Bill's Excellent Adventures: Barbary Coast

On a mountain overlooking Oran, Algeria, with Noble Caledonia's brilliant Rae and fun guide Hamid.

Looked like an interesting, unique itinerary across most of the "Barbary Coast" minus the "shores of Tripoli," plus a stop in south Sardinia. Independently, I had visited Algiers (2015) and Tunis/Sousse (2006), but the other stops were new to me.

Our Hebridean Sky (operated by Noble Caledonia, the superb British company that specializes in small ship "expedition" cruises) had about 100 passengers. Docked away from us in Sardinia was the monstrous Costa Smeralda that carries over 6,000 passengers — 60 times as large!

Using AI, this was the best comparison image I could generate, but the perspective still does not capture the enormity of the colossal ship versus our cozy little vessel.

MALTA

I enjoyed my visit to Malta decades earlier, but this visit was a disappointment. Valletta, the capital, was packed with Northern Europeans fleeing the early winter. Bumper-to-bumper traffic made any journey a hassle.

Malta has several large natural harbors. They were overflowing with private boats, traditional fishing vessels (luzzus), and luxury yachts.

Yet, Malta still vividly shows its history, especially the legacy the Knights of St John who transformed Valletta into a fortress-city that withstood the Great Siege of 1565 by the Ottomans.

Best time to visit may be the December-February low season when Malta gets too cold to draw the hoards of Europeans.

TUNISIA

I enjoyed returning to Tunisia. Here were the four most memorable stops.

Any trip around the Mediterranean requires seeing at least some of the astonishing ruins of the vast Roman Empire. We went to El Jem to explore this huge amphitheater, built to accommodate 35,000 spectators.

Near Tunis is Sidi Bou Saïd, famous for its white-washed buildings with striking blue doors, windows, and balconies.

Tunisia boasts incredible mosaics. We saw remarkable mosaics at the archeological museums in Sousse and El Jem, along with some in Kairouan. In the past I was able to tour the phenomenal Bardo Museum in Tunis, but together these dazzling alternative venues rivaled the Bardo.

The American Cemetery in Tunis has the graves of over 2,800 who lost their lives in World War II. It also honors over 3,700 soldiers who were missing in action in North Africa. This stop was not on the original itinerary, but it was deeply moving.

We got to hear from Adrien Adams, a retired Air Force officer from Texas who is now the superintendent of the cemetery. He also directed us to large mosaic maps that depict the waves of troop movements across Tunisia as Rommel tried to hold off Montgomery, Patten, and others with Eisenhower guiding the victorious Allied campaign.

SARDINIA, ITALY

Previously, I took a wonderful walking tour around southern Corsica and northern Sardinia, as shown in the map below. Happily, this cruise stopped at the other end of Sardinia and I got to see the Roman ruins at Nora as well as Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy.

On a fresh, crisp morning, we had a pleasant stroll around Nora, a town that thrived when the Romans took over around 300 BC and left behind their theater, forum, temple, baths, houses, and mosaics.

Often I am the only American on a Noble Caledonia expedition, but we had four others this time, including a fellow Texan from Dallas and a quasi-Texan now departed from A&M.

Left: Worth the hike up to see the beautiful, old Cagliari Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Cecilia) with its clean Romanesque exterior and ornate Baroque interior.

Upper Right: Main city center plaza was not so special but had outdoor cafes under the trees.

Lower Right: The dramatic Bastion of San Remy, part of historic fortifications, is a key landmark of Cagliari.

ALGERIA

I enjoyed seeing Algiers again. (Previous visit here.) Then, we had two days in western Algeria visiting Oran and then Ghazaouet and Tlemcen which were all new to me.

The pink morning we arrived in the port of Algiers. Note the row of whitewashed French colonial buildings which are found throughout the city.

At the Martyr's Memorial in 2015 (with two talkative students) and again in 2025 (with a cruise guide). The memorial is dedicated to those who died fighting France to gain independence in 1962. Estimates of Algerian deaths range from 400,000 (French historians) to 1,500,000 (Algerian historians). Even the low estimates are staggering, especially in a country of only 11 million at the time.

At the Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz, a French Catholic legacy, on a mountaintop overlooking Oran, Algeria's second largest city

Left: In Algiers at Notre Dame d'Afrique our group heard remarks about this famous church as well as an inspiring Christian message from this charismatic priest from Kenya. Right: Part of the walking tour around Oran.

MELILLA, SPAIN

For geopolitical nerds like me, Melilla is wild! This little enclave in Africa is 100% part of Spain and the EU. It has been ruled by Spain since 1497.

With around 83,000 residents, Melilla has a similar population as that of Ceuta, Spain's other major enclave on the coast of Morocco. Spain also has troops defending its possession of a few clusters of small rocky islets.

Spain justifies keeping these enclaves due to its centuries of rule — but, hypocritically, wants to take over Gibraltar, ruled by the British since 1704. Old enclaves for me but not for thee.

We expected isolated Melilla to be a dusty, seedy curiosity. We were wrong.

Melilla's fortress old town was beautifully preserved with narrow, picturesque streets, museums, and underground tunnels.

But Melilla's spotless "new town" was astonishing as well. It has been described as "Spain’s finest and most concentrated collections of Modernista (Art Nouveau) and eclectic architecture outside Barcelona."

Everyone on our ship seemed surprised and impressed with this remarkable, unexpected little jewel. Some shipmates talked about returning to Melilla for a future winter getaway from London.

GIBRALTAR

Always wanted to see Gibraltar, with the image of "the Rock" embedded in my head since childhood due to Prudential insurance ads using this symbol of strength and security. Glad I added two days here at the end of the cruise.

Standing on the mountain looking north into Spain, I photographed the border at the north side of the airport. The British just recently (2023) completed a tunnel under the airport to go to the border. Previously, the heavy cross-border traffic had to be shut down when the runway was needed.

Hiked about halfway up to the top of the Rock, but then I wisely got in a van. Roughly 250 Barbary macaques live on the promontory and are not as awful as "tourist monkeys" usually are.

Gibraltar has a long, interesting pedestrian street.

I knew the mountain had an extensive network of tunnels, initially built in the 1700s but greatly expanded during World War II to help defend Allied shipping. I did not expect to find the spectacular, illuminated St. Michael's Cave.

All in all, this was a very fine trip. My only complaint, besides the traffic in Malta, was that the weather was colder than my research had estimated, but happily we missed the rain that was predicted on several days.

I suppose if I were forced to pick my three top memories, they would be the surprise of charming Melilla, the remarks of the priest at Notre Dame d'Afrique, and exploring the huge amphitheater at El Jem.