La Goulette, Tunisia

La Goulette, Tunisia – A First Impression

We had never been to Tunisia before, and since I wasn’t sure what to expect, I booked an Oceania panoramic tour.

After walking through rows of vendors selling every kind of tourist trinket imaginable, we boarded our tour bus. My seat turned out to be broken, but luckily there were a few empty ones available, so I moved without any trouble.

We drove through several rather unattractive areas before stopping at a so-called restaurant for a 30-minute restroom break. The facility had only one restroom for men and one for women—not ideal for a full bus of passengers. It was around 10:00 AM, and the place was crowded with men. Not a single woman was there. I asked our tour guide about it, and he explained that the men were retired and the women were working. Strangely, none of the men looked older than 50. With unemployment so high in Tunisia, it made sense that many were spending their mornings gathered in cafés.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage. This Second World War cemetery—the only American cemetery in North Africa—covers 27 acres and contains 2,841 American war dead. It was dedicated in 1960 and is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

We were given just 30 minutes to visit, though I could easily have spent much longer there. I asked our guide how many people were buried in the cemetery, but he didn’t know, so I looked it up and showed him.

Our next stop was an empty church. There are no longer any Christians living in that immediate area; only about 1 percent of Tunisia’s population is Christian.

Afterward, we returned to the port and walked through the same rows of vendors to get back to the ship. I considered taking the shuttle into town, but I felt like I might be coming down with something, so I decided to rest instead.Read more