Tunisia Live (Tunis)
Houda Mzioudet
3 December 2011
The Tunisian Sahara desert stretches over a third of Tunisian soil and is part of the Grand Oriental Erg. Famous towns in the Sahara desert include Douz, Kebili, Nefta and Tozeur. In the middle of the Sahara Desert lies the Sabria oasis, the oldest oasis of the Grand Oriental Erg of the Tunisian Sahara desert.
If you are looking for a quality New Year’s holiday, an escape from the daily grind or just wishing to chill out for the weekend, you can find in the Tunisian Sahara desert the perfect place to relax and enjoy magnificent landscape of endless dunes of sand.
Douz, an oasis village, is located southeast of the salt lake of Chott el Jerid, a flat expanse of sparkling-salt cristals. This typically desert village is surrounded by dunes. Its semi-nomadic population maintains its traditional customs with its Thursday market, camels’ skin craft industry, Berber jewels, breeding of sloughi- desert greyhound-, make of Douz a museum of lively traditions.
Each year, the town revives the strongest moments of traditional life in the Sahara desert during the Douz Sahara Festival such as Fantasia, an equestrian show of Arab horse-riders, wedding processions, camels’ fight and greyhound hunting. Ennajaa Sahara Camp, in the Douz touristic zone, offers visitors the possibility of discovering the marvelous Saharan world with state-of-the-art authentic and cozy Bedouin tents, air-conditioned restaurant and café, sports activities and services tailored to individuals, families, groups and friends.
Along with the Douz Sahara Festival, the Sahara offers a plethora of holiday festivities to cater to national and international visitors looking for a taste of Sahara life.
The Berber village of Sabria is home to around 2,000 locals housed in some 250 households. It is situated at the gates of the Sahara desert, whose nomadic tradition remains alive. It is also the name of a tribe that used to live in the Sahara desert between Ghadames in Libya and the Djerid area of south west Tunisia.
Activities in Sabria include date harvest, handicraft and camel riding. Its authenticity and its people’s warmth towards foreign visitors make one want to stay with family and spend fun times in the small houses’ courtyards around fire in the cold nights of December.
Sabria is the only village in Tunisia that organizes its own festival. The Sabria tribe survives any attempt at assimilating it and kept its authentic Berber identity alive. It is distinct from its neighboring tribe of Merazga of Douz. The Sabria Festival of Heritage and Development takes place in December each year and features one of the most authentic representations of the life of Sahara Berbers and their traditions. The Hair Dance performed by local young women is an attraction of Sabria Festival. The village offers limited hotel accommodation such as the old French fort, stuck in the sand along with some guest houses in the village itself.
Tozeur, a city in south west Tunisia and North West Chott el-Djerid is home to around 98,000 inhabitants. Tozeur is considered a center of “desert tourism”. The International Festival of the Oasis in Tozeur lasts between three and five days and is held annually in December. It features camel racing, storytelling, traditional dance and music performances and other folkloric events, such as folklore dances by local and international groups, ballet, concerts, plays, operas, and sales of traditional handicrafts. With hundreds of thousands of palm trees, Tozeur is a large oasis. The dates that are exported from Tozeur are very well known.
The city of Tozeur is served by the Tozeur-Nefta International Airport with national and international services from London, Paris, Rome and a few other European countries (international flight services are mostly during the summer tourism season).
The Yadis Oasis Tozeur Hotel is classified as a historical monument.The hotel is built in typical local architectural style using pale-coloured bricks and is set in the heart of a natural palm grove in the middle of Tozeur’s oasis, a stone’s throw from the medina, yet only 3 km from airport. It offers its visitors activities such as the Bedouin’s Nights, organized below tent in the palm oasis from the hotel and excursions with the train “Lézard Rouge” from the ex Bey of Tunisia, the Ottoman rulers of Tunisia.
Tunisia is home to one of the most famous world desert festivals and is an attractive holiday destination for Tunisian and international visitors who are looking for adventure, fun and discovery of authentic Arabic and Berber life in a cosmopolitan environment.
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