On Wednesday, 20^th March 2019, I was a guest at a reception hosted by The Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Nabil Kheder and his wife, Mrs Ben Kheder, to mark the occasion of the 63^rd Anniversary of the Independence of Tunisia.   Members of the newly relaunched British Tunisian Society (BTS), of which I am one, had been invited to join this very special evening of celebrations at the Tunisian Embassy in London.  It was a splendid and colourful gathering – many people in traditional dress, everyone having a wonderful time, enjoying an atmosphere of spontaneous warmth and friendship.  

I was mingling with high fliers – to name but a few – Mériem Bourguiba Laouiti, the elegant granddaughter of former President Bourguiba dressed appropriately in red, Moncef Battikh from the Tunisia Tourist Office busily working the jam packed rooms, and author and journalist Andy Kyriakou of Modern Romance Band fame.  It was Moncef who introduced me to the BTS, which I joined last November.  He knows from his wife Samia,  who manages Tunis Air’s London office, that I am a regular visitor to his country where I go to ride my black camel, Zeydoun.

The BTS is a great way of meeting people and making new friends who, like me, are passionate about Tunisia.  Already I have been to three terrific soirées – a reception at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, a dinner at The House of Lords, and the above reception at 29 Prince’s Gate.  At all three, I was able to catch up with Dora Bergaoui,  – the first time we met was three or more years ago after landing at Tunis Airport, where she introduced herself, to thank me for visiting and supporting her country. We exchanged cards – Dora’s with the heading ANZ Bank, mine with the humbler heading Camel Voyages!  Although I didn’t know it at the time, this impromptu meeting illustrates to perfection just one of the society’s aims:  ‘To further friendly relations and understanding between the people of Tunisia and the United Kingdom’.  For full details, do have a look at the website:  www.britishtunisiansociety.org 

And my thanks to the brilliant photographer, Jules Annan, for allowing me to use his prints and whose copyright they are.