Lazy Sunday in Douz oasis

Dave the motorhome loves it in the oasis, so despite the lack of internet he hasn’t moved from his sandy corner of Camping Desert Club in Douz, Tunisia (N33.45331, E9.02515).

Last night there was a party going on just on the other side of the palm leaf fence, a very loud party – we suspect it might have been a wedding. The music blared out until after we had gone to bed, the only tune I vaguely recognised was Gangnam Style!

This morning I was woken by Jay clambering down from the bed mummbling that the electricity had gone off. Our halogen heater no longer lit up Dave’s interior like the sun. Jay switched the fridge over to gas and turned on the gas heating then retreated back to bed – it was barely light outside, far too early to get up on a Sunday.

When we did finally surface the sun was heating up Dave’s exterior making him creak and pop, but the electricity was still off. After a breakfast of bean on toast (well toasted baguette, but as close to the British thing as we could get) we went for a walk among the palm trees in the oasis. The sky was blue, the birds were singing and the only thing to break the peace was the braying of donkeys – two of them quite clearly having a very loud chat across a considerable distance.

Wild dogs keeping an eye on Charlie

We kept our eyes on the pack of wild dogs roaming around, while Charlie kept his nose to the ground snuffling up as many dates as he could find. The men working among the palm trees smiled and greeted us, asking how we were in French and occasionally calling us over so they could give Charlie a stroke.

Charlie makes another friend in the Oasis

So strange to see, but fits into the surroundings so much better than us!

We turned a corner to find a couple of camels chomping at the grass and bushes – a strange, yet everyday sort of sight. As we made our way back to the campsite we took photos of some of the weird and wonderful birds resting in the trees around us.

Strange looking bird spotted in the oasis

Slightly blurred bird in oasis

Another oasis dweller

Back at the campsite there was still no power, in fact the whole town was out, so our plan of getting loads of washing done was put on hold. We got out our camping table and chairs and sat in the warm January sunshine until around noon when Sophie, the campsite owner, called to us that the power was back so the washing machine was working again. Load one was stuffed into the pristine machine tucked away in its locked cupboard and we returned to the camping chairs. Our gas BBQ cooked us up some corn on the cob as we chatted with our Swiss neighbours who only left home on Wednesday!

Not sure if it was the palm tree of the whole patch for sale, either way if you like dates the number is there for you!

A whole family on one bike – the most people we’ve seen so far is four on one scooter!

We’ve decided to take it easy for a few days and chill out in this little oasis. We’ve got more washing to do and there is a good market on Thursday that we fancy going to. As for not having an internet connection, well it’s actually a nice change. I don’t feel I ought to be reading and replying to emails, seeing what’s happening on the BBC or browsing Twitter and Facebook for several hours a day, it’s almost like having a holiday! Instead I’ve started to read another of my James Bond books and Jay is doing a bit of work and reading up on the rest of Tunisia in our Rough Guide.

Dave safely tucked away in the campsite

Nice and easy to understand price list. For us 15TD a day (about £7)

Relaxing in the sunshine – we might stay a while!

Fingers crossed the little, yet speedy, internet cafe is open on a Sunday evening, or else you’ll be getting this update on Monday morning!

J struggling with the Arabic/French keyboard

Ju x