Tunis - ElBorma

[beba]

Does anybody have a new information about permission to military space in south Tunesia?
It is still impossible to get a permission from Mr.Bechir Ali in Tatouine?

[kevinrbeech]

When we were in Tunisia at the start of January I was told that it was now possible to obtain a permit in person in Tataouine. The rules had been relaxed two weeks before.
Kevin

[beba]

Thanks you very much Kevin!
I will be in Tusnesia from 11.March.
After I will come back, I brink report.

[michal4]

Beba,

Do you know what is the procedure to get a permission to el borma. Is it necessary to prepare/send any documents in advance or just you can settle everything when you are already there ? How long does it take and how much is it?
Thx for any info.
michal4

[beba]

The permission is given by Mr.Bechir Ali in Tataouine. The office is on same street with hotel LaPalmeria. You can ask in reception.
There is bussines card: http://www.weber.cz/bebaweb/Tunis/TR...i_povoleni.jpg
There is permit request:
http://www.weber.cz/bebaweb/Download...try_permit.doc
In 2004year I got permit without I send request before.
In this time I send request by fax one week ago and I dont have any response.

[michal4]

Thank you Beba,
I wish you a great trip.
When are you back?
michal

[Chris Scott]

FYI I met a French couple on the boat last week who told me that permission was granted from the Syndicat at Tataouine to travel south as long as you had a sat phone and supplied an exact itinerary.
But I am not sure if this allows you to go all the way to El Borma which I believe was always restricted.

Chris S

[beba]

I just back from Tunesia.
It was not problem to get the permission to the south area. The permisson issue Touristic Syndicate in Tataouine. You must send request by fax two weeks before.
Fax: 0021675862028.
There is the form: http://www.weber.cz/bebaweb/Download...try_permit.doc
We payed only aprox 1€/person like present for Mr.Bechir Ali....

[mladen]

We are leaving for Tunis at the end of April and the informations above from Beba are just wath we need. Thanks.

I need some more information. Firs of all, I've got some mixed information about a guide for the south of Tunis. We want to visit ElBorma and BjorElKhadra, so do we need a tunisian guide or is enough to have the permission for the south?

Do you recomend crossing from ElBorma to BjorELKhadra through the dunes? I've got some information that they are not difficoult to cross, or it is better to go through the pipeline?

I've also got some mixed information about fuel, so is it possible to get fuel in ElBorma and BjorElKhadra?

Thanks for the answers and exchuse me for my english.

[Mandarax]

You don't need a guide for the restricted zone. Get the permission, make 10 to 15 copies of it. You need to check with every military post you pass and give them one of the copies. If you don't have copies, they are obliged to copy your papers by hand (which will take some time and patience).

With a group of friends I've been there and I wrote a ride report.

The english version is here: What I did last Xmas (A noob in Tunisia) - ADVrider It takes some time to load because of the pictures, so be patient. If you are on a slow line, I suggest deactivating the display of pictures in your browser.

The german version is separated into report and pictures, so it loads faster. I can be found here: Tunesien 2007

El Borma has a petrol station, in Borj El Khadra petrol can be bought (as long as supplies last) from canisters at the Café 7 Novembre. You should not rely on getting petrol in Borj El Khadra. Next chance following the border to Libya would be Tiaret and then again in Remada. Expect prices to double in the south.

The area between El Borma and Borj El Khadra can be crossed within two or three days. We did it starting in the south because this way we could climb the larger dunes from the not so steep side. But it should not be too difficult to go the opposite direction.

[mladen]

Thanks for the reply. I've read your ride report, it is full of informations and well written.
Our plans are to go from ElBorma through the tracks to BjorElKhadra, and the next day through the dunes back to ElBorma. Do you think is possible to cross the dunes in one day? We ride AfricaTwins and KTMLC950, do you think that it is better to stay out of the dunes with this motorbikes and just go on the tracks?

[Mandarax]

Originally Posted by mladen

Our plans are to go from ElBorma through the tracks to BjorElKhadra, and the next day through the dunes back to ElBorma. Do you think is possible to cross the dunes in one day? We ride AfricaTwins and KTMLC950, do you think that it is better to stay out of the dunes with this motorbikes and just go on the tracks?

Air-line distance is about 160km, about 20km of it (south of El Borma) can be covered using the track leading to the oil fields. Taking the tracks can stretch the distance to about 250km.

In the dunes we had an average speed below 25km/h, on the tracks this might go up to 40km/h. But there are other factors to concider. Most of them are in your influence:
How experienced are you as a rider in dunes?
How much petrol do/can you carry? Petrol consumption in the dunes can be double the usual amount. Calculate at least factor 1.5x.
How much luggage do you carry that makes it difficult to pick up the bike after dropping it? Each of you should be able to pick up his own bike. The others might not be able to help you. And the bike will most likely not drop only once.

Other factors you cannot influence in advance:
The weather.
How is the sand? Did it rain before and make it easy to ride or was it dry the weeks before so you have to dig out the bike frequently?
Are you able to read the layout so you find ridable paths?
Will there be fuel in Borj El Khadra? If not, you might get stuck there for a while.

The worst case scenarios in the dunes:
You're two up on two bikes. One of the bikes brakes down and you are not able to fix it on the spot. If you want to keep the broken down bike, someone has to stay with it. And he needs food and water for the time he waits for help. If this happens in the middle of nowhere, the other one might need a day to get to the next camp. He needs to find either means for repair (tools, parts) or some kind of transportation for the broken down bike and it's rider. That might take some time, easyly days. Getting back would take another day.
Now think about a similar scenario, but this time it's not a bike that broke down but it's an injured rider.

These are the main conciderations that come to mind.

BTW: To you get the permission to the restricted zone you sign a paper which exempts the tunisian authorities from the responsibility to carry out search and rescue missions. But if they do, you're obliged to pay for it.

BTW2: Riding the direct line can bring you very close to the algerian border. Beware of crossing it and do not seek contact to people dwelling in the dunes. We had the impression that a lot of smuggeling is going on in this area and locals don't like to be disturbed.

Riding the tracks might be less extraordinary, but if you can't clear all your doubts it will be safer. Some amount of traffic is always going on on the tracks and in case of problems it is much more likely to get help.

[mladen]

Thanks again for the reply!

We will be quite a large group of motorbikes and off road cars. We will ride withought lagguage with backup of water and petrol. The poblem is that it seems that none of the cars is willing to go from ElBorma to BjoerElKhadra.

So there are two scenarios:
1) if one of the cars is willing to go, we go down the tracks and up through the dunes. The question is, how difficult are the dunes to pass. I've been told that they are easier that the ones arround KsarGhilliane.

2.)The car won't go, in this case motorbikes with a little lagguage go through the tracks to BjorElkhadra in both ways. With one tank, we can cover the distance of 250Km. If there is no petror in BjorElKhadra, then we will wait. On the road I can cover 500Km with one tank, the consumption on the track is higher than on the road, but not so high as on the dunes.

We were in Tunis last year and we've drive in the dunes aroun KsarGhilliane a lot, so we have some experiences, and I konw that withought a backup is not safe to cros the dunes. Beside this, we are driving a lot off road at home, so we have some experience, this is why I'm asking about crossing the dunes, because I know how hard and dangerous is it.

Thanks again!

[beba]

I know two boys with KTM 950Adv, they did this route last year. He had two PET botles with fuel....
I planed this route, but my KTM EXC 450 broke before Douz on asphalt.....
I think that this route is difficult but not impossible.