Michael,

You are painting a pretty bleak picture of Tunisia.
We know you had a hell of a time getting out when the pandemic hit and that it cost you dearly in the end.
The border is porous indeed and there are jihadists operating out of a mountainous area straddling it but this is pretty much the only no go area in the country. It is curtained off and shouldn't put anyone off from visiting.
Tunisia has its problems, but so far it is safe.
Lots of Algerians used to drive across the border to vacation in Hammamet and other resorts on the coast. Tunisia was to middle class Algerians what Turkey is to Iranians : a relaxed place to unwind for a few days when Europe remains a distant dream.

L.

Not on purpose, and certainly not because I have any grudge against Tunisia.

The unfortunate reality is that the probability of encountering "problems" in Tunisia in 2022 is a heck of a lot higher than it was prior to 2020. Politically, the country is unstable, and financially, the country is in deep trouble. Neither of those conditions existed prior to 2020.
It is safe for tourists today, if by safe you mean no risk of physical aggression, robbery, that kind of thing. It's not safe from capricious government dictates, such as the problems I had with the customs fees imposed on me when I exported my motorcycle. If there is any kind of political uprising in the future, which is something that unfortunately cannot be ruled out, this probably won't affect the physical safety of tourists (provided they stay in their hotel), but it will likely affect their ability to move around freely.

If the original poster had written "I'd like to take an all-inclusive flight and hotel package to a nice resort in Djerba", I would have said "By all means, go ahead and do it without worries". But that's not what the OP was planning to do. He wanted to take his own vehicle there, and then leave the vehicle behind in the country for 3 months or so. For reasons I explained above, now is not the time to consider doing that.

Michael

As far as I know there has never been a Customs policy where you could leave a vehicle in Tunisia and leave the country, as you can do in Morocco with easily acquired paperwork. Covid made an exception to that rule all around the world. Some had no problems retrieving their vehicle, as we read, some did.
Covid aside, in my experience, to pretend your vehicle is broken down or abandoned in the desert won’t work in North African countries, even decades before digital records were kept.
That is what the TVIP is all about (a less strict version of a Carnet): making sure the vehicle is not sold on the side.


Pre-Covid the border has never been closed, but for foreigners some crossings are easier or more used than others.
In the good years (pre-1990; 2000- ~2011) many desert overlanders came to North Africa via Tunisia and used Taleb Larbi out of Nefta, but as these days you need an agency ‘invite’ and escort in Algeria at at least €100/day (can depend on nationality if staying in the north).
Levelo sums it up well.

Some Algerian agency contacts here: https://sahara-overland.com/algeria-3/

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Granted Michael, I also wouldn't leave a vehicle behind in Tunisia. It is just asking for trouble.

I assume you were based somewhere in the south when you were working in Algeria. This is no holiday turf.
A steady stream of Algerians have been visiting Tunisia every year, either to visit relatives or relax on the coast in the north and east. The figure is pretty high, it's in the hundreds of thousands.
Since the closure of the Moroccan border back in 1994 this is the only option left for them.
Algerians have felt trapped in their own land since March 2020. The authorities have sealed all borders off ( the decision was obviously not entirely health-related ) and lots of folks were suffocating. Thus the reopening is great news for those who badly need a change of air.
The ' bad guys ' have never needed official border posts to travel back and forth

The changes initiated after the Revolution and the demise of the Ben Ali regime are not settled yet.
It certainly feels like Tunisia is going backwards at the moment but the civil society is quite strong and people are starting to react peacefully.

I don't see Tunisia collapsing any time soon.

Levelo.

I was based (at different times) in Hassi Messaoud, In Salan, Ouargla, Ghardaia, and In Amenas. You are correct, none of these are "holiday turf" for a normal package tourist, but they are in exactly the desert locations that many in the Horizons Unlimited community want to visit.

I don't either, I think it is a resilient society. But, as one would say in the aviation industry, there is a significant risk of unforecasted turbulence on the route ahead.

Michael

Good morning,


In Tunis the idea in principle is to go down this matmata-chenini then go to Ksar Ghline, cross Chott El Jerid and go up the mountain oasis road.

Do you think I need to contact an agency and have an escort?

The idea was to go back through Algeria, to visit Timgad and Djmila, which we couldn't visit before. There is no ferry from Alicante, nor Almeria. There is only ferry to Valencia,

Would it be possible to cross through "bou chebka" with a visa already obtained from Spain? and without agency or they will ask us to hire an agency

In 2009 we went to Tioundof and in 2010 to Tamanrrasset and Djanet. We went with an Algerian friend who acted as an interpreter for us and we were able to pass, without an escort and without an agency, we only had problems at the last control before entering Tiundouf, although in the end we managed to pass, the rest with a little words and patience we managed to pass ...so I think it was more of a control measure like in Western Sahara than really a requirement, but this was 12 years ago and the world has changed a lot since then

Thanks

As far as I understood, in Tunisia there was never a need to organise an escort way in advance (like Algeria). I assumed you got to a checkpoint and they say you can't go ahead without an escort / permit. Best to ask around in Touzeur where there is/was lots of desert tourism.

(fyi: I remember seeing a vehicle trapped in the salt-mud of Chott el Djerid a few metres from the road and thinking, I don't fancy that. But maybe like Lac Iriki in Morocco, there is a marked route.)

In my experience, at the Algerian border you need your visa of course, but for Brits at least you cannot get that visa without the 'certificat d'hebergement' (proof of lodgings).
An agency escort trounces a CdH and, as we were heading for the deep south where - like your Algerian friend – the agency guys helped negotiate sticky road checkpoints, gendarmerie restrictions (also only on highways) as well as offered genuine desert guiding know-how, they were worth paying for as I was with a group.
The escort would present an 'Ordre de Mission' [permit] at a road checkpoint and, depending on the mood of the guard, we'd pass through.

Were I with chums I might try the visa app with a hotel reservation.
They can only reject it.

Again, in my experience consulates as well as certain border posts get used to a routine:
Desert bound Brit applying for tourist visa in London consulate? Agency invite must be faxed direct with route.
Brits then rocking up at Taleb Larbi (post 2003). Where is your agency escort?
Checkpoint in the populated north? Don't know but I assume they will never have seen a foreign car (unescorted) and will presume if you got this far you can carry on to where you are going. Or they may be scared of getting in trouble and play it by the book. Then the gendarmerie (a bit like republican guard) may spot you and want to throw their weight around [by escorting you across a given region, lights flashing].

I think Spanish overlanders are quite a new thing in Algeria.
Spanish visa experience could be quite different, but as you will know Alg has become politically less stable in the last couple of years. I don't know if that affects tourist visas.

As you will know, post 2003 mass kidnappings and 2013 oil base attack, the Algerians do not want the embarrassment of kidnapped or shot-up foreigners, be they desert tourists with relatively slack protection (underpaid agency escort), or very heavily protected and restricted foreign oil industry workers who, as we read, had a totally different experience of Algeria.

I assume you went to Tindouf on a humanitarian mission, not as regular tourists?
That has long been an exception to get to that corner of Alg, especially with Spanish Polisario support.

Post Arab Spring things became more restricted in Alg, certainly in the deep south. Last I heard no off-road, even with escort, except Assekrem track and parts of Illizi wilaya (Djanet etc, which we did in 2018 with a well-connected German agency).

The key as always is to get the visa by whatever means. You may have to specify a border entry point and date. As said in my other post, I would not pick Bou Chebka. You might waltz through or they may freak out.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Thanks Chris,
I don't exactly remember that they stopped us in the north, but they did stare at us, wanting to stop us, I really don't remember seeing other foreign cars, only in the south a Swiss raid

Regarding Algeria, the Taleb Harbi border crossing, I think it is very far south and I think they would not let me pass without an agency/escort,
what do you think?
On the other hand, the further north I think it will be easier and I will not need an agency: if I rule out Bou Chebka, which one would you try: Ras el Ayoun, Kaalat Sinan or Hedadda? Which is faster, easier and less dangerous?

We went to Tindouf independently (although we had authorization from the Polisario Front), at the last control they did not let us pass...

Regarding Tunis, I am going with the family, the idea is to go from Douz to Tozouer along the road marked P16, with google map it seems that it is paved, is that correct or is it a dirt track?

thanks