How far is the island from sousse or tunis? Would it be more ideal to spend a holiday in Djerba than the other resorts on the mainland? The island of Djerba is beautiful. It is is the largest island off North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes and is a popular tourist destination.
It is about 7-8 hours south of Tunis and 5-6 hours south of Sousse driving. The flight from Djerba to Tunis is about 1 hour, and from Djerba to Monastir (there is no airport in Sousse) is about 30 mins but are usually only irregular charter flights. (My husband is a pilot with TunisAir)
The charm of Djerba lies in it's simplicity. The tourist zone offers good night life, but other than that people come for rest and relaxation. Djerba is one of the few remaining places in Tunisia where the Berber language is still spoken.
On the island of Djerba, there are many villages, but almost no towns. The only real town is the beautiful Houmt Souq. Houmt Souq is quite different from any other Tunisian town south of Sidi Bou Said, which could be considered as its lost brother.
Here there is the Djerban Marina. There is a boat ride from 9-3 that takes you out and does animation. They feed you grilled fish, some appetizers, do face paintings for the kids, and the staff are all dressed as pirates In the summer they even let you stop to swim.
There is also a famous restaurant called Restaurant Essoufra. This restaurant offers EXCELLENT authentic Tunisian food, a great atmosphere, and reasonable prices. A great experience to have!
Many travelers arriving at Djerba pass through the village of Ajim, the 1977 location of the Mos Eisley exterior scenes in the first Star Wars movie. More picturesque however is the little visited city of Guellala with it's museum of ancient Tunisian traditions.
The things here are very simple. The people running the shop will in a friendly manner show you the different parts of the workshop, and if you leave without buying anything, they just say good bye with the same friendliness, before lying down on the bench next to the tiny door leading up into the kitchy main street. If you give yourself some minutes, you will soon have the local specialty demonstrated, the magic camels: A mug with a spout as a camel's head, and then a hole in the bottom and the top. You pour water into one hole, turn the camel, and the water doesn't leak out.
Many visitors are intrigued by the presence of Jews, whose main synagogue is in Hara Sghira, while the majority lives in Hara Kebira. One of the most photographed places in Djerba is the mosque in El May. Unfortunately, many of the people visiting Djerba, only stay in the Zone touristique, and never get to see any of the great small places of this island.
Down by the sea side, the fort Borju l-Kabir, has admission and is well worth the walk down from town centre. Borj el-Kebir, sometimes called Borj Ghazi Mustapha, has had many owners over the years. It was the Romans building the first recorded stronghold here, but it was the king of Sicily, Roger de Lluria, who in 1289 built the very first fortress.
Not far off the coast of Djerba is Scorpion Island. Legend has it that a long time ago the ruler of Djerba built himself a fortress on a small island just off the coast because his sons kept getting killed by scorpions. He built the fortress for him and his last son to live in. One day went ashore to Djerba to buy grapes for his son, and upon giving the grapes to his son, the last son died because hidden inside the grapes was a a small scorpion.
There is also an interesting place called Parc Djerba Explore. There are three main themes running throught the park, but the only one that interested my son was the crocodiles. In an area of over 20000 meters square there are over 400 crocodiles. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable and answered all of our questions along with giving us some useful bits of information.
Please feel free to look at my pictures of Djerba as it is a beautiful island: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamie_hasse...
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-5ksVjU47e...
If you have any other questions (maybe you want more info on this town or another town in Tunisia), or if I can be of any more assistance, feel free to contact me. |
