Tunisia-Med-Sahara Day 11

Day 17-12 - Thursday, March 26, 2009 - Travel to Djerba/See Matmata Cave Dwellings/Tour Djerba and Visit El Ghriba Synagogue

We only spent one night in Douz at the oasis. Our bags had to be out at 7:15 and were already being loaded on the bus when we left breakfast at 7:30. I checked the temperature and it was 54º and the humidity was 69% this morning.

Our target departure time was 7:45, and after making sure the hotel had all of the keys, we were on the road at 7:54 heading northeast to the island of Djerba.

The oases are being tamed and used for irrigation and the Khamis told us about the greenification of the desert. The increasing heat and winds blowing sand are attacking more and more of the land.

Even the cities are having a problem of the encroaching deserts. The government is helping by hiring workers to plant palms and to develop irrigation to stop the desert from destroying the villages.

Our first stop of the day was at a local market on the way out of Douz. We watched a demonstration by a young shoemaker making camel leather shoes worn in the sands.

Khamis gave us 20 minutes to look around but Margo was having problems with her back so Gennie showed her the way back to the bus.

At 8:50 when everyone had arrived, we continued on to Matmata. We traveled along flat roads and saw many Berber tents and herds of camels.

Riadh stopped so we could take photos. There was group of 7 babies all following an adult female.

Now Ireland wants a real camel to take home. After the great time she has had on this trip, and as well behaved as she has been, her parents should buy her one!

On our way to Matmata, we began to see the many cave homes. These houses now have their own running water and electricity.

The topography was very hilly here, with deep gouges of erosion. We stopped at another of the Star Wars sites, this one the Sidi Driss Hotel where Luke Skywalker’s home was filmed.

Our next stop was a visit to a cave home – the troglodytes. A very welcoming Berber woman served us red tea with sugar and flat bread with very fine olive oil.

We watched her grind a grain for the bread, and then we were free to look around. Another group of Tunisian tourists were there at the same time and I filmed a gentleman grinding the grain and singing a traditional Berber song.

These homes are very cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Even when the government provided the local people with modern housing, many went back to their comfortable caves.

We left the cave home and drove to the new modern town of Matmata where we got gas. While Riadh fueled the bus, Khamis told us about the WWII military campaigns important to this area.

At 12:15 we reached the Mareth Line Military Museum dedicated to the intense battle of North African and the Tunisian coast. Our military guide gave us very detailed descriptions of the fight between the Allies and the Axis.

We left the museum knowing more and appreciating the efforts of the French, Americans, English, Tunisians, and the Algerians against the Germans, Italians, and Libyans.

We continued east to the coast over flat land, covered with very carefully cultivated olive trees. The ferry to take us to the island of Djerba had just left so we were first in line for the next one.

As I waited for the ferry to load, I took the temperature again; it was 79º and 48% humidity on the coast. Many people got out of the cars for the short 15 minute crossing.

Our average speed was 7.1 mph and we traveled 1.2 miles across the Strait of El Jorf. At 2:00 we left the ferry and were back on land, our home for the next two days.

We went through the tiny seacoast village of Aijm, another Star Wars site. Palms, domed roofs, and thick-walled homes dot the flat landscape. There are also olive trees on the island, some that are 800 – 900 years old.

At 2:30 we got off of the bus in the city of Houmt Souk and then walked to our lunch at Le Patio. We were served a salad, potato cake, French bread that is so good, and then a rice and lamb dish. Oranges were our dessert of the day.

We walked back to the bus and began our exploration of the Jewish Community of the Island. We picked up Mislayah Sabbagh who was to be our afternoon city guide.

We were off to the historic synagogue, El Ghariba. Before we could go on the grounds we had to go through a security check. This synagogue was the site of a terrible bombing in 2002 where 21 tourists were killed, 14 of them Germans.

When we entered the synagogue we were given covers for our heads. Our guide explained about this conservative Orthodox congregation.

He emphasized they live in peace with their neighbors. They are Tunisians first and are isolated from the hatred in other parts of the world.

We left the synagogue and then went to Guellala, the center of pottery making for Tunisia. We stopped at Le Chameau Magique. We saw pieces we had seen all over the country and watched a demonstration.

Instead of staying the full 45 minutes, most of us were finished looking in 15 minutes. This might be a sign we were not interested in collecting heavy pottery.

We got to our hotel at 6:00 and got our room keys. Dinner was at 7:30, so we typed the journal and I took a few more pictures of the hotel grounds.

Accommodations: Cesar Hotel - - - Meals: B, L, D

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Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos

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Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.

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Continue Reading Day 13