Forget the camel trek, we stayed at the comfortable Hotel Saharien-Paradise, in Douz and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. What did we do for two days? Other than sitting by the swimming pool and enjoying the “aloneness” of being by ourselves…

- Shopped for rugs…yes, we bought more…for our adult children. When you can buy a one-of-a-kind, handmade 3 x 5 rug for under $40 dollars, it’s hard to resist. A comparable, factory-made bath mat at home costs about the same. Every shop arorund the square had rugs and carpets laid out on the sand, flapping in the wind with the very hospitable dealers and people to converse with.

- Walked out into the desert every day to watch the camels and tourists, having some great laughs at their expense. View image

 

Mr. Personality

- Wandered through Douz’s town and little square, finding and eating some of the best fresh Tuna Salad sandwiches on wonderful French Bread with explosive Harissa on it at this little take-out spot. (I’m going to devote a separate article just on Harissa.)

- Shmoozed with the carpet dealers in the square. I may not have mentioned that they speak French in Tunisia, but we managed to get by with some broken French, English and our four words of Arabic.

A very enjoyable stay with no sightseeing, no time constraints and lots of time to feel more like a “local.”

When group returned, there were mixed comments on the camel experience. It was very cold at night, food was mediocre and everyone was starving! The reality of eating over an open fire doesn’t quite match expectations when Emeril isn’t doing the cooking and your Berber “chef” is just opening cans. Forget the camp fire, the group demolished the dinner buffet …hungry little people.