city.
Our guide who provided a good background to the history of Carthage
This map shows the circular Punic Port and the other major sites within the ancient city of Carthage
A typical local house by the Punic Ports
This part of the outskirts for Tunis houses a number of embassies and their staff
Our next stop was the Roman Antoninus Baths. This was a very large bath complex which was around two hundred metres by ninety metres in size. Following the final defeat of the city of Carthage to the Romans between 149 and 146 BC, the Romans started to change the culture within the city. They built the Baths between 145 and 162 AD and they remained in use, until the Vandals destroyed the city in 439 AD. They are now part of the Carthage World Heritage site.
There is an extensive area of trees surrounding the Roman Baths: Presumably, this area will be excavated at some point in the future. There were several African Blue Tits and Serins in the trees and the first of a number of Spotted Starlings flying over, as the guide told us details of the history of the Roman Baths
This area close to the Baths complex is currently being excavated
This sign explains the uses of the different rooms within the Roman Baths
Part of the Roman Bath complex: Only, the lower levels have survived
A panoramic view of the Roman Baths
Looking at the right hand end of the Roman Baths: I saw several Common Bulbuls and the algeriensis subspecies of Great Grey Shrike in these ruins. I wished I had brought the big camera
There was a whole set of underground walls: These would have been the areas where the slaves worked to keep the baths running
The buildings on the hill are next to the President's Palace
There were some impressive surviving columns
The size of the surviving buildings is impressive: Especially, considering how little of the walls have survived in most UK Roman sites
An impressive arch in the lower levels
Another impressive lower level arch
This was well built nearly nineteen hundred years ago and it had survived the sacking by the Vandals
Another impressive arched ceiling
It is a very large bathhouse complex
The remains of another tall column
These ruins are impressive
More lower level walls: It looks impressive, however, it would have been a grim life being a slave working in these lower levels
There was a lot of detail that had gone into this carved column
After being given the time for a good look around the site, it was time to regroup to head on to our next destination
Our next destination was the gorgeous tourist town of Sidi-Bou-Said. The town dates back to the 12th Century and it became a place for rich Tunisians in the 18th Century. One hundred years ago, it adopted this characteristic blue and white colouration. It has become a haven for artists in recent years.
The whole town was painted in white and blue: It would be a good place to be selling white and blue paint
There were a lot of shops selling items for tourists: This is clearly one of the main shopping sites that tourists get taken to
A lot of the items on sale were good-looking: Even at their first price, many items were competitively priced compared to UK shops. However, the mark up on the first price was several times the real price
A view of part of the main street: To be fair, a lot of the items on sale were well made and looked good. But you had to bargain hard and be happy to walk away if the prices were too high. Also, as with all bargaining, it was important to have a reasonable idea of prices for items of interest. I found I could quickly get items knocked down to a third or a quarter with haggling. Another good thing was several shops were selling very similar items and therefore, there was generally another shop I could try, if the prices were too high
This road led to a more residential area within the town: I saw my only Spanish Sparrow of the cruise just beyond this area
An impressive local house
One of the shopkeepers offered me a look over the town from his roof terrace: I think he was hoping I would buy one of the paintings in his upper floor gallery. I didn't, but I did get to take some photos of the view
Looking towards the mosque from the roof terrace
After ninety minutes exploring Sidi-Bou-Said, we were heading back to the coach and back in time. The next stop was the Roman Aqueduct. There was still an extensive section left which is part of the World Heritage Site. The exact age for the construction of the Roman Aqueduct isn't certain, but it was built sometime in the 2nd Century AD.
We passed this massive mosque on the drive to the Roman Aqueduct
A section of the Roman Aqueduct: This was getting on for two hundred metres in length. I saw the only Sardinian Warbler of the day and another party of Spotless Starlings here
Looking right along the Aqueduct
Looking left along the Aqueduct
One of the water channels within the Aqueduct
This was a lower channel which fed the large cisterns behind the Aqueduct
The was a large area of covered cisterns behind the Aqueduct
After a look around the Aqueduct area, we were back on the coach again and heading to our final destination: the Roman Amphitheatre.
The Roman Amphitheatre: The Amphitheatre was built at the end of the 1st Century or the beginning of the 2nd Century
The Roman Amphitheatre: It is sixty-six by thirty-six metres in size
The Roman Amphitheatre: A good view of the lower level which allows the Gladiators and animals to be released into the arena
The Roman Amphitheatre: Another entrance into the arena
The Roman Amphitheatre: Fortunately, there were no Lions in the arena on the day of my visit
The Roman Amphitheatre: This pillar still stands at the far end of the Amphitheatre
The Roman Amphitheatre: There was seating for around five thousand people back when it was in use
The Roman Amphitheatre: One of the main entrances into the arena for the Gladiators
Our tour was coming to an end and we had to head back to the ship.
We passed this nearby town as we returned to the ship: This wasn't as posh an area as the housing by the Punic Port and Sidi-Bou-Said.
There was a large area of tourist shops by the port entrance. Again they were selling some of the same goods as I had seen in the shops at Sidi-Bou-Said.
Just a few of the tourist shops: I couldn't get a photo from inside the main shopping area as it was packed, especially with the mainly Italian tourists of the MSC Fantasia. Fortunately, we had managed to miss most of the Italians ashore at the historical sites, but several coaches had descended on Sidi-Bou-Said
Looking from the Spirit of Adventure towards the tourist shops
Spotless Starling: There were a couple of Spotless Starlings on the quayside. Unfortunately, it was too close to the last boarding time, to consider heading back to the gangplank to try and get some closer photos
We sailed about five that afternoon, but by the time we were outside the port and starting to increase our speed, the light was starting to fade. Karen, Lexie and Terry had taken one of the free coach trips into the old centre of Tunis and looked around the market. It had been a packed area and I think I had ended up on the better tour. I had thought Carthage would be an interesting place to visit since I first read about the city, it wars with the Roman's over dominance of the Mediterranean and its famous General Hannibal. I had thoroughly enjoyed the day.
it was another good sunset to end the day: We were looking forward to surveying on the next two days at sea
