Before I begin my adventure, first, I want to mention an update on last Friday’s Run For The Roses post.
Looking at Lucky, in the #1 rail position, ran into traffic early on but managed to finish 7th, Jackson Bend finished 12th and Endorsement didn’t run. But, Calvin Borel, a Cajun, won on Super Saver and another Cajun jockey, Kent Desormeaux, rode the third place horse, Paddy O’Prado, who is grey. What did I say about greys always running third? Cajun jockeys have now won the last four Derbies and Calvin is the only jockey to win three Derbies in four years. Cajun riders have won the past four Triple Crown races and eight of the last ten. But the biggest winner of the day was Glenn Fullerton whose name was drawn from 67,000 entries to place a $100,000 bet to win on any of the horses in the field. The Sweepstakes was co-sponsored by Churchill Downs and CNBC. Glenn’s pick-Super Saver. His win-$900,000 and it didn’t cost him a cent except for what he will pay in taxes and they take the Kentucky taxes out right there before he got paid.
Now to begin my adventure…It was always a question of “What do you want for Mother’s Day?” This year my children won’t have to ask, remember to call, or make arrangements to take me out. I’ve made it easy for them this year. On Mother’s Day I will be off for two weeks on an adventure in Tunisia.
I’ve always liked off-the-beaten-path adventure travel and Tunisia seems to fit that description. This will be my fourth trip to Africa. I’ve been to Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, and Morroco. I’ve ridden elephants in India and camels in Egypt. I’ve gone paragliding in Aspen, hot air ballooning in France, Colorado and California and I’ve even kissed a gray whale in Bahia Magdalena in Baja, California.
So, what will Tunisia be like? It’s a Muslim country, but progressive by most standards. The veil for women is no longer required. Women are educated and there’s a minimum age limit of 16 for arranged marriages. This historic North African crossroads has a long and complex history. Phoenicians from Lebanon were the first known to settle on the coast in the 10th century, BC. Rome set its eyes on expanding its empire during the 120 year three Punic Wars. Byzantines ruled in the sixth century followed by Arabs in the seventh, Berbers from 1230-1574, then Spain until the Ottoman Turks claimed the region for Islam and ruled until 1957. The Turks turned to France for financial support in the late 1800s and it became a French protectorate. In 1940 France fell to Germany and Tunisia was under Vichy rule. The American troops came in after invading Morocco and Algeria while the British arrived from the south. Today, Tunisia is an independent country. So you can see that it has a rich cultural heritage. The are mosques, medinas, roman ruins and numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The climate will be quite warm, but dry, so tolerable. The exception will be at night when it can be quite cold in the desert. The food will be based on couscous and stews with the addition of fiery harissa chili sauce, local tiny olives, lamb as basis of most meat dishes and seafood along the coast. We will have an opportunity to eat a home-hosted meal or two, which is always interesting.
I expect to see beautiful Islamic tiles and perhaps even Roman tiles in Carthage. I’ll probably bargin in souks for things that I don’t need and turn my back especially on the lovely rugs that are too heavy to transport or ship. The pace will be fairly brisk: 8 locations in 15 days with 3 one-night stays, 2 two-night and 2 three-night stays. Some of the driving days will be long and desert roads are bumpy and dusty. The brochure warns to be prepared to walk for up to 3 miles and stand for up to 30 minutes. The trip to China and Tibet last year required similar endurance and I did that and much more in Africa on a previous trip, BUT… that was some years ago! That’s why I bought trip insurance. We already have a Faux Tile removable wallpaper stair riser design so I’ll take lots of pictures, especially of any designs that I think we may be able to develop for Casart removable wallcovering. I wonder if I can write off a portion of the trip if we do? 😉
Ma’a ElSalama (goodbye in Arabic) for now.
– Lorre Lei
Leave a Reply