Sand dunes, date palms & oasis villages No visit to Tunisia is complete without venturing into the Sahara. Near Tozeur, vegetation becomes sparse and roaming camels cross the road in front of you. While exploring the small town, you’ll encounter its friendly residents. Don’t be surprised if curious children approach you with smiles and questions about your cameras and your country of origin. From Tozeur, a narrow road snakes its tortuous way up a rocky red canyon to the mud-brick village of Chebika. If the scenery looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it before in the movie, Star Wars. Barely distinguishable from the tawny rock surrounding it, the buildings of Chebika cling to the mountainside. A short drive further, followed by a hike through the imposing gorges of a wadi – a dried-out riverbed that catches the runoff from flash floods – you’ll find the abandoned 18th-century Berber village of Tamerza. Desert winds whisper through its time-gnawed walls. The most spectacular oasis in Tunisia is in Nefta, a village of beige dwellings overlooking nearly half a million date palms, pomegranate, almond and apricot trees. Time stands still here. You can still see farmers using donkeys to transport hay and circles of men sitting in the sand, playing games with black-and-white stones. Salt lakes & camel treks Tour operators in Douz, another oasis village, offer Land Rover tours of other desert villages and the 100-kilometre-long Chott El-Jerid (Salt Lake of the Palms). The English Patient’s base camp scenes were filmed by the lake. Glittering salt crackles under the vehicle’s tires. Hot air distorts the landscape, giving the illusion of lakes and palm groves that recede as you approach. Over the centuries, similar mirages have led many caravans astray. Most hotels also offer village tours, as well as guided camel treks into the desert. To see the desert as it was meant to be seen, you must travel by camel. Select a late-afternoon excursion, when the sun stretches the shadows of palms across the desert and gilds the sand in molten light. Traversing the desert is like watching a movie in slow motion – a biblical epic where the characters and countryside seem straight out of another era – Bedouin shepherds watering their sheep at artesian wells and Berber farmers riding their donkeys across a monotone sandscape. If you are unable to join a camel excursion, take a side trip to Sabria – southwest of Douz – to see its enormous dunes, rippled by the wind. Climb to the top of one of the dunes and listen to the desert winds. This is the Sahara – vast and overwhelming. 18 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx