4x4 Off-road SUV Travel in the Tunisian Sahara

All participants receive an information folder before the tour containing all possible meeting points, travel instructions, packing/preparation list for the 4x4 trip to the Sahara, and the freedom to choose where they want to join the travel group. The meeting point for the 4x4 Tunisia trip is at noon in Tübingen at OVERCROSS in the workshop. The meeting point for the journey on the same day in Switzerland is at Heidiland and the Goat Peter. The meeting point is in Italy near Milan, from where we will set off for the ferry the day before around three o'clock, which is officially scheduled to depart at three o'clock but has kept check-in open until 5:30 for years. Should there be an exceptional time deviation, you will learn about it through the travel group info from the OVERCROSS online guide, who will track you via satellite in the coming days!

At the port of Genoa, the off-road convoy meets in the parking lot between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM, unless another time is communicated (possibly earlier or later)! At the port, you will receive your travel documents such as ferry tickets from the CNT-Counter Terminal II in the shopping center at the port with a QR code for your 'fast check-in' and the OVERCROSS label for the 'fast lane' of the Tunisian customs and passport control, as well as meeting point for the route briefing on the ship. With the documents and corresponding 'sticker' on your vehicle, we drive into the belly of the Tanit ferry, which has since 2012 transported over 3200 guest workers and desert travelers and over 1060 vehicles across the Mediterranean to Tunis and Italy for the Tunisian ferry company CNT. After nightfall, we set sail and leave behind the sea of lights of Genoa.

In the morning hours, Sardinia and Corsica glide past the porthole of the ferry, and we hold the routing briefing in the conference room provided for us, where we have prepared the first surprise for you. Hello Africa: On the upper deck, we have one of the best vantage points of the northern part of the African continent and will first glimpse Cap Bon with the 420-meter-high Djebel Korbus before boarding the 'Halq al-Wādī' and mooring in the historic harbor of La Goulette, built by Emperor Charles V in 1535, at the quay. Touchdown Africa: Through the VIP service, which we gratefully receive from the ferry company, we are handed our passports including the stamped vehicles ready to go! No long waiting times at the police or customs, everything is already taken care of, and we can bypass the eternal customs procedure and leave the customs area with all entry formalities after about 30 to 45 minutes, including the local currency on board. Not far from 'La Petite Sicile,' we gather and start the 4x4 off-road adventure, covering the first kilometers on African soil through the capital Tunis to our first overnight stay at the Gulf of Hammamet. After a modest dinner, we enjoy the reception with a glass of undefinable delicious non-alcoholic drink before heading through the winding paths of the simple but very beautiful and clean hotel in Moorish-Tunisian architectural style to our room.

With a view of the Mediterranean, our day starts under the African sun with a 100% sensational breakfast buffet. The participant vehicles of the Off-road Pure Tour will be equipped here at the hotel with mobile devices to easily communicate background information and driving instructions during the ride. We drive on the toll highway towards the south. At the toll booths, all participants can pass for free and are not held up by numbers, receipts, etc. The background is: We want to implement a fast, dynamic travel speed that corresponds to the driving time of two to three vehicles.

On the 4x4 experience trip, we try to surprise you every day with a little something or deliver a highlight. We will have lunch at one of the largest Roman colossi and believe we can score with one or another background story. On the road towards Libya – just before the border, we turn right into the Dahar mountain range, where Star Wars was filmed and where the Star Wars hotel stands. The second culinary highlight of the day will be the Tunisian dinner prepared by Faisal: Faisal spent a few years in Switzerland and knows how to pamper us with his honest Tunisian home cooking in three courses, simply but to the point with our overly high expectations.

The day at the gate to the Sahara begins relaxed with breakfast and a briefing under the palms. After consulting with the participants, we will purchase fuel, water, and part of the food we need for this Sahara expedition. We leave civilization and build a camp not far from it, where we will conduct our first off-road introductory training. The background of this training for advanced off-road drivers is recovery and driving in a team as well as perfecting the technique with the 4x4 in Sahara sand.

Today we travel over the Hamada towards the south for a short stopover in the romantically renowned oasis Ksar Chillane. The oasis is the best example that tourism destroys what it discovers. Here the eternally smiling chief guide Feti and our star chef Habib await us. We leave the oasis towards the south into the heart of the Tunisian Sahara.

Time and kilometers no longer matter, there is no internet, and we are left to ourselves – in the middle of the dunes, which become increasingly challenging and sensational throughout the day. We want to take the opportunity to convey something to you about the geopolitical situation of the Sahara, the life of the nomads, and of course the technique of sand driving. In the afternoon we have reached the Dekanis desert area and start the same process of camp setup, making a fire, and the luxury of being cooked for by Habib. The genius of the evening cooking is that each of us is warmly invited to cook in community and to learn about the completely different way of cooking and Tunisian cuisine. The fire is lit, and the three-course Sahara menu is served! Quality: Delicious!

We pass the southern Grand Erg Oriental. Long since in sync and in professional recovery mode like in the Camel Trophy, we work our way through the seemingly endless sea of sand in the Sahara. It is fascinating to experience how quickly one becomes accustomed to solitude and how little one yearns for civilization. From morning to evening, all participants have the opportunity to learn how to bake the desert bread and take with them moral, historical, and religious backgrounds on the journey through Allah's garden. At this point, a participant who, in his professional career, took an intercontinental flight around the world twice a week remarked: This is a journey and an experience that is sustainable for him – and from which he takes away more than from all his travels around the world.

We are on our way north, crossing the El Mida sand sea. In the last days of the desert stages, we have gathered an extreme amount of off-road experience with our off-road vehicles, packed tips, tricks, and techniques, and most importantly, enjoyed the 1000-star sky. We have the technical capability to potentially show you the rising Stalinkette – which is sensationally quirky. We would like to use this last day to give you some more information about the Sahara and its inhabitants before we return to civilization and fill our empty fuel tanks.

We leave the desert and reach the small camp under the palms with super clean sanitary facilities in the afternoon – which is rather uncommon in Tunisia! After a thorough shower, there is time to repack, enjoy a beer in the shade with the other participants, and review the (for almost everyone) sensational adventure. Our private chef and the chief guide will leave the team today, and Renate will take the cooking spoon from Habib and I will take the guiding scepter from Feti. Dinner is usually a blast, and the relaxed evening is always a pleasure for all participants who have gained an exciting awakening of consciousness through the experiences of the 4x4 off-road journey in the Sahara in recent days.

A day without a plan and without a goal – just a day for you without goals and activities, a pause in nothingness.

On- and off-road, we cross the salt lake outfall of the largest salt lake on the African continent. The Chott-el-Jerid lake reflects over hundreds of square kilometers like a sea in the desert. Mile after mile, the mirage drifts past our car, the reflecting lake remains unattainable, and we reach the dry outfalls of the Atlas Mountains, which have their origin in the High Atlas in Morocco. We have reached the dried-up Chott el Rahim – on April 7, 1943, Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, of the 10th Panzer Division, was attacked by British fighter bombers here. In this attack on the vast open field before the Atlas outfalls, Count von Stauffenberg lost his right eye, right hand, and two fingers of his left hand.

Out of nature and back into civilization – today proceeds interactively: Either we start far south at sunrise or at our friend Raour's farm in the middle of Tunisia. Via the legendary Rommel post, we reach the Tunisian 'Ruhrpott' and cross the country past Kairouan onto the highway in the north and to the coast of the Mediterranean. Based on experience, participants want to enjoy the 'luxury' of the hotel a bit, swim in the Mediterranean, and enjoy a cocktail in the infinity pool. Luxury is: Somewhere between 1000 and 5 stars, somewhere between time and having time, somewhere in the middle of nowhere – and we have been able to experience everything from all of it!

Felt like speeding with 'lightning speed' on the highway northward. The tickets are ready, and we are at customs in 15 minutes. After stamping out, we line up and file back into the belly of the ferry, which will take us across the sea to Bella Italia in 24 hours. Usually, it is the case that the boss of the ferry company CTN has prepared a little surprise for us between lunch and dinner – promised, but that is also the last one! We set sail and leave Africa behind us – with the awareness and appreciation of having experienced something that does not fall into the Swabian category: 'Das hann iii ja zahld!'

We meet for the last breakfast in the restaurant and provide the link for the pictures and other information to all participants. We will dock at the ferry port in Genoa around noon. The ferry spits us out, and we feel like racing over the highway through space and time... That's how it feels when you let the lightness of being and the challenge of the miles experienced during the desert expedition fly by your mind's eye once again – until you realize that the engine in front of the house is still running. At this point, a thank you to the over 1000 off-road/overlanding participants whom we have had the privilege of taking into the Sahara over the past 25 years, with whom we have always taken home an amazing time full of friendships.