Will and I spent an incredible week at Djerba Tunisia. We wanted to spend some time on the beach and Africa is just a 2 hour flight away from Lyon. It was both our first time in Africa and in an Arabic speaking country. Djerba is the small island we stayed in, but we also spent some time in other parts of Tunisia as well. French is the second language in Tunisia, so that definitely made it easier for us to read signs and communicate. Also, multiple Star Wars scenes were shot in Djerba and other parts of Tunisia, which is super cool!
We spent time with camels, seeing dolphins swimming in the sea, reading and relaxing on the beach, and enjoying time in the sun.
Hugging and Feeding Camels
There were constantly many camels walking along the beach... This nice man let us hang out with this family of camels. I got to feed a milk bottle to the baby and we both gave the dad some snuggles and hugs.
Beach Life
95% of our time was spent on the beach... swimming, sleeping & eating. Exactly what we wanted this trip to be. We called it our "Honeymoon Part 2" but it was super similiar to our time in Mexico.
(left) This fish was getting ready to be cut up in chunks and cooked... with the eyeballs and bones and all the body parts included.
Jet Ski's & Dolphins
We had so much fun jet skiing! It was my first time and we had a blast. We drove about 20-30 minutes into the sea and ended up so far out that we couldn't see land... Terrifying and amazing all at the same time. We ended up seeing multiple dolphins and even had one swimming under our jet ski for 10-15 seconds. It was incredible! (Check out my video below for clips with the dolphins)
The Desert
Being in the desert was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was our first time in the desert and our first time interacting with camels. We got to ride them through the desert and pet them. I was surprised how calm and sweet they were. Will and I laughed a lot at the way they made chewing movements with their mouth, even though they weren't actually eating anything.
Beautiful Views
Here was a short stop on the way to the desert.
More Camels
We stopped along the way home when we saw all these camels gathered together... They were super chill and didn't have much of a reaction when we came near them.
Berber Region
We visited this cool little village that reminded me of Anikan's hometown in Star Wars. Those scenes were filmed near here but weren't the exact filming spots they used. We got to go inside two of them and one of the Tunisian men offered us delicious homemade tea.
Random Animals
There were a ton of random animals in the desert and along our drive.... Goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, horses, etc.
The Streets of Tunisia
As we drove through Tunisia, it was very obvious that the way of life there was very different than what we are used to. Most everything was written in both Arabic and French. The way the homes were built were really unique and beautiful, however most homes and buildings looked like they weren't finished. There were pieces of house materials in front of almost all of them and a lot of the buildings had walls missing and were totally empty. Most homes were guarded by their own little wall. The grass along the roads were covered with lots of trash. The Tunisian people we met were so sweet and kind and loved interacting with foreigners. There were also a zillion coffee shops everywhere. Will and I can't figure out how they make a living when there are so many. Our experience in Tunisia was amazing and we would definitely go back!!