Day 7 Chott to Tozeur

Today was not as gruelling as yesterday but SD Tours managed to fill the day. Since we left the northern part of Tunisia and headed south to the area of the Sahara desert, there has been quite a change in the landscape and vegetation. Yesterday we crossed through millions of olive trees stretching as far as the eye could see. Olives is one of the main agricultural products that Tunisia produces. Then as the vegetation became sparser we could start to see more of what you would think is dessert landscapes. Today once we got going it was miles of nothing. We started the morning with a short tour of the shops of Doez. We wonder where is the market for all the baskets, desert roses (sand formations) weaved dresses, mats, carpets and assorted other items that we seem to see in these shops at every stop. The one interesting thing was the man making shoes out of camel hides! We did see butchered camel meat in other shops.

Then we headed out across the largest salt lake in Tunis which seemed to go on forever. This is exactly what you would think of when you hear about a salt lake or salt plain.

It is not really a lake although there is the occasional shallow body of water but a completely flat area with a definite salt looking soil. Mirages were evident as you look across this vast area. In the middle of this area an occasional shop with the resources from the area appeared. They were selling bags of salt that they said came from the area. There were plenty of crystal quartz samples and many geodes on display. We did stop at one “coffee shop” covered in what appeared to be grass. It was extremely interesting in that the owner was selling espressos, lattes, etc. As well as other standard items. He had a modern “coffee” machine and knew what he was doing. We referred to it as the Tunisian Tim Horton's. It was the best latte so far. We finally made it to the “Golden Yasmin” hotel which was a step up from the previous hotel. We had lunch here and a bit of time to settle in since we will be here for 2 nights.

We then went on the optional excursion in the late afternoon which was a “carriage ride” (way better that than the one from yesterday) to the oasis where date palms can be found. Date palms is another of the items that can be found throughout the country. We have had them a number of times in the hotels. The tour (to a “private” grower) went through the process of growing dates. There were 500 female trees on the property and only 2 male trees! We also had a demonstration of how the dates are harvested. The 65 year old bare footed harvester climbed the tree to retrieve the fruit. It was quite impressive of how he did it. The carriage driver then took us into town where we walked through the media (area inside a walled area). This one was mainly used for housing with very few shops.

Once outside we wandered around again taking in the stalls (many selling just dates) as well as the baskets, woven rugs, etc. All in all an interesting day. Tomorrow we head out on jeeps for the “real” Sahara experience!