Travel Diary: Xacus goes to Saharan Desert

 

The irresistible allure of Africa, its warm, shiny sandy colours. Once you’ve been there, you can’t help but being hypnotized by its atmospheres and changing landscape, just like the sand dunes that cover everything with a golden blanket. The first thing you do, when you feel part of this land, is finding the right outfit inspired by its nuances - from khaki to brown and rust, with all the colours of earth in between, with linen shirts and safari cotton shirts with pockets, to feel at ease on your Jeep, with ankle boots, hat and sunglasses. Giorgia, with pocket shirts, cargo trousers, long floral skirts and scarves, to cover up in style, as she can do.

We land in Monastir, where our driver is waiting for us to take us to a hotel in Takrouna, a small town atop a hill, with the typical Bedouin houses, where elderly people make baskets and mule bags with alpha, a sturdy plant widespread among local communities.
We stop for lunch and our driver prompts us to resume our trip, if we don’t want to lose all day. We cross a road lined by prickly pears and agave plants and a few watermelon vendors, to refresh passers-by from the sultry heat. We finally reach Zaghouan, where we visit the Water Temple. This is where a water system that supplied the city of Carthage started.

 

 

To the discovery of the yellow brick city

 

We resume our tour headed to Tozeur, also known as the yellow brick city.
The road is flanked by prickly pears, behind which the endless yellow desert opens up, and where we spot a few solitary dromedaries, even though the “Danger: camel crossing” signs are far more frequent!
The Tozeur oasis, which can be visited for 20TD each, boast a flourishing flora, comprising date palms and fig trees, along with pomegranates and banana trees. If you are lucky, you’ll see the desert fox with its big ears, which is considered the most voracious carnivorous mammal in the Sahara region.

 

 

From the Sabria Oasis to the "Gladiator" set 

 

After spending the night between the cool walls of Dar Nejma - the hotel Giorgia chose, for its courtyard garden covered by lush plants, white marble arches and column and a central swimming pool - we get dressed to move toward the Sabria Oasis: an old fortress, once inhabited by Marasik nomad tribes. Giorgia and I look like we came out of “The Sheltering Sky”! I’m wearing linen trousers with pleats, a striped linen shirt with matching scarf, while Giorgia comes down the stairs with a red linen blouse, wide-fit white linen trousers, and a matching head scarf knotted on her forehead, just like a Bedouin, which highlights her deep dark eyes.
While we are on the Jeep in the desert, on those sandy roads, the drivers have fun with dune manoeuvres. The golden-white sand is so fine it looks like talcum powder. We stop at a camp to sleep, after eating the best couscous ever!
We continue on to discover the town of El Jem, where we visit the 3rd century Roman amphitheatre, which looks like the Colosseum, only a little smaller and less marked by the passing of time, where the “Gladiator” was filmed. We walk for about an hour, between the dungeons, the hallways and the stands. After dinner, we take a taxi to the port. We stroll around stores and jasmine street vendors, and we stop in a bar for a beer, mint tea with pine nuts and to smoke a hookah, which is also known as chicha.