حَافِلَةُ الصَّبَاحِ إِلَى سِلْيَانَةَ

كَانَتِ السَّاعَةُ السَّادِسَةَ وَالنِّصْفَ صَبَاحًا، يَوْمَ الْأَحَدِ. وَالْأَحَدُ يَوْمُ الرَّاحَةِ فِي تُونِسَ. لَكِنَّ شَارِعَ الْحَبِيبِ بُورْقِيبَةَ، فِي الْعَاصِمَةِ، كَانَ مَلِيئًا بِالنَّاسِ. اجْتَمَعَ عَشَرَاتُ النَّاسِ قُرْبَ السَّاعَةِ الْكَبِيرَةِ، بِجَانِبِ الْحَافِلَاتِ. كَانُوا يَلْبَسُونَ مَلَابِسَ رِيَاضِيَّةً، وَيَحْمِلُونَ حَقَائِبَ بِأَلْوَانٍ مُخْتَلِفَةٍ. وَكُنْتُ وَاحِدَةً مِنْهُمْ. فَالْيَوْمُ يَوْمُ مَشْيٍ طَوِيلٍ فِي الطَّبِيعَةِ! كُلُّ مَجْمُوعَةٍ لَهَا مُنَظِّمٌ، وَحَافِلَةٌ خَاصَّةٌ. وَمُنَظِّمَةُ مَجْمُوعَتِنَا شَابَّةٌ اسْمُهَا زَيْنَبُ. قَبْلَ الرِّحْلَةِ، كَتَبَتْ زَيْنَبُ لَنَا: «الْبَسُوا مَلَابِسَ رِيَاضِيَّةً، وَأَحْضِرُوا طَعَامًا وَمَاءً.» فَالْمَشْيُ طَوِيلٌ: خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ كِيلُومِتْرًا. فِي وَقْتِ الِانْطِلَاقِ، رَكِبْنَا الْحَافِلَةَ مَعَ زَيْنَبَ. كُنَّا نَحْوَ ثَلَاثِينَ شَخْصًا. بَعْضُنَا شَارَكَ فِي رِحْلَاتٍ مِنْ قَبْلُ، وَبَعْضُنَا جَاءَ لِأَوَّلِ مَرَّةٍ. وَكَانَتِ الْحَافِلَةُ تَسِيرُ نَحْوَ مُحَافَظَةِ سِلْيَانَةَ، فِي شَمَالِ غَرْبِ تُونِسَ. فِي الطَّرِيقِ، لَعِبْنَا مُسَابَقَاتٍ، وَغَنَّيْنَا، وَضَحِكْنَا كَثِيرًا. وَكَانَ الْجَوُّ رَبِيعِيًّا مُشْمِسًا. وَعِنْدَمَا دَخَلْنَا سِلْيَانَةَ، رَكِبَ مَعَنَا دَلِيلٌ سِيَاحِيٌّ. وَكَانَتْ أُولَى مَحَطَّاتِنَا سَدَّ الْأَخْمَاسِ. هُنَاكَ، رَأَيْنَا مَاءً أَزْرَقَ، وَغَابَاتٍ خَضْرَاءَ، وَجِبَالًا حَوْلَ السَّدِّ. ثُمَّ أَكَلْنَا مَا أَحْضَرَهُ الدَّلِيلُ: خُبْزًا تُونِسِيًّا، مَعَ زَيْتِ الزَّيْتُونِ وَالْعَسَلِ. وَبَعْدَ ذَلِكَ، بَدَأْنَا الْمَشْيَ بَيْنَ الْجِبَالِ.

It was half past six in the morning, on Sunday. Sunday is the day off in Tunisia. But Habib Bourguiba Avenue, in the capital, was full of people. Dozens of people gathered near the big clock, beside the buses. They were wearing sports clothes, and carrying bags in different colours. I was one of them. Today is a day of long walking in nature! Each group has an organiser and its own bus. The organiser of our group is a young woman called Zaineb. Before the trip, Zaineb wrote to us: “Wear sports clothes, and bring food and water.” The walk is long: fifteen kilometres. When it was time to set off, we got on the bus with Zaineb. We were about thirty people. Some of us had been on trips before, and some of us came for the first time. The bus was heading for Siliana governorate, in the north-west of Tunisia. On the way, we played games, sang and laughed a lot. The weather was sunny and spring-like. When we entered Siliana, a tour guide got on with us. Our first stop was the Lakhmes dam. T