21 Feb 2023
DO NOT LOSE:
Paper - 4364971aa19cb9bf6a8924bcf504e2be
Video - 836e60208d796524bba2985e3514e86f
ffmpeg -i in.mov -pix_fmt rgb8 -r 10 output.gif && gifsicle -O3 output.gif -o output.gif
This was an unforgettable experience! The guide (Nidhal) and driver (Jamel) were phenomenal, and the sites and itinerary greatly exceeded expectations. If you don't have a lot of time and really want to get a taste of what Tunisia has to offer, this would be a very effective, albeit ultra-luxurious way to do so. More specific comments are below:
Pros:
1. The guide can customize the experience for your party
2. Accommodations were clean
3. Food was excellent
4. This itinerary is very difficult to replicate with public transport, and largely impossible within this time period. Some places (Chebika, Mos Espa decorum, Matmata) do not have public transport options and are not even reachable by private bus. Possible with car hire, but you need to know what you are doing and have contingency plans if breakdowns occur in remote parts (very difficult if cell reception is poor or you are not fluent in Arabic or at least French)
5. The guide can help bargain with local merchants if you don't speak Arabic or French fluently
Cons (e.g. why I cannot give this tour 5 stars):
1. Price
Detailed Explanation of Price:
The price of this tour is excessive. I learned from other travelers and locals that guides and drivers are not employed by the company and are instead hired on an hourly basis with supposedly low wages. I understand that tourism is an important part of the economy and am happy to contribute, but the core people providing the services need to be fairly compensated.
Food is almost exclusively provided by hotels and is all-you-can-eat buffet style. I didn't want this for every meal and would have preferred just pulling over to good quality local restaurants instead. Food would have been just as good, a lot cheaper, and would have supported more local merchants. Meals are all pre-paid in advance and are under time reservations - this seems too constricting for a private tour, where I assumed a large amount of flexibility would have been permissible. I would have preferred it if the tour company offered an option which unbundled food and accommodation - the cost for hotel buffets was excessive and constricting. The price presumably also includes the cost of housing and feeding the driver and guide as well as the car rental and petrol, which is fully understandable and necessary; however, I really would have appreciated more options to manage costs.
Finally, the prices of the hotels and meals did not add up (e.g. seemed far over-priced) especially for an off-season trip. Even the most luxurious hotel on this trip (Golden Tulip Taj Sultan) charged around ~200 TND per night if booked directly. The other hotels were significantly cheaper (101 - 150 TND) if booked directly excluding food, and these are all considered luxury, tourist-centric hotels. The tour company is also likely paying less due to pre-existing agreements. I suspect that the tour operator (which to be clear has done an amazing job of arranging this tour!) and Viator / TripAdivsor (which do literally nothing beyond serving as the advertising platform) are pocketing a large amount of the price as profit. I am uncomfortable with this, especially if the driver and guide are not paid well.
So in summary, if price is not an issue for you and you don't mind being in tourist-centric accommodations, this will be a trip to remember. This itinerary will give you a chance to experience the incredible history and (to an extent) culture that Tunisia has to offer, all in a small amount of time. I would recommend this tour to any individual or group in this demographic, and again I cannot thank my driver and guide enough - they really were amazing!