We Reach Cap Blanc…!!

The Claridge Hotel... Early morning, and I was on my way before the traffic picked up...

The streets of Sousse were almost deserted... Tunisians party until late, and then sleep most of the morning away...

One of the goals I set myself before embarking on my journey was to ride to the southern and most northern tips of four of the six continents that my ride would take place on… I would not be able to achieve this feat in Asia and Australia, due to the terrain… But today, I would achieve one of those milestones, and that was to take the Big Fella to Cap Blanc, the northernmost tip of Africa…

I left the Claridge Hotel in Sousse at 7.00 am and got back on the highway leading to Tunis a few minutes later. While I did not enjoy riding the main roads as much as I did riding through the countryside, today I wanted to cross over into Algeria, and make a run for Constantine… This would leave me with just 1000 kms to get to Oran…

Passing through Tunis, on my way to Bizerte and Cap Blanc...

Early Tunisians were a strange looking lot...!!

The traffic on the highway leading into Tunis was hectic, and it took me a while to get through to the northern side of the city, and on the road to Bizerte, a seaside resort and small port, to the southeast of Cap Blanc… This little town is a maze of narrow streets, clogged with traffic.

After numerous stops to ask directions, I soon found myself riding through a very wealthy neighborhood, where large mansions were perched on steep hillsides overlooking a stunning coastline…

Very few people seemed to know where Cap Blanc was, and none of them knew anything about the significance of the spot… An old man at a service station had overheard what I was asking for, and came over to tell me in halting English that he used to swim there as a young man… He explained how to get there, and then wished me a “Bon Voyage!” before heading back to the chair in the shade where he had been sitting…

The beach far down below was where we first stopped, before riding up into the mountains to get a closer look at the point...

Thumbs up! We have made it to the most northerly tip of the African Continent...!!

There it is, Dudes !! Cap Blanc...1 Another Personal Milestone on the GBWT...

I finally found a seaside restaurant that looked out over a pretty bay, and on to the sandstone cliffs of the wedge of rock that jutted out into the Mediterranean Sea… A signpost in Arabic showed the way down to the beach, and a large “Grotto” where a few locals and tourists were walking to. There were no signs on this side of the peninsular marking Cap Blanc… All very different to Cape Aghulas, with all its signposts and holiday atmosphere…!! I looked up onto the slopes to the west of where we were, and saw a gravel road leading up to some houses that were being built there…

I rode back to a tar road and then looked for a side road that would take me closer to the point… After a short while, I was climbing up a steep gravel road, passing the last of the mansions on the hillside, and then riding down a narrow dirt track to a point where I could still turn the bike around without falling off the mountainside and down into the sea below…

I climbed off the Big Fella, a big grin on my face as I looked out to the point and thought about the thousands of kilometres we had ridden to get here…

“We made it, my friend…!” I said, patting the side of the tank…

We had ridden through 21 countries to get to Cap Blanc... Covered 23 500 km and taken 17 weeks to get here...!!

Couldn't have made it here without my trusty companion, the "Big Fella"...

The wind up on the slopes of the mountainside was a lot stronger than I had experienced down on the shoreline below, and the bike wobbled on its stand each time a strong gust blew over us… I drank a bottle of water and ate a packet of biscuits, while watching a group of people hiking up over the ridge of Cap Blanc and down to its most northern point… Their shouts to me were carried over on the wind, and we waved to each other for a while, before I got back on the bike and made my way back the way we had come.

At a nearby village, I asked for directions to Tabarka, close to the Algerian border, hoping that I would not have to ride back to Bizerte to hook up with the main road to this town… I was in luck…!!

A guy building a rock wall around his garden, explained in French that there was a back road through the countryside, via a town called Sejenne, located about 60 kms away… I was told to ride around Lac Bizerte and then along the eastern shore of another lake, and then head west for Mateur and the “Road number 7”… All this mostly in French, with the occasional scribble in the sand with a gnarled finger…

I thanked him and rode off, hoping that I would find my way to the border before nightfall…!! The GPS was hardly any use, and just took a straight line from Bizerte to Tabarka… From time to time, I had to zoom out on the screen to look for the purple line that told me I was still heading in the right direction…

The road though the country was narrow and bumpy, and twisted and turned around farms planted with Olives and fruit trees… I smelt the dung of cattle on the air, and this completed the sights and smells of farming country for me… Small herds of dairy cows grazed peacefully in the fields on either side of the road.

The dry and dusty farmlands of north western Tunisia... Great country roads to ride on...

A young boy riding a donkey, and herding a large flock of sheep, waved cheerfully to me as I passed… The fields of wheat and barley had already been harvested, and the land was a drab brown, but must have looked lush and green in the rainy season…

Each farmhouse was surrounded by a vineyard and fruit trees, and every so often, I would come across a small farm stall, selling fruit and small items of pottery… It reminded me of the countryside in the Eastern Cape, with its low hills and hidden valleys… After all the desert I had ridden through in the past few weeks, it was great to see stands of Pine and Juniper, and some very large Oak Trees, from which Cork was being stripped to sell to bottlers of wine…

Just when I thought my gravel road riding was over, I cam across a long section of over 15 kms, where roadworks were taking place… With my tyres pumped back to 3 bar, I had to take it easy, as the Big Fella began to handle a little skittishly to say the least, but we made it through without mishap…

Lunch in Nefza... Tasty...!!

I wanted to stop more often and take some photographs, but not knowing exactly where I was in relation to the border, made me hurry through this area, regretting it as I did so… I reached the town of Sejenne, and hooked up with Road 7, and headed west again, stopping on the far side of the village of Nefza, where I ate a late lunch of Couscous and lamb, a large boiled potato with chickpeas and onions, and mounted on top a huge Jalapeno pepper… The lamb was cooked out on an open flame right in front of me… Great tasting food, spicy and filling, just what I needed for the run into Tabarka and on to Algeria…

Just before Tabarka, I passed through Quechtata and stopped at the War Memorial of Ras Rajel. This one was a lot smaller than the others I had seen and stopped at, with its open patch of neatly mown lawn and the gravestones laid out in rows, leading to a large cross on a marble stand… Another quite salute and I was on my way again, chasing the setting sun…

This roadside merchant had almost hidden the signs indicating where I had to go...

The emblem of Tabarka blends in with the bright blue sky...

The cemetery at Ras Rajel...

I reached the entry to Tabarka, where a large blue sailing boat was mounted in the middle of a roundabout, and made my way through the streets of this pretty seaside town… There was a very relaxed atmosphere here, with people gathered around tables on pavement café’s enjoying coffee and snacks, watching the world go by…

I was given directions to the frontier, and climbed up a steep little road through the houses of the village, wondering as I went if I was not getting myself hopelessly lost… Then I saw the sign that said “Frontier Algerienne” and I breathed easy again… The road led steeply up around a mountain and climbed high above the town, and there I stopped to look back…

And what I saw took my breath away…

©GBWT 2010