I was not my first time on Djerba this nice sandy island in the south of Tunisia. But this time it was totally different. It was a business trip for only a few days. Visiting hotels, rooms, meetings and so on. It was horrible. So many appointments in just a few days.
The trip took place in April 2015. The temperature showed some 35 degrees, the sun was shining. Perfect for making holiday.
Never heard of this Tunisian island? No worries. It's small but nice. Basically it's a huge sandball living in the mediterran ocean near the african coast. The island is flat, there are some palm trees and some people living. It's about an hours drive from north to south. But to be honest, nobody goes to Djerba to see the island. It's all about the ocean, liing at the beach enjoy the hotel facilities.... Vacation for cheap money. As the water is not too deep especially families like Djerba.
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| fish market |
Right now nobody even thinks about going to Djerba. But well I understand. I am not going to get political. I mean it is like it is. My goal with this post is to show you some hidden places of this wonderful island.
During this fast business trip I took a change to go on the market in Houmt Souk the capital of the island. It ist not to big but like one of these tipycal markets in the arab countries. For me it is the spices that attracts me. But here they had a part where they only sold fish. There is the older guy sitting on the chair on a table. He shows a line of fishes to the crowd and they shout a price. As you can see the man on the right is tired;-)
The rest of the old town is all in white walls with blue roofs. It's a little bit greek style. The colours have meaning or reason. The white paint of course is for cooling down the house and the blue is to attrac the moskitos. So they stay outside on the roof.
There is small but cute harbour next to Houmt Souk. The fishermen repair their nets and repaint the boats. On this picture you see some tools to catch the octopus. It is like a vase with a hole on the bottom. This is for the rope. Imagine you have dozens of this things to put in the water. To take them out again it is much easier to have them tied togheter. The octopus likes living in holes. So he enters the vase and does not even ralise that this is a trap. There are hundreds of these traps on the pier. At the entrance to the harbour of course there are some fancy restaurants.
The most fascinating part and the main reason for my post is Djerbahood. Never heard of? Me too before I saw it. In the town Hara Sghira Er Riadh in the midle of the island 150 artists from all around the world made parts of the town to an open sky museum.
Djerbahood the name of this project is really worth visiting. So if you ever go to Djerba go and see these work by these 30 streetartists.
Most of the tourists book a package including flight, hotel and transfer. In Tunisia and especially on Djerba it is easy to get around by a rental car, or bike. On the mainland there are trains running and several bus companies run all over the country. I did not try them but I heard they are good in cheap.
The rest of the old town is all in white walls with blue roofs. It's a little bit greek style. The colours have meaning or reason. The white paint of course is for cooling down the house and the blue is to attrac the moskitos. So they stay outside on the roof.
There is small but cute harbour next to Houmt Souk. The fishermen repair their nets and repaint the boats. On this picture you see some tools to catch the octopus. It is like a vase with a hole on the bottom. This is for the rope. Imagine you have dozens of this things to put in the water. To take them out again it is much easier to have them tied togheter. The octopus likes living in holes. So he enters the vase and does not even ralise that this is a trap. There are hundreds of these traps on the pier. At the entrance to the harbour of course there are some fancy restaurants.
The most fascinating part and the main reason for my post is Djerbahood. Never heard of? Me too before I saw it. In the town Hara Sghira Er Riadh in the midle of the island 150 artists from all around the world made parts of the town to an open sky museum. Djerbahood the name of this project is really worth visiting. So if you ever go to Djerba go and see these work by these 30 streetartists.