Tunisia Part II, in the Desert

The real highlight of the trip was when we arrived in Douz. Jen and I had some idea that we wanted to ride some camels and maybe take a day trip through the desert, but we realized we probably didn’t have time to make any greater commitment than that as we were near the end of our trip.

After checking into our hotel, we drove downtown to find the restaurant Ali Baba that was supposed to have amazing couscous. While we got slightly lost trying to find it, a man in Bedouin garb came by and offered his help. He also passed us his card and offered to take us on a trip through the desert. Finally we found the restaurant and once again, we were the only ones there. The place was arranged with sand in the backyard and room for dancing, a Bedouin tent and string lights across the yard. This place entertains much bigger groups than ourselves, but we are here in the off season, so the owners, Ali Baba and his brother, came and sat with us. The place was a long running establishment that was passed down from Ali Baba Sr. to Ali Baba Jr. and he told us a few stories about their past guests and the crazy sorts of activities that happen there. The food was phenomenal and cost just a few dollars for the whole dinner.

Best Couscous ever!

As we were finishing up, the man who gave us his card came in and sat down with us. He was friends with Ali Baba and was a local camel driver. We got to chatting and one thing led to another and we were signing up for a proper trip through the desert. This wasn’t another tour, but the truly authentic trip that you can’t sign up for. Our guides name was Zou and he regularly spends his night in the desert with his favorite camel Aziz. He reads, plays music, spends time with friends and occasionally brings some new friends with him. We were lucky that he found us.

We met the next morning, picked up his camels and made our way to the edge of town just before 9. For 3 hours we made our way through the desert; first the hard rocky fields gently turned into sandy fields with shrubs, then to long sloping dunes with bits of shrubs, until there was no shrubs at all. This is October and the temperature during the day reached over 90 degrees F (32 C), but in the summer it gets over 120 degrees F (50 C). There is barely an inch of rainfall each year and the Sahara stretches over 3 million square miles. You could take the entire United States (minus Alaska) and fit it squarely inside the Sahara with room to spare.

Around noon we stopped in the shade of a large bush to have some lunch. Collecting firewood, laying blankets, letting the camels loose to feed, boiling the water, cooking the vegetables and just taking it easy. Took a nap in the shade of the bush after lunch until the highest heat of the day passed.

 Zou and me

After lunch and a siesta, we moved southward to the more sandy desert that is generally depicted in the movies; long sloping dunes and hardly a bush in sight.

 Goofing off on our camels Ishtar and Lafar

 The Dune long jump

After a few more hours of camel riding, we found our camping ground by a few bushes that helped block the desert wind at night. We freed the camels of their harnesses and set them to graze. Jen and I learned our duties from lunch; unload all the baskets, collect the firewood, spread the blankets in a circle around the fire. We watched the sun set over the Sahara and quickly the wilderness turned to an inky blankness with hardly a light to be seen for miles. There was only a faint glow of the town of Douz some 30 km away and only the stars to light our way. The stars you could see were simply breathtaking. Never in my life have I seen such a full sky of stars. It was like being in a planetarium observatory where the stars seemed so bright you could reach out and touch them. Every constellation was clearly seen and the view held our attention for a good time as we continuously got lost in their gaze.

 Our campsite and kitchen

 Mohammed, who is a master of the desert.

Couscous and vegetables made by Mohammed

Our night was spent eating delicious couscous, listening to the songs of Zou and Mohammed, gazing at the stars, telling stories over the fire, feeding the camels and listening to the sound of nothing as the desert hardly speaks except for a few scarabs making their "krick krick" sound. In the morning, we woke with the sun, made a breakfast of sand baked bread that is cooked under the remnants of last nights fire and some tea. We made our way back to town, not before stopping at Mohammed's palm tree farm to give us a bunch of dates, as he seemed to take a liking to us more than past guests.

Mohammed was a funny guy who could only speak a few words of English, but his stories were translated for us by Zou and he was a very likable guy. His way of bonding with us, was to ask us "Sahara good?" and then smile away as we told him how much we loved it.

Zou is about 29 who is an active camel racer and traveler. His English was improved when he dated a woman from Vancouver for several years. His love of the desert was simply passionate and he is truly a unique character that we had many questions for. He taught us some camel commands and bits of the songs he sang. He answered our million questions with a kind smile and patience that he must have refined over years of taking guests to the desert.

The Caravan Song

After we returned, we hurried to make our way back to Sfax to drop the car off and catch the last train, but it will be a long time before we forget the magic of the desert.