Bienvenue A Algerie!

It was a hazy day when we headed out of Tabarka, Tunisia, with the Tunisian Navy wishing us well on the radio. Destination Algeria, hard-won visa to hand. A destination not well travelled, a destination with a sad history of terrorism, a destination few have sailed to. The wind was up and the waters bumpy. We had our AIS on (Automatic Identification System that shows up vessels at sea to anyone with a receiver) and were intent on calling Algeria Coastguard as soon as we were in their waters. They beat us to it.

Politely we answered their questions. Ten minutes later, out of the haze appeared two black RIBs speeding towards us with 3 men in each, carrying guns. We hadn’t even had time to hoist the Algerian courtesy flag; they promptly told us to drop the Tunisian flag and get the Algerian one up. No questions asked, we did it. We explained we were tourists with a visa and where we were going. No problem – off they went. Quite an introduction, this was going to be interesting.

Many hours later we arrived in Annaba. Entering the large shipping harbour, nobody answered us as we called on the radio. And no-one was around. We sat in the middle of a big harbour, a few cargo boats, no people and bizarrely a large dolphin gliding along. It was late afternoon; this was all a bit strange. Eventually a pilot boat appeared and boomed out on his loudspeaker “follow me” and escorted us to a spot.

Adina in Annaba harbour tied up next to the coastguard.

We tied up outside the police station and behind a large navy ship and then started what would become a regular habit everywhere we went – the arrival of officials and their forms to be completed. The standard is a visit from the Coastguard, some form of Police (Frontier or Local, depending on the port), customs and the harbourmaster. 80% of the officials here are very friendly, efficient and simply curious. A standard introduction question is “What are you doing here?” As soon as they knew we had a tourist visa, nothing seemed to be a problem. But you need to factor in time for all that paperwork. We were well prepared, had written a list of our electronic equipment and made a list of all our spirits onboard which we placed in one locker due to it being Ramadan and not wanting to cause any offence. It made us realise Adina is well stocked with spirits, but most officials weren’t interested and only one or two took a peek at where they were stored. Relief – would hate to see all that good Lagavulin spirited away. Some would ask to see around the boat, but you knew this was more out of curiosity and the need for a good old nose.

Coastline of Algeria

Funniest to us is how officials approach the boat. Most are polite and you courteously invite them on, offering them a seat in the cockpit. Others just come stomping on, dirty shoes and all determined to sit downstairs despite it being cooler outside!

Night one, they asked us to stay put onboard and not go into town. We got chatting to the police, telling them what we were doing. Friendly, they were concerned if we had everything we needed; we assured them we did. Twenty minutes later a policeman came over with two bowls of food. Where else in the world would that happen? We were touched.

Adina moored up in a fishing port – Collo

Next day we headed out to explore on foot. Of course, by then there had been a change in watch and we had to show passports and explain all over again. The pilot book had said to expect armed guards on trips to town but this is no longer the case. Police checked our visas and said no problem, off you go.

A lot of Algeria still has colonial French buildings which are admittedly run down. And yes, Algeria seems to suffer from a litter problem. We certainly attracted attention as we explored the streets but we confidently got stuck in and went to the market to get supplies. Like anywhere else, we favoured the stalls manned by woman or older men as those damn kids the world over try to profit from you as a tourist. Stall owners were delighted to serve us and rather embarrassingly we were often served ahead of any locals waiting. In the streets every now and then a cry of “Welcome to Algeria” would ring out.

Being Ramadan, coffee shops and restaurants are closed in the daytime but come night time after final prayers everyone comes out. And the police had no problems with us going out at night which gave us more confidence. While many coffee shops are typically male territory, we easily sat together in the squares drinking café or a mint tea. Served with delicious sweet cakes.

Chetaibi fishing boats

We headed on to our next destination Chetaibi El Marsa (you try pronouncing that to the coastguard), a quaint little bay with a fishing port. We were squeezed onto a working floating pontoon but told due to works in progress we could only stay one night and would need to be gone by 6am. Again we went for walks, trying things from the assorted stalls on the streets. Everywhere we went we made sure it was us making effort, waving and giving a greeting of “Bonjour”. Faces lit up.

Chetaibi had a charming little quay where plastic chairs came out in the evening from the coffee shop on the quay and it seemed like the entire village came down to the waterfront, often bringing their own chairs to join in. How we wished we could have stayed longer.

Adina all on her own in a big harbour in Skikda

Next destination Skikda, another large harbour. We felt tiny being placed in the one corner. That said, it gave us chance to watch the workings of a harbour seeing how all the large cargo ships are manoeuvred.  Our time there included a day trip in a shared taxi to see the city of Constantine. Perched on a large ravine, it is famous for its bridges. And they were a fascinating sight. It also had a wonderful medina full of souks and we got gloriously lost buying nougat and a pot of honey for a mere 40p!

Bridges of Constantine

Next on the itinerary was Collo, perched in a beautiful bay. Another fishing port, they squeezed us in, separating fishing boats to make space, taking our lines, making effort. After the usual line of officials, we were ready to explore. Exploration usually starts around 5.30pm as anything earlier is simply too hot. The harbour master drove us the short drive into town and insisted on giving us money to spend. Again, we were amazed by the kindness.

Susie buying honey in the Souks of Constantine

Collo has no set market place as such and is a town of streets lined with bread shops, fish stands, general shops etc. We were standing outside one bread shop watching the making of some sort of pancake, trying to ask in French what was in it. A local fluent in English started to explain how it was a type of pancake base, with mashed potato, some parsley, a little meat, spices and an egg, fried in oil. Delicious, we’ll have one please. His English being so good, we proceeded to order bread as he explained the different types of local bread to us. Soon he was offering to take us around for anything else we wanted. Why not, a very friendly chap he was. And indeed he became a good friend during our time in Collo.

Abderrahmane helping Tom buy fresh fish

Well educated, Abderrahmane was concerned about the western views of Algeria and Islamists and wanted us to know Islamists believe in peace first and foremost. Coming from London being multi-cultured and very tolerant of many religions we understood. What was striking was his positive view on life. He had plans, he was a part-time theatre comedian, artist, wanted to get a good job, loved his family passionately and wanted to provide for them. Just a really all-round nice guy, and funny with it. And keen to educate us on Algeria, and how he wanted it opened to the western world so that his own countrymen could get more exposure to the world. We agreed to meet later for a coffee after he had attended prayers and broken his fast.

Back on Adina, we were getting used to the crowds she draws here. Sailing boats are a rarity and Abderrahmane told us many had not seen the English flag before. People just stand there and look and chat. Some pipe up for a chat with us, wanting to know what we are doing. We even saw some young men bring their car and park it so Adina was in the background while they took pictures of each other. Love it!

In the evening our newfound friend walked us around again finally depositing us on a beach where people had gathered. Chairs were bought for us, mint tea with cakes served and they wouldn’t take a penny from us for it. That night we struggled with sleep given people stay up until 3 or 4am and were still chatting at the back of the boat into those early hours.

Susie and Yasmin onboard Adina with the biscuits she bought as a gift

The next day a man plucked up courage asking us about the boat and we invited him onboard. Could have been a mistake as others then wanted an invite too! A friend of his came along too. He asked if he could bring his daughter back later to see the boat. Of course! To thank us, when he later returned with his beautiful daughter he also brought a big plate of fabulous homemade biscuits. The kindness just kept rolling in. The same day the fuel man went to efforts to get us water for our tanks. So we decided it was time for Susie to make a cake and share it with some of these kind people. A bit of google and Delia’s lemon drizzle cake was duly shared later that evening.

In the evening our friend delivered a wonderful meal from his mother, keen to know if we liked it. We ate it and enjoyed it so much telling him when we met again later that his mother deserved an A+. Sadly foreigners are not meant to enter locals’ houses so we didn’t get to meet her.

Abderrahmane and Susie enjoying mint tea

Our final evening we enjoyed with Abderrahmane again drinking coffee, chatting and walking around the town. Coming back to the boat, we bade him farewell terribly sad to see him walk off promising if he’s ever in London, there are two people who happily would show him around. Thank you for all you did, thank you for educating us, we look forward to remaining in contact.

Collo had enchanted us so it was with heavy hearts we headed on. Destination Bajaia – a city with a massive port in a beautiful setting. We weren’t so sure sailing vessels were welcome given we were dumped in a grubby corner with oil everywhere. Adina is going to need one big clean at the end of this trip! Much to our amazement we were told to raft up to a French sailing boat heading the opposite way along the coast. We exchanged tips on the places we had been.

Cap Cabon, Bejaia

As had happened in the other ports, bored crew from cargo ships who cannot leave the port wander by to look at Adina. We were told by one such man from Finland who came to say hello that often cargo boats have to wait at anchor for two weeks to get in to Bajaia and then it takes four days to unload. So that’s why they put us where they did – not really wanted.

The sign we should not have passed that got us into trouble!

It took us 20 minutes just to walk to the exit dodging loading and unloading cargo ships, lorries hauling stuff away. We headed to Cap Carbon, a beautiful headland. It must be said the Algerian coastline is stunning. Walking up to the lighthouse we fell foul of the law, accidentally entering a military zone and having to apologise profusely and beat a hasty exit. Ups-and-downs, that is Algeria.

Coastguard in the background checking on us – they were a re-assuring support each day.

A slight downer, we got online and found a response to a blog we popped out in the sailing community asking for any advice on sailing in Algeria, hoping to find people who had done it. The mail was from someone who had not been but told us it was unsafe, people were robbed and the Foreign Office advised against travel unless essential. We had done our own research, understood the Foreign Office advice and where it specifically related to and had started the trip along Algeria in the knowledge of what we had found. However, we also knew we were now sailing along coast that was mountainous and possibly still home to terrorists. The email put us on edge. But we kept talking to the locals for advice and trusted the Coastguard who called us up on the radio every day, often several times. Indeed they twice advised us to stay 3 miles offshore. No questions asked, we’ll make it 5 miles.

Fishing boats in Dellys

We headed into Dellys, in theory a potential trouble-spot but the French we rafted up to in Bejaia had said they had been there, no problem. The Coastguard escorted us in and truth be told there was a bit more military than normal. But they were all friendly and told us they would look after us. Not so sure putting a spotlight on Adina all night and lighting us up like a Christmas tree really was quite the best idea.

So now we are in Algiers the capital of Algeria, half way across this vast country. We are in Algeria’s only marina full of motorboats and rafted up to a local sailing boat. The man who owns it has given us his electricity, offered us his water supply. Another typical example of the friendly people of this country. Tomorrow we’ll go exploring, dive into the souks, try it all, make effort to say hello. Roll on the next half of Algeria!

Click to read Adina’s second Algerian blog…