After a few days of hospitality, a lot of office work and city life, it's time for the beach, peace and solitude.
South of Bizerte we find a nice campsite in a wooded nature park right by the sea. Let's see what the beach has to offer.
We soon realise that the nature park is also used by others: the military. Heavily armed men in camouflage colours are running around everywhere, apparently holding an exercise. Jeeps with rifles on the roof also race through the forest. And already we know: This is not for us.
The soldiers are super friendly, but still: we don't want to sleep on such a war playground. So we park Felix for a short while, stroll to the beach and take a look at what was left stranded here years ago.
Shipwrecks with a long history
A multipurpose freighter, the Hamada S, flying the Togolese flag and owned by a Turkish shipping company, is "at anchor" here. The ship, which came from Algeria, was expected at a repair yard in Tunisia, but access to the port was denied after the captain refused to pay a tugboat. During the night, the ship ran aground and maritime and regional authorities tried unsuccessfully to tow it free.
11 seafarers on board were evacuated for "humanitarian reasons" when they ran out of food. However, the ship remains off the beach and henceforth posed a great danger to the environment as it could be left as a worthless wreck. Rimel beach is already polluted by two beached wrecks and there was a risk of an oil spill if the fuel oil was not pumped out. The beach borders the Rimel Forest (our now-but-not-over night spot) and Ichkeul National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and haven for migratory birds.
The ship, built in 1977 in Izmir, Turkey, has an eventful history with more than 300 accidents, detained activities in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and was even involved in illegal trade in Libya. And: it is and was the only ship of the shipping company.
While we admire the size, the rust and the sea, beautifully lit by the sun, I read Gerd all this information. Somehow spooky, this place. Let's get out of here.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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It's crass how people treat our nature. 😱😔🤐
This is how it will look later on the whole earth when man has disappeared. 😢
I completely understand that you don't want to stay there.
Greetings from sunny but freezing Bavaria
From Racheli 😉
When I read your comment, it sent shivers down my spine: Yes, it will look like that everywhere, I agree. What a bummer.
Now the question: Continue and ignore? Or mobilise all forces and fight against it?
It would do the earth good, the sooner the better!
Best wishes!
I have been fighting for 40 years.
It didn't help!
The "rich" still fly their helicopter to their yacht. 😔
I know...
I come from Bizerte, and know the wrecks, is the ship really from 1977? then it didn't have a long life... Visit the beach "Lagrotte" it is beautiful or Cocobeach in Garelmehl is an hour's drive but also dreamlike... I hope you like the country I miss it and still have 170 days until I see it again...
Hello Desiree
one is supposed to be from 77, a short and eventful life, I suppose... Many changes of owner and more conflicts in the border area... But I can only read that, I have no facts on record.
Cocobeach is a good idea, before we take the ferry we will roll around Tunis again. Thanks for the tip.
Looking forward to being back on the coast!
and yes, Tunisia has inspired us so much so far, I hope you can feel that a bit in our posts....
Have a good wait!
Kind regards - Heike