Le Sud - day 2

There was a chill over Friday night but not the cold that we had expected. This must come later in the year and early in the new year.
After an early breakfast we were on the road again heading for the nearby Chott El Jerid, the largest salt lake in North Africa at some 51,280 sq km. We stopped in the middle of the 64 kilometre causeway to look at and walk on the flat carpet of salt crystals stretching further than the eye can see and shimmering and changing colour in the sunrise from white and grey to pink and pale green.
We travelled upwards from the Chott along the mountain road with hairpin bends and Hawks soaring overhead on the thermals into the steep layered sandstone escarpments and deep gorges where scenes in ‘The English patient’ were shot and on to the village of Chebika only five miles from the Algerian border and, until as recently as the 19th century, a stopping off place on one of the two main caravan routes from the east to west coasts of Africa. I should say two villages as the original settlement was abandoned after being severely damaged during the great floods of 1969 and a new village has been built further down the escarpment. Chebika, a mountain oasis, has a picturesque spring and waterfall a short walk over the hill past the old settlement. The water from the spring feeds otherwise infertile land to produce dates, apricots, peaches, pomegranates citrus fruits, bananas and olives. Tobacco is grown in the shade of the palm trees.
To those dwelling in these parts water was, of course, more precious than oil and it was vital that each plot of land was irrigated regularly and evenly. To achieve this Chebika once had a simple timer consisting of two large jugs hung from a rope. The water poured from one into the other and, based on the time it took to fill the lower jug, the attendant would open and close sluices within the irrigation system sending water to each arable plot in turn.
There are three types of oasis, the maritime oasis, such as Gabes, the desert oasis such as Douz and the mountain oasis such as Chebika. The best dates are an even translucent brown and come from the desert and mountain oases where the air is dry. The humid air of the maritime oases produces second rate dates that have a yellow tinge to their skins.
A little way further up into the hills towards Tamerza we stopped at ‘la Grande Cascade’. In fact, there having been no rain for ages, it was a trickle into a mucky pool. The site was further spoiled by the inordinate number of stalls selling souvenirs made in china that had little to do with the attraction or, indeed, the Country as a whole. Miggy did spot frogs in the stream leading to the ‘waterfall’.
On the way back towards Tozeur and ultimately our Hotel at Nefta for lunch along the edge of the Chott El Gharsa we saw a beautiful lake surrounded by trees in the valley to our left and to our right the sea with ships upon it. We were, of course 360 kilometres from the sea and the only lakes in the vicinity were salt lakes. This was the incredible trick of the light, the curse of lost desert travellers, the mirage.
Tozeur, the capital of the Jerid region has the largest and one of the most beautiful oases in Tunisia. It is a tourist town and we spent little time here apart from in the bar of the Grand Hotel that had beautiful watercolours of Africans hung on the walls of the lobby and bar.
Just 30 km or so along the straight and undulating Roman road blown with sand lies Nefta, a holy town second only to Kairouan. It has a population of just 20,000 yet possesses 24 mosques and 90 mausoleums or Marabouts of revered Sufi clerics. If you think that’s a lot of mosques think again as in the 16th century it had over 100!
We lunched at the Bon Horizon Hotel and had a rest period during which Miggy swam in the freezing pool. We then were taken on a horse and cart ride into the oasis where the process of growing the dates was explained to us. Amazingly the seeds from the pods of one male tree can fertilise up to 200 female fruit bearing trees. Here we drank date juice; smokes date leaf ‘tobacco’ and eat fine translucent ‘Degla’ dates, the best that can be had in Tunisia.. We also bought a few boxes to take home as presents.
A visit to the oldest part of the town, Ouled eech-Cherif, revealed fascinating alleys lined with houses with fancy brick facades and hoards of laughing, screaming children excited by Miggy’s antics with the camera!
Interestingly the Romans, although travelling over the Atlas Mountains and west to the Moroccan Atlantic coast, never ventured into the African continent further south than Nefta.
The hotel is perched on a hill overlooking ‘La Corbeille, a deep palm filled gulley between it, the mausoleums or marabouts of holy men and the town and overlooking the shores of the Chott El Jerid. Sunset on the balcony, a glass of wine in hand was a fitting conclusion to an intensely interesting and enjoyable day.