Monday Feb 5. Setting off for Algeria and Tunisia. (Yoriko is in Japan.) Why these countries? Roman ruins mostly. There are a lot of them. We were scheduled to visit Tunisia on a Med Cruise in 2015, but a terrorist event made the cruise line reconsider. I also had a trip scheduled in 2021, but the pandemic happened.

Algeria is one of the more difficult countries to get a visa for. An expensive visa too. There is some danger involved too. The guide says our bus will be escorted by police. We were told that binoculars are illegal in the country. Odd. My camera, much more powerful than binocs, will be okay. We aren’t going anywhere near the bordering countries, so it should be safe. Algiers and Constantine, with a main road in between.

Tunisia doesn’t require a visa, nor a police escort. The State department includes dire warnings for the borders of Tunisia too, but we’re not going there. No police escort. More Roman ruins. Some Star Wars film locations.

This is a fairly short trip (21 days). I’m not adding any time before or after. There will surely be events that are repeated experiences from my trips to Morocco and Egypt. A camel ride, for example.

At the moment I’m sitting in San Diego airport, watching a serious rainstorm. The flight to San Fran has been delayed, but I should make my connecting flight. I’m in the United Lounge, where I’ve been entertained by a man at the bar talking on his phone with his outdoor voice, then by an unhappy baby. Lounges aren’t what they used to be. Good food though.