‘Algeria the White’ has a dark past and a dark present

Algiers, Algeria, April 27 — Algiers, known as ‘Alger la Blanche’ for its white buildings, is now the biggest country in Africa (since Sudan split) and the 10th biggest in the world. And it is in bad shape. We heard an excellent lecture from one of our resident experts — he specializes in politics and security in the Middle East and North Africa. Most of this is a boil-down of one of his talks:

After the Romans, Algeria was a ‘vassal state’ of the Ottoman Empire from 1515 until the French invaded in 1830. One good thing the French did — apparently there weren’t many — was to end the rampant piracy the Algerians perpetrated on the rest of the Mediterranean. Most Algerians even today are Berbers, from whence comes the word Barbary = Barbary pirates. Algeria was a ‘department’ of France until 1962, when De Gaulle pulled out after the 8-year Algerian Revolution. France won the battles, but they lost the war, we were told. One million people died, 2 million were displaced, and 1 million ‘pieds noirs’ (French colonists) were forced out. Crisis followed crisis, e.g., the economy collapsed, oil prices collapsed. The military coup in 1992 caused a brutal civil war. Though France’s treatment of their colony was oppressive, French is still widely spoken even though the official language is Arabic.

Faded glory...

Today the population is 41 million; only 500,00 live in the desert. Algiers has 5 million. Muslims account for 99%, with a smattering of Catholics and fewer Jews, as they had left in 1962 and gone to France or Israel. Education is compulsory from age 6 to 15. Literacy is 80% with youth literacy at 92%. The 26 universities are free.

Some 70% of the population is under 35, and unemployment is 30% (our guide told us 20%). Many young people have nothing to do. Two centuries of violence weakened tribal, clan and traditional societal bonds, so people, especially the young, are open for recruitment by political, criminal or religious groups or cults. According to Sammy, our guide, many young people die trying to escape to Europe; it is difficult to leave through normal channels since visas are needed for most countries except North Africa and Asia.

Almost everyone lives in the north along the Mediterranean, except the oil workers in the eastern central part of the country — who are at risk of being kidnapped for ransom to finance terrorism — and the jihadists who live in the desert in the south. Algeria’s main problems, our lecturer said, are the economy, the lack of good governance, and security. Ninety percent of their exports are oil and natural gas; the rest is cars, food, and paints. Gasoline costs about 50 cents a liter. There were quite a few cars on the roads, but most were very beat up.

Our shore excursion director, Scott, warned us that Algiers would be very rough and unready for tourists. It does not have much of a tourism industry and is not a usual cruise port — they get only around 20 ships a year. Morocco and Tunisia have much better developed tourism — but our stop in Tunis last week was cancelled due to advisories from both the U.S.and U.K. State Departments. None of our crew members were allowed off the ship (Algiers’ stipulation) and only passengers who were on the ship’s excursions could leave. We were told not to use binoculars while on the ship or take them off the ship — they are considered ‘weapons of war.’ And take absolutely NO PHOTOS of police or military, and none of women without asking their permission. And don’t drink anything before you leave the ship — the ‘facilities’ could be the worst yet. [The first hole-in-the-floor toilette I ever experienced was in Paris in 1969 — in an Algerian restaurant!] After hearing this in the Port Talk, quite a few people went to the desk and cancelled their excursions, which meant they stayed on the ship all day.

‘Think of it as an adventure, and go with the flow,’ said Scott.

Well, I didn’t cancel, and I went on the ‘Treasures of Algiers’ excursion. We had an excellent guide, took in two major sites with a bus ride up the hills through the Casbah and I at least thought it was much better than I’d been led to expect. Our shore ex manager said later, ‘I wanted you to come back pleasantly surprised.’

In 1832, 2 years after they landed, the French established the 140-acre Jardin d’Essai du Hamma, a ‘test garden’ created by draining and filling a swamp. It was quite nice, with clean, paved or gravel paths through the Allée de Ficus, the Allée Dracena, the Jardin Anglais and the Jardin Français. Mostly massive trees, a few ponds and fountains, not too many flowers though there was a small rose garden.

The entire garden was dominated by this monument, the Martyrs’ Memorial, with an ‘eternal flame,’ a tribute to all the victims of the 1954-1962 Algerian war for independence.

View from the belvedere, looking towards the Mediterranean... Look at that sky!

Women outnumber men in Algeria: the population is 60% female. They work as doctors, lawyers and especially teachers (90% are women). The government gives housing, health care and education support to the poor — but, Sammy told us, it could take a long, long time to get medical treatment.

The ‘Tarzan Tree.’ One of the old Tarzan movies included a scene shot at, in or on this huge tree.

Statue of a Berber dancer...

We had passed a sign back in the garden that pointed the way to the ‘Sanitaires.’ But when we were heading back to board our buses, our guide asked some garden employee where to find the toilet. She sent us to this room, which had one very acceptable bathroom we queued for. We were convinced that we were the only garden visitors who used it that day — they took one look at us and did not send us to the Sanitaires.

We saw the Casbah from the bus as we climbed up up up to the Basilica Notre Dame d‘Afrique atop Mont Bouzareah. This time, I will not comment on litter, because this is a ‘neat’ pile of bags of garbage near overfilled dumpsters, waiting to be picked up. Our pier, the streets, the plaza, the garden... all were clean. I did wonder if the night before we arrived every sanitary worker in Algiers was working to make it clean for us, since there are only 20 cruise ships a year here, and their economy can certainly benefit from attracting more tourists.

The algeria.com site says: ‘The Notre Dame d’Afrique is seen by many as a symbol of religious tolerance in a country which is predominantly Muslim. The inscription on the curved wall behind the altar has the words, “Notre Dame d'Afrique priez pour nous et pour les Musulmans,” meaning “Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims.’’’ Completed in 1872, the architecture is neo-Byzantine.

The basilica sits high atop a hill with a killer view. Che Guevara Boulevard parallels the waterfront.

We could hear the announcer and the cheering at the soccer game going on below...

Our ride back to the ship was revealing. We could see what Algiers looked like back in its glory days. I imagine it resembles cities along the French Riviera. Note the spotless streets.