We went to this resort to see and "camp" in the Sahara. And we knew that you could not do all that and then skip riding a camel in the desert as well! They just seem to go hand in hand?
We had read about the camel trek prices in various tour guides, which I believe were about 50 tnd the ride (roughly half that price in US$). We were quoted at least double so we bargained them "down" to about 70 tnd for each of us for the 2 hour camel trek out to the ancient fort in the middle of nowhere. Yes, we probably could have spent an extra 10 minutes getting them down a bit lower but at some point you have to value your time and realize that these guys are trying to stay in business too. And we all know that Tunisia has been dealt their fair shares of blows over the past few years in terms of their tourism. We do not mind spending a little extra here and there to possibly keep some people in business.
We were hoisted on the camels, which are huge animals, bigger and much wider than what they look. It is difficult to stay onboard since their hump is not really cohesive with having a person on it's back. I almost tumbled off within a minute when the camel got on his knees to get up.
Mark and I have both ridden horses a decent amount. We are not ready for the rodeo or anything, but horses do not scare us. Now the camels... They did not really scare us per say, but it is very difficult to stay on board and it is really really uncomfortable! Their backs are wide so you sit with your legs spread out and they do not have a smooth gait. Let's just say that by the time we rode out to this fort, our legs and butt were killing us and we needed a serious stretch. I am not sure how in the world that people actually rode these beasts across the desert for days?! I was so sore by the next day! And we only rode just under three hours!
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| You can start to see the fort straight ahead in the distance. |
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Ksar Ghilane: "As the name suggests ( Ksar is a word Arabic means "castle"), it houses a fort dating from the Roman period , Tisavar, located on the limes following the edge of the desert. The Tunisian government has proposed the 17 February 2012 for future ranking on the World Heritage List of Unesco." Wikipedia.
Thank you Tunisia!
