Day four

We woke up this morning and set out for Matmata. The trip took a little over an hour and we stopped at a berber village along the way where I encountered my first baby camel. I wonder if Maggie would get along well with a baby camel because dang that thing was cute.

We made it to Matmata around 11:30 and were welcomed into a troglodyte home. They're homes basically bulit into the walls of a pit they dig directly into the ground. It was pretty unbelievable, especially the temperatures of the room which stays in the 60's despite the heat. When we arrived the woman who lived there was preparing bread, which she cooked by pressing the mounds of the dough on to the walls of a small fire pit. Our guide had us sit in one of the rooms and she brought in the bread with honey and oil along with mint tea. It was really wonderful and reminded me of a heartier version of naan.

We left there and set out for Gabes, where we would catch a ride to Jerba. We made a quick stop along the way there where we were promptly ripped off by a local boy who shoved a baby falcon in our arms and then charged us 10 dinar A PIECE for the service. Nicholas didn't want to fight him and we decided to take a c'est la vie attitude about the whole thing.

We arrived in Gabes and were dropped by our guide at the louage station. Louages are basically shared minivans and are a pretty common form of transportation in Tunisia. We found a louage going to Jerba without incident and I read most of the way there to distract from the incredible liberties the driver was taking with our safety, especially since there were no seat belts. Needless to say, nicholas has nixed the idea of renting a car and driving ourselves after the experience.

After crossing to the island on a ferry, we headed straight for the airport where our bag was supposed to be delivered the day before. Surprise surprise - it had not arrived but the man assured me it would arrive at either 8 or 10 that night. I guess the either/or arrival time should have tipped me off.

We checked into our very plush resort hotel next. The luxury could not come soon enough after our last couple of hotels - let me tell you. I went for a dip in the pool and we went and checked out the beach. We got ready and attempted to eat out on the town but the recommended restaurant was closed and nothing else looked appealing. So we headed back to our hotel for dinner. It was actually a great meal. We theorized since primarily French stay there they couldn't get away with subpar cuisine.

After dinner, we called the airport to see if our luggage had arrived ... Yeah, that's a big no but "no worry madame. It will arrive tomorrow by 9:30 in the morning."

Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it.