Culinary and solidarity tour in Mahdia with Socio Chanty

Tourism without prism: get to know the people, their land and their cuisine!

What’s behind Tunisia’s beautiful landscapes? Men and, above all, women who possess ancestral Mediterranean culinary knowledge with unsuspected virtues. You’ll cook with them, learn their trades, and help them become more self-sufficient and sustainable. From North to South, we offer 10-day tours to live among us. You’ll never forget that once, for 10 days, you were Tunisian.

Your host : Sana Hafsa

I’m Sana Hafsa, daughter of Mahdia, wife, mother, agricultural engineer, olive tree lover. As a social entrepreneur committed to designing and implementing Social and Solidarity Economy projects, I want to help set up innovative projects with a real economic, social and environmental impact.
I had the opportunity to develop support programs for civil society and private-sector organizations, to develop the technical and social skills of young people and women in the agricultural sector, and to strengthen their contribution to local development in their regions.

As an agricultural consultant and coach, I am currently dedicated to promoting the values of sustainable development by supporting permaculture initiatives and promoting the agricultural heritage of the Mahdia region, particularly land-sea culinary combinations and outdoor activities. I’ll teach you the secrets of the olive tree and the principles of permaculture, inviting you to help out if you need to.

Highlights of the experience

• Visit to Sidi Bou Saïd and the Baron d’Erlanger palace;
• Visit the Medina of Tunis, the ruins of Carthage or the Bardo Museum (if it reopens);
• Sharing experiences and acquiring know-how, in the Mahdia region around the olive tree, with cooks of ancestral dishes, artisan producers of cosmetics and other crafts using natural ingredients (see tour program).

Ideal, if… :

You’re curious about places and their inhabitants, their stories, cuisines, medicinal herbs, know-how, the solutions they’ve found to overcome life’s difficulties by making the best use of their environment, making nature their best ally. If you’re interested in acquiring scientific knowledge about the virtues of the olive tree: the impact of its leaves, oil and fruit on health and longevity. Learn all this by listening to a young woman, an agricultural engineer and local girl, who will tell you all about the secrets of tasting green gold, permaculture and a whole host of other things said and shown by other women.

It’s not fixed knowledge that you’ll gather from local characters, often with a lot of character, but an art of living and working that always serves people and nature in the best possible way. You’ll have the chance to experience new and instructive things, while helping some of your guests to become more sustainable and escape the precariousness that is often the lot of women farmers and craftswomen in particular.

The spirit

All the hosts on this tour have been selected by the Tunisian association Balades Solidaires, whose aim is to support women entrepreneurs in rural areas in perfecting their skills. The aim is to present a quality product thanks to the training provided by the various experts and advisors offered by the association, in fields as diverse as hygiene, the art of the table, the rules of hospitality…

Only by producing quality products can these women claim a degree of financial autonomy, as part of sustainable regional development.
Behind this highly supportive project is a woman from Tunisian civil society, convinced that there is a great injustice behind the fact that such admirable women, holders of precious know-how, live in precarious conditions. She gathered around them equally admirable women from the capital: doctors, architects, teachers, entrepreneurs… to come to the rescue. A virtuous circle has thus been created, and today you have the opportunity to be part of it.

There’s nothing more beautiful than experiencing a moment of peace and harmony with a soothing landscape. Discovering a country’s history through its architecture, ruins and museums is also fascinating. And that’s what we’ll try to help you discover. But there’s more, and even better, for those who are as curious about nature as they are about its men and women. How do local residents continue to draw on their past to find solutions for their present? What’s the secret behind their Mediterranean cuisine, as appetizing as it is admired the world over for its impact on health and longevity? What can their experience offer visitors who come to meet them? Our “solidarity tourism tours”, covering the different regions of Tunisia, will therefore have this ambition: to enable visitors to experience unforgettable moments of harmony with places and landscapes that are rejuvenating, while sharing the daily lives of the people who live there. Here, we invite you to discover a part of the capital Tunis and the Mahdia region, with first and foremost, their women, holders of an age-old know-how.

What you know will improve you and make others happy. At least that’s our aim.

We’ve got you covered:

Arrival at Tunis Carthage airport. Support. Transfer to Sidi Bou Saïd. At ease. The hotel is a restored village villa. A short tour of the village of Sidi Bou Saïd, the world’s first classified and preserved site (1915), even before the creation of UNESCO.

Day 2: Sidi Bou Saïd – Tunis – Sidi Bou Saïd

Guided tour of Baron d’Erlanger’s palace. Guided tour of the Bardo Museum. Lunch in an authentic restaurant serving Tunisian cuisine. Guided tour of the Medina of Tunis. Back to Sidi Bou Saïd. At ease. Free walks.

Day 3: Sidi Bou Saïd – Mahdia

Arrival in Mahdia at 10am. Welcome in a small hotel in the old Medina. Welcome cocktail of fresh seasonal fruit. 30-minute rest, followed by a guided tour of the Medina. Typical lunch and time to rest before setting off on a treasure hunt through the Medina. It’s a group game that lets you (re)discover the Medina. Written messages are placed in places steeped in history. Each message gives clues to the location of the next. These clues are taken from the history of the site presented by the guide during the morning visit. The winner, the one who finds the last message before the others, receives a gift.

Day 4: Mahdia

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off on a bike tour of the Medina. Lunch and time to rest. In the afternoon, we set off to explore the town’s craft village. Cosmetics and soap workshop: each tourist uses natural ingredients to make their own cream or soap to suit their needs.

Day 5: Mahdia

After breakfast at the hotel, visit a spice mill. Discover the trade and the different stages in spice production. Presentation of the Aoula concept: the domestic preparation of strategic foods for the whole year in the home. Spice-making workshop: everyone makes their own spice blends to suit their tastes. Lunch and free time in the Medina. Dinner at a local Iranian restaurant.

Day 6: Mahdia

After breakfast at the hotel, permaculture workshop with a well-known brand of organic farm produce and local products. Afternoon: introduction to diving.

Day 7: Mahdia

After breakfast at the hotel, departure for a day on the boat. Introduction to scuba diving. Fish lunch on the boat.

Day 8: Mahdia – El Jem – Mahdia

After breakfast at the hotel, visit the Roman remains of El Jem. Discover weaving workshops for linen and silk handicrafts.

Day 9: Mahdia – Tunis

After breakfast at the hotel, return to Tunis. Free day. Overnight in a typical Medina hotel.

Day 10: check-out