Desert Riding In Tunisia
Religious Education In Tunisia
Corruption In Tunisia
Double Repression in Tunisia
Rising Corruption In Tunisia
Tunisia is known for hosting what may be termed the "desert riding" of sports. The country has made a name for itself in becoming perhaps the #1 destination for desert competition. By this I mean the 4x4 race competitions in the Sahara and the motorbike competitions as well.
Usually these races involve legs as well, but then end - or at least compete at some point - in Tunisia. Many of them are fascinating and they attract athletes, if that's the term, from around the world. Including the United States.
The Zurich to Douz, Tunisia race is no exception, and also attracts Americans. But this race, and it is less of a race and more of a journey, is not a high-stakes, intense sporting competition but more a exhilarating experience often embarked on by wealthy Americans. I had never even heard of it until now.
The New York Times has published an incredibly fascinating read:
The question pretty much everyone has when — or really if — they hear about the Burning Fish car rally from Zurich to Douz, Tunisia, is … huh?
When I first learned of the race, it sounded to me like an update of the irresistibly goofy Cannonball Run mixed with the freewheeling desert weirdness of Burning Man. Only in this version, the central characters are a young, attractive, well-heeled bunch of German speakers piloting elegant cars (Mercedeses, Aston Martins, Porsches, vintage Volvos) from central Europe deep into the Sahara out of neither desperation nor the desire for a drug-addled sojourn. They’ve traveled all this way purely on the hunch that an unspecified adventure — curated by the man behind the moving circus, the rally’s charismatic, leonine Austrian ringleader, Fritz Hortig — awaits them.
But is there a finish line? Will anyone be collecting a trophy? What’s the overall plan?
“Don’t worry, come,” Hortig said.
Whitney Bedford
So I went, joining the group of about 20 in Tunis for the end of the trip, which wrapped up early this week. They had all been invited by Hortig (it’s the only way you can attend), had brought their own cars and had paid about 5,000 euros for the experience. There was: Matthias, the Swiss I.T. expert who really enjoys a Four Seasons hotel; Lisi, the Viennese marketing vice president who enjoyed not knowing what’s next; Miriam, the blonde Tunisian actress who’s starring in a new “American Idol”-inspired movie; Samy, the Tunisian actor whose big role seemed to be in “The English Patient”; Darren, the American from Marin County who makes money in Switzerland somehow (don’t ask, he doesn’t seem to want to tell); Marcos, the private banker planning to retire before 35; Nadia, the Tunisian race car driver who runs her own traditional all-women Butterfly Rally in the Sahara; Judith, the rock star turned stay-at-home mom; and Martin, the dashing Swiss TV and film actor.
When I got to Tunis, it was obvious that Hortig, the fearless Zen master, had been inspired by the professional bafflers behind “Lost” and “The Amazing Race.” “It’s not so much a rally,” he explained, “more like a road trip. Only none of you get to know what we’re doing next until I tell you.”
“Just go with it,” said Whitney Bedford, a Los Angeles-based visual artist. I’d met her and her friend Bucky Fukumoto, an artist and filmmaker who regularly collaborates with Roman Coppola, at the Residence Hotel outside Tunis, where the two had joined the rally. Wearing an impressively high- fashion get-up of Maison Martin Margiela shoes, Acne jeans and a Comme des Garçons bag, Bedford had clearly already mulled the “what’s going on here?” question and decided to focus on what she could control – pulling together a hot look – and assumed that everything else would fall into place.
“I’m here color nomading — dreaming of the blue in Africa,” she said. “And I love the idea of roaming the desert in fast cars in relation to time and space.”
Fukumoto piped in: “I’m convinced it’s some sort of sick trick and they’re planning to steal our kidneys to sell on the black market or harvest my gold fillings. But I have to say, they seem real normal.” . . .
There's more to do in Tunis than just lay on the beach.
