With the end of our first season in the Mediterranean Sea approaching fast came once again the uncertainty of what would happen with Ella when arriving in our next off the beaten track destination, Tunisia.
The previous season we had stayed for a month in Morocco and that was our first-hand experience of getting our dog in North Africa and then back to Europe. All went smoothly but the concerned thoughts were again on the back of our minds, even though Ella has all the necessary Rabies booster shots and the titter exam up to date.
In our mind, a backsheesh request or the refusal of her entry was the real potential problems but as usual, we decided to clear our thoughts and hope for the best.
As usual, we informed the marina in advance by email that we had a dog on board and requested for the information to be forwarded to the relevant authorities but just like in all our previous experiences with the exception of Gibraltar no one seemed to care about it.
While we were doing our check-in I tried again explaining both in English and French the dog situation but the answer was the usual one, a simple ok and no interest in checking any paperwork. Only upon the inspection of the boat by the authorities, probably looking for a gift or backsheesh, Ella’s existence was properly acknowledged but by then they seemed to be scared of her (as usual) and the urgency was to declare the inspection concluded even if they haven’t actually inspected anything.
Ella’s usual happiness to see some potential new friends seems to scare officials away before they demand their little bribes.
So this was it, the 3 of us were in Tunisia, free to roam around and explore this new country.