Bizerte & Bizerta Scuba Diving

This blog is about introducing Tunisia, Bizerte, Ichkeul lake, The Vieux Port (old harbor/ port), and the activities of Bizerta Scuba diving. If I am going to cover the whole history of Tunisia or Bizerte it will take me more than one blog so this is will be a very brief summary of their history.

I will start by introducing Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is a country in North Africa. It is covering 163,610 square kilometers (63,170 square miles).

The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis; a central urban hub and the capital of modern-day Tunisia. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, evolved from French Tunisie in turn generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means "to lay down" or "encampment".It is sometimes also associated with the Punic goddess Tanith (aka Tunit), the ancient city of Tynes

Geographically, Tunisia contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert. Much of the rest of the country's land is fertile soil. Its 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) of coastline include the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin.

Tunisia has been an attractive destination for tourists for several centuries. Among Tunisia's tourist attractions is its cosmopolitan capital city of Tunis, the ancient ruins of Carthage, El Djem Amphitheater, The National Bardo Museum, Bulla Regia, the Muslim and Jewish quarters of Jerba, and coastal resorts such as at Sousse, Hammet, and Bizerte ("Tourism in Tunisia," 2008).

Now I will be writing about Bizerte, as well spelled Bizerta or Banzart, is where I was born and grow up. I spent most of my summers enjoying its beach and swimming in the Mediterranean sea.

Bizerte, having been founded by settlers from the Phoenician port of Sidon around 1100 BC. Its coast was settled by Phoenicians starting as early as the 12th century BC (Bizerte, Utica). ("Bizerte Governorate," 2006) It is the northernmost city in Africa and has a long north coast. It is a city in northern Tunisia and its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is also the northernmost point on the African continent. It covers an area of 3,750 km² including two large lakes, one coastal hence saline and one freshwater being the World Heritage Site, Ichkeul lake. It lies along the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of a channel that links Lake Bizerte with the sea (“Bizerte,” 2004).

The Ichkeul lake and wetland are a major layover spot for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds, such as ducks, geese, storks, and pink flamingoes, who come to nourish and nest there. Ichkeul is the last remaining lake in a chain that once extended across North Africa.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/8/

Now I will be introducing Bizerta Scuba diving. It is a diving activities club with an environmental orientation. A club is a group of people with a diverse background, who share a common appreciation for the environment. Through their local actions, they encourage progress and growth towards a globally sustainable future.

That's my brother :) He is a professional scuba diving. He loves the underwater world. His best moments in life are when his underwater enjoying solitude moments, cleaning the sea, or teaching someone to dive. He loves to organize cleanup events.

Divers at Bizerta Scuba diving club have the opportunity to dive and experience the incredible beauty of the underwater world. However, often they come face to face with the marine debris and litter that litters our planet’s ecosystems. Fortunately, as divers, they also can make a difference. Many of their activities occur during weekends, school breaks, and especially during summertime. Community service events like river cleanups, trail work weekends, and environmental education activities are great opportunities for direct action.

The group aims to improve the living environment in the city of Bizerte through awareness-raising projects, voluntary social media activities, street entertainment, sidewalks, shows, street painting, etc. They believe in a project of a radiant civil society, brimming with the spirit of initiative and goodwill to go forward and improve the living environment in the city. They also aim for organizing reforestation, cleaning, selective sorting, and recycling actions to establish a conscious green solidarity movement.

The next blog will focus on explaining more about the activities of the Bizerta Scuba Diving and why their project is very interesting and helpful for the improvement of the environment of Bizerte.

Sources:

Bizerte Governorate. (2006, May 1). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizerte_Governorate

Bizerte. (2004, March 12). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizerte

Tourism in Tunisia. (2008, May 27). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Tunisia

Tunisia. (2001, May 30). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia