Into Libya

Thursday 6th September

We drove up to Alexandria, a distance of 225kms, along the Desert Highway which was verdant and green most of the way! It’s amazing what water can achieve in a desert. There were fruit orchards, banana plantations, fields of vegetables and acres of olive trees to name but a few. Alexandria is a sprawling city over about 20kms of sea frontage. We headed for the Eastern Harbour and the Union Hotel which had been recommended to us. It was on the Corniche on the 5th floor, and had spectacular views over the harbour. A local man invited us for a juice at a café on the Corniche while we waited for the hotel staff to find us parking for Garfield in the side street next to the hotel. So we spent a pleasant hour chatting to him.
Once we were settled, we made our way to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina which was completed in 2002 at a cost of $355 million, and resembles a giant discus embedded in the ground at an angle like a second sun rising beside the Mediterranean. Pictograms, hieroglyphs and letters from every known alphabet are carved on its exterior to illustrate the diversity of knowledge embodied in this library. It is a new form of the Ancient Library which was founded by Ptolemy I – from ancient times; it was law that all ships docking in Alexandria were obliged to allow any scrolls on board to be copied, if they were of interest. It was a fascinating visit as there were several exhibitions to see and we saw one of two computers in the world, which can print and bind an entire book in 20 minutes!


Friday 7th September

After breakfast, we cleaned out Garfield and then waited for Jeff – he was catching the train up from Cairo. Jeff arrived at 10.30am and we left Alexandria to drive W along the North Beach road towards Libya. We stopped at El Alamein to look at the cemetery and museum. El Alamein means ‘Two Worlds’ and is an apt name for a place where the 2 sides in the Second World War met and fought fierce battles in the North African Campaign. From 1940 to 1943 more than 100 000 lives were claimed but in the 4 month battle at El Alamein alone, some 11 000 were killed and 70 000 wounded! The Allied War Cemetery was a tranquil place planted with trees and flowers in the middle of the desert, and had over 7 000 graves and almost 12 000 names in the memorial cloisters. Further along the road we passed the German and Italian cemeteries but we did not stop at these.
It is not safe to wander off the roads in this Western Desert area as a staggering 17 million landmines from the Second World War are estimated to still be in place.
We continued W along the Beach Road towards Mersa Matrouh which is a major ‘Summer holiday’ town for Egyptians and Libyans – their summer holidays are drawing to an end so there was a mass exodus in progress, and subsequently Brendan had managed to find a beach cottage right on the Mediterranean for us to stay in for 2 days. We met up with Brendan, Lisa, Han and the yellow truck at the cottage in the evening.

N 31 24.499 E 27 01.066


Saturday 8th September

We spent the morning relaxing and swimming in the crystal clear aquamarine and turquoise waters of the Mediterranean. There were actually quite big waves and I really enjoyed it. The sand is almost pure white and is a fine powdery texture, although there is not a shell in sight, just a lot of litter.
At 2pm we drove back into the town, a distance of about 25kms, to chat to our children on skype at an internet café. I am managing my homesickness now although I cannot explain how much I miss my children. I don’t know how I would feel if I was separated from Dave, but being separated from my children feels as if a chunk has been ripped out of me – there is a huge gaping hole inside of me and I think I am only coping now, as I can see the end in sight! We are having a wonderful time and I am still glad that we have done this trip, but I don’t think I ever want to be separated from all my children for such a long time ever again in my life. The thought of me lying in the bath with my kids sitting on the closed toilet, chatting to me for hours on end is one of the motivational thoughts that keep me heading north!


Sunday 9th September

A leisurely walk along the beach started our Sunday morning followed by a swim in the warm waves. The beach was not crowded so luckily I did not feel intimidated in my bikini – the local ladies swim fully clad here, head scarves and all. We then relaxed for the rest of the day and bade Lisa farewell as she was returning to Cairo to fly home to Canada. We left the beach cottage at 3.30pm and headed W towards the Libyan border, reaching Sollum just before sunset. We tried unsuccessfully to camp on the beach as the military kept chasing us, so eventually we ended up sleeping in the road outside the police station – they were very hospitable and gave us the use of a toilet inside. The local children were very intrigued with us and even after we all went to bed they were hanging around – they must have gone to bed at some point as they were all gone in the morning.

Our costs for Egypt were

Garfield customs and landing R1 261
Accommodation R1 305
Petrol R1 201
Sight seeing R1 706
Food R1 754
Drinks R 661
Transport/Taxi R 489
Internet R 79
Purchases R3 471



Monday 10th September

We were at the border before 8am but it took a full hour and a half to exit Egypt. As we crossed the border Zwam, our Libyan guide was waiting to meet us, which was a great relief for me as I had organized it for all 5 of us and I was stressed that there would be a hitch. With Zwam’s help we were through the border in about 1 ½ hours which even included Dave and him going off in a taxi to do the necessary paper work to register Garfield – once again with new number plates. The procedure was similar to Egypt (according to Dave) but just a lot quicker and easier to accomplish. But it still cost about R675 to get Garfield into Libya. The only way that travelers to Libya are granted visas is if it is done through a travel agency here in Libya, and it is mandatory to be accompanied by a Libyan escort all the time.
The countryside in Libya was much the same as Egypt – flat – but with a little more green growth around. Tobruk is a big city and we stopped to visit the Tobruk War Cemetery just 4kms S of Tobruk where there were 2 500 graves, and the Acroma War Cemetery which was 20kms W of Tobruk with 3 500 graves. A lot of the men killed were only boys and I am very glad that I have not had to send my son off to war – what a waste of life it is! The cemeteries are very well laid out and beautifully maintained – if only the human race could learn from these past wars and cease with greediness and fighting.

We traveled till after 8pm – everyone was tired and it was pitch dark! Dave seemed particularly grumpy and it is the wrong time of the month for me and I am one girl amongst 5 men so it is not easy – I had asked Dave to set up the shower as this will be the second night that we would not be able to shower. He was being otherwise and kept saying that we must just sleep in the truck with all the men as it was too windy for our tent – never giving a thought that I need the privacy of my tent to use my potty and to do my necessary ablutions! It was definitely not one of my easiest evenings in Africa.

N 32 36.270 E 23 07.608



Tuesday 11th September

We got going early at 7am and headed W along the coastal road. The roads in Libya are great and we have almost forgotten what potholes look like! The vehicles are really overloaded with the loads being taller than the height of the vehicle itself. There are lots of extremely old vehicles and we have taken a few photos of Peugeot trucks like Dad had years ago and Mazda like CJ’s old car, but these ones are really battered and bent – panel beaters don’t seem to exist in Libya and the cars just ‘nudge’ their way into spaces – Garfield has been bumped a few times by other cars trying to park behind or in front of us, but luckily we have strong bumpers and bull bars! The vehicles do not even look road worthy – sometimes all the back lights are missing! But we no longer see donkeys and bicycles; this is definitely a land of oil and petrol. Petrol is now only 87c a litre for us and in their money it is only 16c!!! It is really strange to watch the litre counter going faster than the money counter on the petrol bowser.
We drove past the Green Mountains alongside the Mediterranean until we reached Apollonia. N 32 54 054 E 21 57 914 Apollonia was a port city during Roman times in the 6th century AD. The Eastern Basilica was the most impressive with huge marble columns and fine mosaics on the floor.
After that we went to Cyrene which is the most important city of Greek origin in North Africa and is thought to have been founded in 631BC. It stands on a hill at 600m altitude with a magnificent view over the Mediterranean. The wealth of Cyrene is thought to have been due mainly to a native plant called silphium which had medicinal properties, in particular as an early form of birth control, and was exported all over the Greek Empire. Sadly it was harvested to extinction. We looked at the northern necropolis where the dead were entombed from the earliest times. There were 1 000’s of tombs cut into the rock and 100’s of carved stone sarcophagi spread across the hillside.
The third site we visited was Qasr Libya N 32 37 818 E 21 23 775 which is a 6th century Byzantine fort and church. In 1957 a floor of 50 stunning mosaic panels were discovered in almost perfect condition and are now housed in a museum. They are a unique collection showing the date the church was built (AD 539-40), Pharos lighthouse in Alexandria, Nile scenes, animals, birds and fish. They were similar to a tapestry – that is best viewed from a distance when their magnificence and detail came to life
Dave and I bought some lamb and couscous and once we found a beach camp for the evening, Zwam helped me to prepare a typical Libyan spicy lamb soup to be served with couscous. We are also eating a lot of local fruit – loads of melons and prickly pears.


Wednesday 12th September

We had a long day of traveling from 8 in the morning right through till 7pm when the sun set, covering a distance of 686kms. We only stopped once in the town of Banghazi to go to the Tunisia Consulate to check that we would be able to get our Tunisian visas at the border – luckily this info I had was correct and we can get them at the border.
Libya was granted independence from Italy in 1951 under King Idris but it was a poor country until oil was discovered in 1959. In September 1969 there was a coup in Banghazi and the charismatic 27 year old Gaddafi became the leader. He was deeply religious and wanted to establish a true Arab nation with Islam as the state religion so one of the things he did was ban alcohol. In 1976 Gaddafi shared his vision of equality of all people by publishing his ‘Green Book’. Because he supported radical armed groups around the world and Libya was implicated in the PanAm Lockerbie bombing in 1988, sanctions were imposed by the UN in 1992 and only lifted in 2003. This long period of isolation gave Gaddafi the opportunity to rethink the direction of Libya, and recently private enterprise has replaced state socialism with a new emphasis on Libya becoming the leading state in Africa. Libya has just celebrated National Day on the 1st Sept and everywhere we go there are green flags flying and billboards advertising the 38 years under Gaddafi’s dictatorship.
One of the largest civil engineering projects in the world today was started here in 1984, when water trapped deep under the Sahara (undisturbed for 15 000 years) was pumped up and piped thousands of kilometres to the N where it is most needed. The total amount of water in this reservoir under the Sahara is estimated to equal the discharge of the Nile for 200 years; however there are still some who criticize this project.
We once again just camped out on the beach and the first thing we all did after the long drive, was to dive into the refreshing waves. Then after a fresh water shower we sat and chatted while Zwam made us a Libyan spaghetti dish with camel meat in it! The meal was very tasty despite our initial reservations.



Thursday 13th September

We left at 7.15am and traveled till lunch time when we had to stop at a customs office to get our passports stamped, similar to the ‘registration’ in Sudan.
We then visited the Roman city of Leptis Magna N 32 38.102 E 14 17.204 Only about a third of this ancient city has been uncovered but what has been, is absolutely magnificent and our visit was a highlight in Libya – especially as it was so uncrowded. Phoenician traders from the eastern Mediterranean first developed Leptis Magna in the 6th century BC as a coastal trading post. It had fertile soil and the city increased in importance through grain and olive production and also because of the expanding trans-Saharan desert trade. During the 2nd century AD the city reached its peak of prosperity when the Libyan Septimius Severus became emperor and the city was home to 80 000 people. The first thing we saw was the recently restored Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus – it is massive with carved marble panels. Then we walked down the 20m wide streets towards the Hadrianic Baths which was a vast complex of linked bathing rooms – the natatio (cool swimming pool), frigidarium (cold chamber), tepidarium (warm chamber), caldarium (hot bath) and finally the laconia (sweat room). After that we went into the Severan Forum which is an open courtyard (100 x 60m) edged with arches and columns topped with charismatic Medusa heads – this was apparently the social centre of the city. We also saw the market, the 8 000 seat theatre and the 16 000 seat Amphitheatre which stands majestically overlooking the sea and was the site of mighty gladiatorial contests to the death between man and beast! These Romans certainly had everything they needed and also enjoyed life. The devastating earthquake in AD365 started the decline of Roman power and in the 5th century the Byzantines were attacked by local tribes so that when the Arabs arrived in 643 the city was already in ruins.
We left Leptis Magna at 5pm and made our way to Tripoli, the capital of Libya. What a lovely city – clean, well lit and friendly. The litter in Libya is a real problem and it seems that they do not have an effective system of garbage disposal in place – the towns are clean but it seems that all the collected litter is then just scattered out all over the countryside and beaches! We have been absolutely shocked to see litter lying everywhere and Libya is definitely the dirtiest country in Africa, although their toilets are spotless and they are clean and tidy in their daily living.
Libya is not set up for tourists at all and we have ‘bush camped’ each night – even here in Tripoli, Zwam took us to the park on the beachfront and said that we could just camp out! So here we are camped in a parking lot with 100’s of locals all around, playing soccer, walking and just generally enjoying the evening out. It is Ramadan now so all the people are fasting and basically resting in the day, and then they come out at night.
We went out to dinner and then walked around the souk stopping for a cappuccino and the boys smoked a sheesha. Before we knew it, it was midnight and we headed for bed.


Friday 14th September

Being a Friday and Ramadan there was basically nothing open or happening in Tripoli. Luckily, there was a Friday market (much like our Sunday markets) that we all went to. Tripoli is a beautiful city – well laid out and with a lovely beach front area.
We left at lunch time for the border to Tunisia, stopping on the way to see Sabratha, another ancient city dating back from Phoenician times. N 32 48.181 E 12 29.105 A lot of the city has not been restored and is still just ruins, but the theatre was restored by Italian archeologists in the 1930’s and has a towering 3 storey stage wall with 108 columns and gives the theatre a real presence.
We reached the border at 6.30pm and had left Libya and Zwam within the hour, but then it took another 2 hours to get the visas to enter Tunisia. So by 9.30pm – which is actually 8.30pm here in Tunisia – we were heading the 32kms towards the first town and a hotel with a shower!

Our costs in Libya were

Libyan visas R 557
Libyan guide R1 331
Garfield border fees R 675
Petrol R 328
Vehicle repairs R 55
Sight seeing R 219
Food R 342
Purchases R 71