Hammamet Tunisia

Camel Ride

Camel ride in Hammamet, Tunisia

You can travel to the safari zoo in Sousse for a cheap camel ride but we decided to go for one a bit closer to our hotel in Hammamet.

We booked the trip through one of the hotel approved salesmen who wonder around the complex and it cost us 30 DT each (about £15).

Where we picked up the camels

There were six of us from out hotel (the Sol Azur) and we were picked up at the hotel gates at about 10.00am by a mini bus and taken about 10 minutes inland to the camel lodge.  Another six or so people from another hotel arrived at the same time and we were given a seat in the shade whilst they setup the camels.  Being typical Tunisians they didn’t waste this opportunity to try and sell us things but they weren’t very persistent and we resisted their offers to spend £3 on a head scarf.

We were signalled to come down to the camels as they were ready for us.  I’d been on a camel before in Tennerife when I was younger so knew what to expect when mounting the beast.  My one was very well behaved and as soon as I got on he got straight up and was ready to go.  Some were a bit naughty and gave their riders a fright but overall they were a good bunch of dromedaries.

My Camel Getting Ready

The ride lasted for about two hours and saw us go across a paved road, past some houses then up a path to the top of a big hill.  At the top we were served complimentary drinks in a Bedouin tent and encouraged to dress up as Arabs and get our photos taken.  The views of the Hammamet coastline and beaches from atop of the hill were amazing and worth the journey alone. There was also a couple of authentic mad Arabic women in the tent to provide entertainment before we set off again on our trusty steeds to the bottom of the mountain/hill.  Being the enterprising fellows that they are the guy that was taken photos had managed to get the photos printed out by the time we got back to base and kindly offered to sell them to us for a mere 5DT per photo.  We took him up on his offer and bought all five for about £12.

What's He Doing?

This was the only excursion we did and I would definitely recommend it.  The same guys were also  selling quad bike rides in the hills/mountains as well as horse drawn carriage rides.

Although I was expecting it this was the time during out trip to Tunisia of the holiday where I was offered a camel in exchange for my girlfriend.  He offered two and I tried to haggle him up to three but in the end we agreed at two and a baby.

Taking a rest at the top of the mountain in Hammamet

Tunisian Dog

View of Hammamet from top of Camel Mountain

Another view of Hammamet from top of Camel Mountain