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Nature |
Tour of the National Nature Parks of Tunisia (9 days)
Tunisia is the most northern country of the African continent. Tunisia has an area of 164,000 square metres..
Its geographical and biological diversity is exceptional through the existence of varied landscapes.
When you travel a few hundred of kilometres from south to north, you find yourself transported from a landscape of Sahara desert to green and dense mountain forests.
Tunisia has a coastline of 1,300 km on the Mediterranean which offers to the country one of the largest maritime openings in Africa.
Tunisia has seven major ecosystems each of them is well preserved into 8 national parks and 20 natural reserves. These ecosystems are: coastal, island, wetland, mountain, steppe and savannah, desert and oasis.
It is therefore not surprising that Tunisia can offer an interesting range of natural landscapes.
Our tour of Tunisia which runs from north to south will show you the biological and geographical diversity through a selection of Tunisian National Nature Parks.
Program
| Day 1 |
- Arrival at Tunis Carthage Airport. Welcome and transfer to the hotel in Tunis.
- Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
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| Day 2 |
| - Visit of Boukornine National Nature Park. Boukornine is a national park of northern Tunisia. Established in February 1987, it covers 1 939 hectares. Located in the immediate vicinity of the town of Hammam Lif and 18 kilometres from Tunis, the capital, it is designated as a peri-urban park. This park is home to many plant species, some very rare in Tunisia, as the cyclamen, orchids and wild tulips. Among mammals there is the wild boar, widespread and sometimes familiar, jackal, wild cats and porcupines. In the cliffs of the mountains also breed a large number of raptors and several species of migratory and resident birds. In the park, there are also reptiles such as cameleons, the Ocellated lizard, the tortoise and snake varieties, the most common being the black horseshoe. |
| Day 3 |
- Transfer to Ichkeul
- Visit the National Nature Park of Ichkeul.
The most famous national Tunisian parks, the Ichkeul is part of the world heritage of Unesco since 1980.
The lake and wetlands of Ichkeul are a stopover point for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds - ducks, geese, storks, flamingos, etc.. – Every year they come to feed and nest there. The lake is the last remnant of a chain of lakes which once extended across North Africa. It is a wetland used for wintering birds of 180 species which is rare. It consists of Lake Ichkeul, an area of 50 square kilometres of swamp and a mountain peak 510 meters above sea level. The lake has the distinction of being powered by six rivers of freshwater during the winter and be connected to the Mediterranean Sea via Lake Bizerte (through channel Tinja) during the summer, which greatly increases the salinity of its waters. This area is one of the most important bird reserves in North Africa. It hosts a fauna and flora. Thus, we may have between 200 and 400 000 birds during the winter including rare species such as Purple Gallinule, the Marbled Duck and common species such as Greylag goose, wild duck, stork or the flamingo. The lake hosts a plant, Potamogeton, which serves as a staple food for birds. The lake and marshes, also host of fish species in brackish waters. The limestone massif is covered by olive and mastic. The park has bathroom from the middle ages and still used by some people.
- Transfer to hotel in Bizerte.
- Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
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| Day 4 |
- Continuation to El Feija
- Visit the National Nature Park of El Feija. The National Nature Park of El Feija, located about 200 kilometers west of Tunis and fifty miles west of Jendouba, is a Tunisian national park. It covers a total area of 2 632 hectares including 417 hectares constituting a full protection zone closed and designed to preserve the Barbary deer. We can observe it early morning or at sunset. Its weight can reach 180 pounds and his height 1.40 m. The park represents the natural environment of the Kroumirie and is the wettest region of Tunisia. The park's wildlife is very diverse: there are over twenty species of mammals, 70 birds and twenty species of reptiles. Among the features of the mammalian fauna of the park, there are wild boars, jackal, fox, genet, weasel, hedgehog, wild cat, mongoose, hare, porcupine, bat, shrew, dormouse or mouse Scots. The birds typical of the forest park are Levaillant Pic of the chaffinch, the jay, the cuckoo, the hoopoe, wood pigeon, the falcon squire, owl, owl, raven, the booted eagle, the hawk, the warbler, blackbird, bunting or the canary.
- After visiting the park continuation to Le Kef
- Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Le Kef
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| Day 5 |
- Continuation to the National Nature Park of Chaambi. The National Park of Chambi is one of eight Tunisian national parks created in 1980.
- Since 1977, the site is registered as a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO.
It covers 6 723 hectares around the Jebel Chambi, the highest point of Tunisia, located in the west (the border between Algeria and the city of Kasserine).
It was created to protect fauna and flora typical of a semi-arid mountainous area.
262 plant species are identified and divided into three layers:
• up to an altitude of 900 meters we find the alfa
• 900 to 1 100 meters, grows a forest of Aleppo pines, Phoenician juniper and rosemary
• over 1 100 meters we find the oaks.
The fauna is represented by 24 species of mammals including mountain gazelle or Cuvier's gazelle, emblematic animal of the park, and the Barbary sheep, two protected species that have between 200 and 300 individuals. The goal is to double its population to 500 individuals by 2010 and introduce new species including Barbary deer. A large bird also enjoys protection measures: the partridge, the nozzle cross-pins, the Egyptian vulture, the hawk in Europe, the Bonelli's eagle, peregrine falcon, etc..
The park contains an eco-museum and is maintained by a staff of 75 workers. Dinner and overnight at the hotel at Kasserine
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| Day 6 |
- Continuation to the National Nature Park of Bou Hedma. The National Park of Bouhedma is a national park in southern Tunisia created December 18, 1980.
Covering 16 448 hectares, is the second largest park in Tunisia.
Last savannahs of North Africa, this park is home to many plant and animal species protected as being the last specimens of their kind such as acacia totillis, Dorcas gazelles or Barbary sheep, virtually disappeared elsewhere in Tunisia. Some individuals reintroduced in the twentieth century after their complete disappearance in the site, such as ostriches. A large colony thrives today in the enclave, and the Addax antelope.
- Continuation to Mahres
- Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Mahres
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| Day 7 |
- Continuation to the oasis of Douz, gateway to the Sahara and point of departure in 4x4 vehicles to the National Nature Park of Jbil.
The National Park of Jbil is located in the Sahara desert of Tunisia and is an important area for bird conservation
Created October 24, 1994 it is the newest and largest nature parks in Tunisia with a total area of 150 000 hectares.
It has an area where nature Saharan fauna and flora survive in extreme conditions, where the environment is very fragile and the occupants often threatened. There are protected species: mammals such as gazelles, fennecs and very rare birds, such as bustards and various reptiles.
- After visiting the park drive back to Douz
- Dinner and overnight in camp.
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| Day 8 |
- Drive back to Tunis via El Jem (visit the Roman amphitheatre) and Kairouan
- Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Tunis
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| Day 9 |
| - Transfer to the Tunis Carthage airport
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