Our hotel in Sousse was about 130 km from the airport in Tunis (Carthage International Airport) so we decided to make an early start to be assured of arriving at the airport with plenty of time for our 11:30 boarding time.
We checked out at 07:30 and Arbi, our superb driver for the past twelve days was waiting as always to load bags and take north to Tunis. Much of our travel was on the expressway at 110 km/h but things slowed considerably as we approached the outskirts of Tunis where the traffic density was horrific.
We arrived at the Carthage International at 10:15 and were through check-in, customs and security in relatively quick time and had only an hour or so to wait before boarding began.
Departing Tunisia
The flight time to Algiers was about eighty minutes and much of the flight path followed the North African coastline. It was interesting to note that Tunisia seems much drier than Algeria. From Tunis to Annaba the farmland appeared yellow with drought effects apparent but from Annaba onwards there seemed to be a more fertile verdant landscape with appreciable areas of green crops and orchards.
Arriving in Algeria
On landing at Algiers airport and whilst still taxiing we were amused to see that the majority of the passengers stood up to collect things from the overhead lockers. This was happening well before we had come to a final stop at the terminal. These passengers were reprimanded and told that the plane would not finally dock at the airbridge until they’d all been seated again!
We filled in ‘arrival cards’ and then waited in a queue for about and hour to go through customs. The female custom’s officer dealing with our queue did not seem very friendly towards most passengers but when she found that we were tourists spending a fortnight in her country, she became quite animated.
Rabiha, our contact person with ‘Native Eye’ was waiting outside the terminal for us and we attempted to make pleasantries in French as she led us to the van and its driver.
The drive from the airport to our Hotel du Val was in very heavy traffic and our driver negotiated the final narrow streets to our hotel with admirable skill.
We went to an ATM to get some local currency which is the dinar (DZD), as in Tunisia but here in Algeria, AUD $1 = DZD 89 whereas in Tunisia, AUD 1$ = 2 TND.
We have a very comfortable room on the third floor of the Hotel du Val which is in a district with a number of restaurants and cafés close by.
View from our hotel room of playground at 7-00pm, Algiers
We have much of the afternoon to relax, write diaries and get some washing done before commencing our exploration of Algiers tomorrow.