Tunisia 2015 – Sousse – El Djem – Kairouan

It is about 15 years ago I was last in Tunisia. The reason to go was that holidays are really really cheap there and after all those expensive holidays a cheap destination was a good idea.
For the first time since many many years I chose to go with a package holiday – horrible – but the easiest way to get there. Very unusual for me.
The destination in Tunisia was Sousse, a really nice town at the Mediterranean Sea. I chose a hotel which was very close to the Medina (old city) so there was no need to stay in the Hotel and we could go and hang out in the city without depending on any transfer.




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 I was really surprised that almost no one of the other tourists did the same and mostly we were the only ones around the locals. In Sousse we visted the Ribat (old fortress), the main mosque and the Kasbah (which is an even bigger fortress with a museum). Also we walked around the old city (Medina) a lot. Narrow streets, lots of shops with spices, carpets or lots of souveniers.
Of course we did not only stay in Sousse. A quite adventours tour went to El Djem. We took a local minibus (Louage) for about 2€ each from Sousse. Everything was written in Arabic and we just trusted the people to put us in the right minibus ;). It worked and lots of people tried to help us. El Djem is easy to describe – a big amphitheater (a little smaller than the Coliseum in Rome) and a small village around. The amphitheater is very impressive – they shot the movie Gladiator here – unlike Rome you can walk around everywhere. And almost no people – fantastic. We spent a lot time there.


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 The other tour lead us to Kairouan – the 4th most important islamic city in the world (and the most imporant one in Northern Africa). Because I wanted to be there early we rented a Taxi for the day (was about 45€) – it took about 1,5hrs to get there. First we visted the main Mosque which was very impressive. Then we visted the Aghlabid Pools and another Mosque (with 3 doors). Somehow we got dragged into a carpet shop and I could not resist… Finally we spent some time walking around the very nice and old Medina.
Well it was a good relaxing holiday – of course the Hotel in Sousse very touristy, but we only used it for sleeping and eating (and the food was surprisingly good). But also we tried some local food from the streets of course. A good destination for 1 week in the winter especially and you can easily escape the tourist crowds by just leaving the Hotel…


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Helgoland 2014 – Gray Seal Experience

Helgoland is a small island in the North Sea, about 2-3 hours from the German coast by boat. Some years back there was almost no tourism in winter time but that changed with the Gray Seals (Kegelrobben) appearing on the shores to breed an getting their little babys. Other than the normal seals, Gray Seal babys can not swim in the first two weeks and are covered with a white fur and just lay around on the beaches. This only happens in wintertime from end of November till beginning of January and is a great experience to come close to Germanys biggest predator (we don’t really have any). Luckily until now nothing has happend and people are allowed to come close to the animals but as more and more Gray Seals come and also more and more people visit this will come to an end at one point.

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Well I got extremely lucky with the weather (some days in between 2 storms). Winter is time of storms and bad weather but I had more sun than bad weather. To get there the ferry ride took about 3 hours from Cuxhaven with very calm sea. Lots of photographers were on board. But other than photography the island is know for duty free shopping and a huge collection of Single Malts… (which are probably needed for bad weather ;).
My every day routine was getting up early, taking my winter clothes on like I was going to ski – packed my heavy photo equipment and off to the (cold and windy) beach. In my eyes it was totally worth it. Great experience, you get really close to the animals. Even if officially it should be 30m the animals are not keeping the distance ;). Some are quite curious. Also you have to watch your back for seals coming behind you ;). Really fun to watch. Especially the young babys and also the mating rituals and fights.
The way back to Cuxhaven a storm was coming up and it was a bumpy ride (next day the service stopped due to the storm). I enjoyed it but some had fun with the sea sickness bags ;).
If I would live in North Germany I would definitly go again, but from the South it needs a lot more planing, flights to Hamburg, Train to Cuxhaven, stay overnight, next morning ferry… and the same back. Lets see if it is still allowed to get so close next year. It definitly is a uniqe experience to watch those animals from that close distance.

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