As we left the island of Jerba in northeast Tunisia, our next stop going south was Chenin, which is called the “Stone Desert.” This is home to the Berber tribe, who settled in the 11th century, escaping invaders and creating homes in caves high in the hills.
I climbed the cliffs to the top where a white-washed mosque sits perched overlooking the “community.” It is still used today but closed to tourists. The Berbers make their living from the busloads of tourists and survive on tourist dollars. There is a restaurant by the parking lot that seats over 100 people so the area has become a “bus trip” destination.
We got back into our SUV and traveled a short distance to visit with a Berber family and see how they lived. I was grateful to use their “hole-in-the-ground” bathroom! The stone cave rooms are tidy with rugs but no windows and one room even had a TV! Maybe the Internet will be next.
From there it was another short ride that brought us to Matmata, now famous because it’s where the original “Star Wars” movie was shot. It does have another world look! The crater-like terrain made for a picture-perfect “set.”
As we continued our road trip, driving from one city to the next, our guide picked up figs, bananas, apples and bread as a snack. We always buy bags of cheese and nuts and bring them with us from New York for days like this when we have no place to stop for lunch.
Our next adventure was camel rides in the Tunisian Sahara Desert, in the town of Douz. It has built a tourism industry around the rides on a camel, sand buggy and horse carriage rides (for the scared people). The area has an oasis of date-producing palm trees, so lush and a surprisingly beautiful oasis in the desert.
The camel ride was promoted as experiencing a “Lawrence of Arabia” ride in the desert. When we got there, the guide dressed us up in a turban and gown. We looked so ridiculous and I was laughing until I got on the camel! It was sitting low to the ground but, as it rose to its full size, my laughter turned to screeches! When I calmed down a friendly guide led us through the sand dunes, some deep, some shallow. Honestly, I was ready to return to the base camp as soon as I got up on the camel but I held on for dear life, squeezing my legs hard on the camel’s saddle, and hung on! Here I was in the Sahara Desert on a camel! Well, I conquered riding elephants in India and Thailand and now I survived a camel ride in Tunisia’s Sahara Desert. I’m glad I conquered my fear and did it! I think it was fun! It’s a memory I’ll have for a lifetime.
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