Our 2019 Tunisia expedition has returned safely and was a resounding success. This will just be a short update with much more to follow, but safe to say all involved were very happy to the results of our adventure.
Our road move down, consisting of ferries from the UK to France, drive to Marseilles, ferry to Tunis and from there again by road to the desert town of Douz when smoothly. After stripping the trucks down for the desert and resupplying, we pushed southwest for the oasis of Ksar Rhilane. This leg was a combination of gravel roads, desert tracks and some dune bashing. A good way to get everyone used to the trucks and hone their sand-driving skills.
In Ksar Rhilane we visited the ancient Roman fort that the WWII SAS, LRDG and PPA used as a stopover in their patrols before topping up on water from the natural spring and then pushing south to our objective at Qaret Ali. Here we established a base camp and spent a couple of days searching for evidence of the vehicle hide where seven PPA and LRDG vehicles were ambushed by the Luftwaffe in 1942. While we didn’t find the vehicles, we did discover some strong evidence we were in the right place.
From here we returned to Ksar Rhilane to top up on water and then followed the route the WWII ambush survivors walked to reach safety with the American army in Tozeur, 200 miles to the northwest. To complete the trip, we pushed southwest to the area of Tembaine, crossing some of the Grand Erg Orientale sand sea to test our skills once more.
During our trip we had the support of Ilyes Sasi and his SaharanSky expedition support group. Ilyes was a great asset and made our first venture into Tunisia a smooth and enjoyable experience.
The return to the UK faced some delays as storms covered the Mediterranean Sea and snow closed the roads across southern France but we made it in the end.
All in all an excellent expedition and we are already starting to think about a 2020 return to continue the search for the lost patrol vehicles and attempt a crossing of the deep desert to test ourselves once more. Tunisia turned out to be a terrific country with welcoming people, amazing landscapes and we would certainly recommend it to others.