Waypoint Journeys Presents
Totality on the Sahel Coast · Tunis, Kairouan & Sousse
5 Days · July 30 – August 3, 2027
Carthage, Kairouan and El Jem, Then Five Minutes of Darkness Over the Mediterranean Coast
We reply within 24 hours
On August 2, 2027, the Moon’s shadow crosses Tunisia from the Algerian border to the Sahel coast. On the centre line near Sfax, totality runs to about five and three-quarter minutes, more than double a typical eclipse, and early August on this coast is about as dependably clear as the Mediterranean gets.
The trip is short and the distances are small. A day in the capital: the medina of Tunis, the Carthage museum and Antonine Baths, and Sidi Bou Said above the gulf. A day south through Kairouan, the first Arab city of the Maghreb, and the great amphitheatre at El Jem. Then three nights in Sousse, with Monastir along the shore, and a dedicated eclipse day at a site scouted near the centre line.
It runs as a fixed departure, July 30 to August 3, with a maximum of five guests, a licensed guide and private vehicle throughout, and every entrance on the route included. Book it with our hotels, or without them if you would rather choose your own rooms. Add one night in the Sahara at Douz if you want desert after the darkness.
"Hannibal’s city in the morning, a Roman arena by afternoon, and two days later the sky goes black at noon."
On August 2, 2027 the Moon’s shadow crosses Tunisia with about five and three-quarter minutes of totality on the centre line near Sfax. We take you to a scouted site near that line, on location hours before first contact and staying through last.
Time on site to set up tripods, rigs and solar filters, vehicle power in the field, and the afternoon after totality kept free. Shoot the corona or simply stand in the shadow: the day runs around one event.
The souks of the medina of Tunis around the Zitouna Mosque, the Carthage museum on Byrsa Hill and the Antonine Baths on the shore, then the white and blue cliff village of Sidi Bou Said above the Gulf of Tunis.
Founded in 670, Kairouan was the first Arab city of the Maghreb. The courtyard of its Great Mosque, with one of the oldest standing minarets in the Islamic world, is the stillest place on the trip.
A third-century amphitheatre built for some 35,000 spectators, rising out of a small market town and better preserved than most of Rome’s own. Walk the arena floor and the passages beneath it.
Three nights in Sousse, with its walled medina and ninth-century ribat, and a day along the shore to Monastir’s seafront ribat. Then, if you want it, one night in the Sahara at Douz.
Five days, Tunis to the Sahel coast, with totality on day four and the Sahara as an optional extra night.
Tunis to the Sahel Coast
A night in Tunis with Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, south through Kairouan and El Jem to three nights in Sousse for Monastir and the eclipse, then the flight home.
Meet on arrival at Tunis–Carthage airport and straight into the capital. The medina of Tunis first: covered souks, carved doorways and the Zitouna Mosque at the centre of it. Then Carthage, with the museum on Byrsa Hill and the Antonine Baths, the largest Roman baths in Africa, on the edge of the sea. The afternoon ends in Sidi Bou Said, white walls and blue shutters on a cliff above the Gulf of Tunis. Night in Tunis.
South to Kairouan, the first Arab city of the Maghreb, and the courtyard of its Great Mosque with one of the oldest minarets still standing. On to El Jem, the third-century amphitheatre that held some 35,000 people, with time on the arena floor and in the passages under it. Then to the coast and Sousse, your base for three nights.
The walled medina of Sousse and its ninth-century ribat, the fortified monastery whose watchtower looks over the old town, and the Roman mosaics in the museum in the kasbah. Along the shore to Monastir for its seafront ribat and the mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba. An easy afternoon, and an evening briefing on the eclipse.
Monday, August 2. An early start to a site scouted near the centre line, chosen for open horizons and an easy road in. Hours on location before first contact to set up; then the whole event, first contact to last, with more than five minutes of totality in the late morning. Back to Sousse with the afternoon and evening free.
Breakfast and the transfer to Monastir, Enfidha–Hammamet or Tunis–Carthage airport for your flight home. Or stay one more night and head south on the Sahara extension below.
$750 USD per person
After the eclipse, drive southwest from the coast to Douz, the town on the edge of the Grand Erg Oriental. Ride out into the dunes for sunset, sleep at a desert camp under a sky with no city in it, and drive back north the next day for your flight home.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Expedition Investment
per person, twin share, including hotels
$3,650USD per person: if you book your own hotels
+$750USD per person: optional Sahara extension, 2 days and 1 night
Included
Excludes international flights, travel insurance, lunches and dinners, and tips. Fixed departure, maximum five guests: one departure, five seats, a date that cannot move.
Reserve Your SpotThis route stays on Tunisia’s most travelled ground: the capital, the Sahel coast and the good roads between them, with the Sahara extension on the established route to Douz. We run licensed guides and drivers and keep August hours: early starts, air-conditioned transport, shade at midday and water in hand. Eclipse day runs on a scouted site with an easy road in, not a desert gamble. Our team monitors conditions continuously, and you travel with 24/7 support from booking to boarding.
