DAY 70. SAT 14/04. Borj Cedria to Gabes (via Tunis). 466 kms. 15494 kms. "Bushcamp" on the beach, Gabes.

Inga phoned the consulate in the morning to find out about the visas and got through so some woman who didn't speak much English and just said to "come in". When we got there though they said it would still be another 3 to 4 days! Obviously we were not too impressed but there was nothing we could do. They did take more copies of our passports again so presumable they were chasing it up which is all we could really hope for. Went back to the internet cafe' again for a short while and then again went back to check if anything had changed at the consulate, but unfortunately not. We were by now quite tired of Tunis and Borj Cedria and couldn't face another 4 days here doing nothing and so were debating heading south again and then coming back up to Tunis when the visas were ready. There were still some pistes we wanted to drive and a few sights we still wanted to see which we had planned to do on the way south towards Libya. It was now an extra distance of over 1000kms in coming back again, but it was a case of go south now to visit theses places to save time in the long run or not at all if we were still to meet up with Angiolo and Claire at the Red Sea on the 25th. The urge to get on the road again got the better of us and we set off south again. Took the toll road/motorway south this time to save time and it was a much better route. (3 toll booths; Total cost to past Sousse was 3.6 TD, well worth it!) Made it as far Gabes by about 7pm where we were hoping to find a camp site that was on the map but not on our GPS. Couldn't find any signs of the camp site though. Also tried following signs to the tourist information bureau but didn't find this either. Asked someone at a hotel but he didn't understand what we were looking for. Eventually got fed up and just headed down to the beach where we camped in the low coastal dunes just behind the beach. Slept in the back as being Saturday we thought there might be a few late night revelers about but it was surprisingly quiet and we were left totally alone.

DAY 71. SUN 15/04. Gabes to Ksar Ghilane (via El Hamma and Matmata). 319 kms. Total 15813 kms. Camping Ain Essbat N32 50.104 E9 37.998

Headed to El Hamma for the start of the T1 (Sahara Overland) "piste" to Ksar Ghilane and Tataouine. (Star Wars fans might recognize this last name?) [However we planned a diversion east off the T1 route to Matmata in between and then another piste/track/road (which we had way points for off the internet) south west taking us back to Ksar Ghilane where we would camp and then rejoin the T1 piste east to Tataouine via Chenini.] That was the plan. So we fuelled up at El Hamma and also took the opportunity to fill up our fuel bottles for the MSR primus stove with paraffin as we had run out of Coleman white fuel a while ago. Turns out it was lucky we planned the diversion to Matmata etc as the T1 piste is now tarred all the way to Ksar Ghilane from the Douz-Matmata tarmac road intersection, i.e. km 39. So all but the 1st 40 kms is now tarred which would have been very disappointing if we were going straight to Ksar. Luckily we weren't: we headed north east at the km 71 way point along a pleasant track with some small washed out oued crossings (dry river beds) to Matmata. Had lunch in Matmata around 3pm and as it was getting late if we were still to reach Ksar that evening we hastily grabbed an unofficial guide and had a look at a few of the troglodyte homes in the village (underground berber houses) There were 700 such homes, about 400 of which are now destroyed/abandoned and 300 still inhabited by berber families. The most famous of which is now the Hotel Sidi Driss. This was used for interior shots of the Lars family homestead in Star Wars and was used again in Attack of the Clones, Phantom Menace and Episode IV: A New Hope. Bits of the set are still in place here and are now permanent features of the hotel's de'cor. They are milking the Stars Wars connection for all its worth with the star wars writing inside and out in big red letters. But it was good to see it anyway. Then it was time for the usual "now you pay the guide" scenario. We hastily pulled out 10 dinars (which we thought was more than enough - would have given less but we didn't have anything smaller) but the guide wanted 20! That is a lot of money for a "tour" of maximum 20 minutes work! Way more than a nights camping for 2 people! No chance! He then tried to recover the situation by coming up with a special reduced price of 15 dinars. This lasted a while with us blankly refusing. Eventually we told him it was 10 or nothing and to give the 10 back if he didn't want it. He walked off without another word. Not quite as bad as our last fight with a guide but a reminder none the less why it is best to avoid them. They will rob you blind. I would have been happy to receive 10 dinars for 15/20 mins work. That equates to about 20 Euro an hour (and he wanted double that) an unbelievable rate by African standards for a non professional guide. They must think tourists have money growing on trees. OK, sorry, enough of a rant on that topic. No more guide stories! (We promise) It was around 4pm by the time we got going again. 1st part was a narrow winding track through the mountains. Quite steep and rocky with some badly washed out sections that had to be taken really slowly. Quite challenging driving but enjoyable. It then flattened out for a while but still with the washed out oueds to keep you on your toes before joining the tar road again neasr the towns of Bir Zoui and Beni Khedd which we reached just after 6pm. With 40 kms to go we thought we were home and dry and would make camp well before dark but the last 20/30 kms before joining the now tarred El Hamma-Ksar Ghilane road again, which we had earlier left, was a terribly corrugated piste. As bad as any corrugations we had come across anywhere in Africa. Must be from all the tourist Landcruisers hairing up and down. We were in a rush as it was get ting dark which just made it worse. Also tried driving in the twin tracks next to the piste but is was no better as every so often you would cross these little wash outs from water run off which were very jarring if you took them too fast. Once we hit one at speed and everything went flying in the back. Eventually though just after sunset we thankfully joined the tar road again at the km135 WP which took us all the way to Ksar Ghilane, not a big oasis town as we expected, but more like a tented nomadic settlement. The camp was a further 10 km south on sand tracks and through small dunes but luckily the spot lights did the job and we arrived well after dark. Huge campsite but totally empty as it was the end of the weekend after easter holidays and all the dune bashers had gone back to Europe.

DAY 72. MON 16/04. Ksar Ghilane back to Gabes (via Chenini, Tataouine and Ksar Ouled Soltane) 278 kms. Total 16091 kms. "Bushcamp" Beach, Gabes

Due to our late arrival last night and the fact we didn't have that far to go today we didn't leave camp until late morning after a bit of a lie in, showering and packing up slowly. Great nights sleep as is was sooo quite in the middle of the desert with nothing else around. Drove back north from the camp to the T1 km 150 way point before turning east to Chenini. Unfortunately the piste was just as corrugated as the one the previous evening. No matter where you drove, how far away from the piste, all the tracks were corrugated. Even seemed that countryside was naturally corrugated and it was really NOT enjoyable until the tar road to Chenini 50 kms later. Stopped at Chenini for a short while for some photos, bought some bread, had a bit of a look around and some tourist spotting as it is firmly on the tourist route. Also has troglodyte homes but these are carved into the mountainside above and around the town. Moved on just outside of town before stopping for lunch and then in was on to Tataouine which we just drove through as there is nothing really there - it is more the strange architecture of the surrounding villages for which it is noted. Theses buildings are traditional granaries built by local Berber tribes consisting of narrow rooms with barrel-vaulted roofs. Went on to one of these towns, Ksar Ouled Soltane, where these ghorfas (as theses granaries are know) are about 4 stories high and are reached by suspended archway staircases built around a central courtyard. (Also a Star Wars movie location! - used as a location for the Mos Espa slave quarters?) This completed our sightseeing in the south and we headed north back towards Tunis. Made it was far as Gabes (again?) at "camping time" - saw a sign for another scout camp and though we might get luckily but couldn't find this camp either. Followed the Zone Touristique Ecologique (??????) sign south of Gabes which lead to a deserted beach out of town. Drove down onto the beach and then along the coast towards Gabes for about 2 kms before going over the back into the low dunes again to camp. It was a bit breezy and damp with some sea mist so we lit a fire with some of the Algerian wood we are still carrying on the roofrack to keep warm and slept in the back again.