dragnil
The glass is half full, but the bottle is empty.
As a fully paid-up member of the Bah-Humbug Brigade I decided to flee the country for a week in December and I thought it might be useful to stimulate an exchange of comments, opinions and even reports of places visited.
To start the ball rolling, we went to Tunisia (Hammamet) and it was our first visit to this country. We were following the mass tourist trade and booked a package with Thomas Cook which worked well and was easily affordable (surprisingly cheap).
Hotel was fine, just what you’d expect from a 4* all inclusive package. The staff were excellent and were genuinely keen to make our stay a success without always looking for tips.
Car Hire was excellent, good price and great service from CamelCar, petrol was a shock – about half the price we pay at home.
Local people were a delight, there was no hassle, the occasional “friendly waiter” took no for an answer and left us alone and, away from the tourist area, shepherds and other country people were friendly and interested in what we were doing. Despite past security problems in Tunisia we never had any safety concerns at all.
Birding, I have to be honest, was slightly disappointing but we are not high-intensity twitchers. If we ignored sparrows, starlings and pigeons/doves the most common bird was the Great Grey Shrike which was a lovely surprise and they were easy to find in the olive fields.
Kestrel was the most common raptor but we did see two pairs of Black-shouldered Kite and on two other days we saw Long-legged Buzzard.
In summary, a lovely break in a friendly, pleasant country but in late December the birding was disappointing, we might well return for the spring migration though!
To start the ball rolling, we went to Tunisia (Hammamet) and it was our first visit to this country. We were following the mass tourist trade and booked a package with Thomas Cook which worked well and was easily affordable (surprisingly cheap).
Hotel was fine, just what you’d expect from a 4* all inclusive package. The staff were excellent and were genuinely keen to make our stay a success without always looking for tips.
Car Hire was excellent, good price and great service from CamelCar, petrol was a shock – about half the price we pay at home.
Local people were a delight, there was no hassle, the occasional “friendly waiter” took no for an answer and left us alone and, away from the tourist area, shepherds and other country people were friendly and interested in what we were doing. Despite past security problems in Tunisia we never had any safety concerns at all.
Birding, I have to be honest, was slightly disappointing but we are not high-intensity twitchers. If we ignored sparrows, starlings and pigeons/doves the most common bird was the Great Grey Shrike which was a lovely surprise and they were easy to find in the olive fields.
Kestrel was the most common raptor but we did see two pairs of Black-shouldered Kite and on two other days we saw Long-legged Buzzard.
In summary, a lovely break in a friendly, pleasant country but in late December the birding was disappointing, we might well return for the spring migration though!
