Djerba: Friday

Our last full day on this wonderful island!

We started the day with breakfast and chilled out by the fresh water pool for the morning in our new spot (once again, I had got up early and put some towels out in stereotypical German fashion). We snoozed the morning away in the sun before going up for lunch.

The afternoon was eventful! We had booked in a horse and cart ride to take us to the local market and then to visit the crocodile park. We met our guide for the afternoon, a young guy named Ali who was in his early twenties. I had language issues communicating with him as his English wasn't very good. Poppy exhausted her brain today as she acted as translator for the whole of the excursion! I think Ali even learnt some English along the way. He was a very friendly man who really made an effort to make our day enjoyable. There were constant jokes and smiles throughout. He even let Poppy and I take the reigns of the cart for a little while.

First stop was the local market! Ali took us around and showed us various different stalls and shops. We came across a small stall with a crate of Terrapins for sale! The guy was trying to get us to buy one from him. We explained about how customs wouldnt allow it but he was adamant that if we just put it in one of our pockets, everything would be fine! I wasnt to keen on the idea but i'm pretty sure that if I had been more enthusiastic, Poppy would have bought one! I reckon I would of ended up playing the role of 'terrapin smuggler' though!

So we perused a few more stalls and shops. A cheeky man tried to sell us some spices for 60 Dinar (30 English pounds) but Poppy managed to knock him down to a third of what he was asking. He looked upset as we left empty handed!

After a short beverage break in the middle of the market we made our way back to our horse 'Diamo' to travel to the crocodile park. There were 400 crocodiles in this park! I had never been so close to one before! When we arrived they were all just sleeping and sunbathing, not doing much at all really! There were babies, youngsters and fully grown crocs there! Just after 6pm, it was feeding time! This brought the crocs to life! They were fed from a massive box of raw chicken. The fearless worker just hopped the fence into the enclosure and literally just threw pieces of chicken at them!

We left after watching the animals eat. Outside the park, we met the guy that we had booked the trip with, one of Ali's friends. He appeared a little worse for wear, initially I thought he had been smoking cannabis but we then found out he had been on the beers! He couldnt walk in a straight line and his eyes were glazed! Quite entertaining to watch and talk to! Ali, bless him, had sneaked off in the park and got some souveniers for us, necklaces. On the way back, he asked us to close our eyes and then open them and he had them out in front of us dangling from each hand! he didnt want money or anything for them, he was just pleased with the day he had and to make some new friends. He even invited us out for drinks with him and his friends that evening.

We did not join Ali that night. We just mooched around the hotel and had an early night.. We were going home tomorrow... It had been a lovely week, one I will never forget. Thank you Poppy for an amazing week! Same time next year?