NO MARMITE IN TUNISIA
Life In Tunisia For British Expats
Little Things We Need To Know
Please feel free to email me with anything you feel may be beneficial to expats living in Tunisia. Please respond to the readers' "Can We Find It?" requests if you can. This could mean websites, addresses and phone numbers, trusted tradesmen, events and festivals, names of English speaking doctors or dentists or dates and places of get-togethers amongst British expats.
Anything you feel should be on this page email to nomarmiteintunisia@yahoo.fr
How Long In Tunisia?
As a British national you are entitled to stay in Tunisia for three months without a visa. This can either then be renewed or for a longer more permanent stay you will probably need to apply for a Carte Sejour (Residence Permit). Details of this, and what you need to be eligible for one, can be obtained on a fact sheet from the British Embassy.
BRITISH EMBASSY
Telephone : 71108700
Emergency Telephone : 98319128
Address : Rue du Lac Windermere Les Berges du Lac Tunis 1053
http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/
BRITISH COUNCIL
Telephone : 71848588
Address : 87 Avenue Mohamed V 1002 Tunis Belvedere
Email : info@tn.britishcouncil.org
http://www.britishcouncil.org/
POLICE LOCAL POLICE
197 Beni Khiar 72229305
AMBULANCE (SAMU) TUNISIAN DIRECTORY
190 ENQUIRIES
1210
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TOURISM : http://www.tourismtunisia.com/
ONLINE BEGINNERS FREE ARABIC LESSONS
TRAVEL TIPS
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Fed up with waiting for buses?
Try hailing a taxi running along the same route, from the main taxi station in one town to the main taxi station at your destination. You will share your taxi with three other passengers and it can be hailed anywhere along the route. If the taxi driver has a space he will stop for you. The price is a set price and will not be much more than the cost of your local bus (example Beni Khiar to Nabeul :- Bus fare 430 millimes Shared Taxi fare 600 millimes) -
Missed your bus?
Louage taxis are similar to minibuses and can take you to all the major destinations. Ideal for a long journey, the price tends to be only slightly more expensive than a journey by bus. The Louage taxi will only leave when all of the seats are full. There are stations in every town. -
Travel to Tunisia from London without flying in 48 hours. Bus/train timetables in Tunisia
Great, information packed website, with all your travel options.
http://www.seat61.com/Tunisia.htm -
Anybody who needs a transfer from the airport to a resort, without the need to book a hotel, click on http://www.medhotels.com where prices start from as little as £3. Also If you book a flight through through Thomsons, they do transfers to the resorts. The fare is £15 for example, from Monastir to Hammamet. Maybe useful for those holidays back to England, or relatives coming over!
YELLOW PAGES
The Yellow Pages can be purchased at post offices (not free as in Britain!!) and has also been spotted for sale at Monoprix, Nabeul. http://www.pagesjaunes.com.tn/
DOCTORS
I have found an English speaking Doctor Dr Mohamed Baha
in Beni Khiar. Please email me if you Telephone : 72228019/
have information about others in the 98342486
towns that you are living in. Address : 64 Avenue
Habib Bourguiba
Beni Khiar 8060
VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN
Vaccinations for children in Tunisia follow a similar path to those being given to children in the UK with a few exceptions. The MMR jab is not routinely given, although I have been told that you can request it. The children are given a measles jab only at 15 months, followed by a booster at 6 years in the first year of school. The Ruebella innoculation is given when the child is about 14 years old and mumps currently not at all. TB injections are given at birth with a booster in senior school. Vaccinations are free from health clinics in your local town. Children receive a health book, similar to the ones given out in the UK.
SUPERMARKETS
Lets face it, sometimes the local corner shop will just not do! If we are in one of our more creative moods, or throwing a dinner party, in Tunisia you are more likely to find the ingredients you need for non-Tunisian recipes in one of the supermarkets. Below are a list of some of the ones that I know of. Please email me with any that you wish to add from your town. english.benikhiar@wanadoo.tn
TUNIS
Two great hypermarkets :
Carrefour : Route de la Marsa, Tunis
Tunis City : Situated on the outskirts of Tunis, at the beginning of the Bizerte highway, just after the Ennahli National Park.
NABEUL
Nabeul has several supermarkets including Monoprix (Monoprix is the biggest, with clothes, meat and vegetables), and this is found on Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Other smaller supermarkets include Bonprix and Magasin General.
FURNITURE STORES
http://www.meublatex.com/ Large store with branches all over the country. Website in French and English.
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MARKET DAYS
Monday : Ain Draham, Houmt Souk (Djerba) Kairouan, Maktar,
Tataouine
Tuesday : Beja, Kasserine, Sedouikech (Djerba)
Wednesday : Adjum (Djerba) Jendouba, Sbeitla, Nefta.
Thursday : Gafsa, Hammamet, Houmt Souk (Djerba) Siliana and Douz.
Friday : Djemmel, Mateur, Midoun, Sfax, Tabarka, Zarzis,
Monastir, Nabeul.
Saturday : Monastir, Ben Gardane, El Mai (Djerba).
Sunday : El Jem, Korba, Ksar Hellal, Enfidha and Sfax
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TV AND RADIO
Tunisian television channels currently include TV7 Tunis and Hannibal TV. Two more private television channels are planned for 2007, these being Nessma TV and TT1. Satellite television is readily available, including the rotating dishes for a fraction of the price that you would pay in the UK. The main satellite stations are Arabsat, Nilesat, Hotbird and Astra. The many satellite shops also claim to be able to decode your British Sky satellite system, enabling you to watch all of the Sky service for free. I have not taken anybody up on this offer as yet!
Missing British TV?
For those of you who simply cannot do without British TV, the latest gadget on the market is the slingbox, which will enable you to keep up with all the latest soaps etc. Currently £179.00, (2006), it is available at PC World only.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/product.php?sku=157886
Check out also http://www.satalogue.com/contents.htm This is a satellite company who claim to be able to supply you with a digital satellite system that will receive all of the Sky Astra Satellite and radio channels, plus the normal UK television channels.
Mosaique FM and Jawhara FM are two private radio stations. Mosaique FM plays a mixture of Arabic and western pop music. Jawhara FM is based in Sousse designed to cover the eastern coast region.
TELEPHONE
Currently two telephone companies that I know of. Tunisie Telecom and Tunisiana. Tunisiana have been offering some great deals for your mobiles this summer, giving you a certain amount of free credit to make calls to otherTunisiana phones each time you credit your account. To credit your mobile phone you will need to purchase a card and enter the code number onto your phone. Tunisiana offer 5 dinar and 10 dinar cards for sale at all the taxiphone outlets. If you spot a sign advertising Tunisiana Light, this means that the service of crediting just 1 or 2 dinars to your phone is available at that particular outlet.
CHANGING YOUR MOBILE SIM CARD
Any of the computer/satellite/mobile phone shops are able to unlock your mobile phone to enable you to use either a Tunisie Telecom or Tunisiana sim card. Calling abroad from Tunisia is so much cheaper than using your sim card from Britain and you will not incur charges if somebody phones you. Well recommended. Why pay more than you have to?
INTERNET
Internet Cafes
There are internet cafes in most towns. Having tried these in both Beni Khiar and Nabeul, I found the service in Beni Khiar to be more helpful. Instead of just being shown to my computer and left to my own devices, the Beni Khiar branch helped me set up a Yahoo account. Prices per hour vary. None of the internet cafes visited had broadband.
Pre-paid Internet Access
As with mobile telephones, cards from the main internet providers can be bought which contain code numbers allowing the user to obtain internet access for the duration stated on the card. Many outlets sell these, including libraries and post offices.
Broadband
If you have a home computer and are interested in broadband, there are quite a few Tunisian companies offering this. These are advertised on posters, in phone shops, libraries and La Presse. I found the system of setting up your broadband account to be very complicated with lots of different forms to fill in. However, visiting Les Berges du Lac, in Tunis one day, I came across the main headquarters for Wanadoo Tunisie (Planet). I walked into their offices and an account was opened on the spot for me. Since then, I have experienced no problems with my account and the service is highly recommended. http://www.wanadoo.tn/
Other alternative internet companies include :-
- Hexabyte
- Topnet
- Tunet
- 35 Global Net (Gnet)
Generally prices for broadband are alot cheaper than in the UK.