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As the plane began its descent into Tozeur, an oasis in South West Tunisia on the northern tip of the Sahara Desert, I could see the peaks of the Atlas Mountains in the distance, and down below was an arid, rugged and rocky terrain. As the plane touched down, I noticed the sandy earth on both sides of the runway with shrubs and scrubs growing on it. It was my first glimpse of the Sahara.
At the airport, my family and I were welcomed by Mr Najeeb, who was our friend and guide, on our journey through the Sahara. As we drove from the airport to our hotel, the streets were lined with palm trees. Splendid date palms that Tozeur was famous for producing and exporting to different corners of the world. As Mr Najeeb explained, dates were part of the staple breakfast of nomads in the desert to energize themselves for the day. The roadside was dotted with yellow brick buildings. Yellow bricks laid in relief forming intricate geometric patterns on tall facades, a reminder of the ancient Berber heritage of the town.
The day was getting hotter as we approached noon and the sun ascended towards its zenith in the sky blazing down its light and heat upon us.
The sky was now a violent shade of blue, pure and invigorating.
In the distance I caught a glimpse of the dunes. Tall pointed dunes, fierce and golden, smoking like a volcano into the sky above. 'O Sahara, Supreme Sahara, there you are, I had been waiting so long just to catch a glimpse of you.'
After checking into the hotel and grabbing a quick bite of breakfast, we drove to the palm forest and zoo. The palm grove was a dense green oasis of date palms. It looked akin to delicate, feathery plumes. Between their chiseled trunks, stood a verdant stretch of melons, watermelons and basil. As our guide, Ali, explained to us, the three layers of vegetation with vegetables and fodder growing at the bottom, fruit trees in the middle, and tall date palms at the very top was a hallmark of agriculture in Tozeur irrigated using a canal based system developed by the great thirteenth century engineer Ibn Chabbat. Ali graciously plucked out a variety of dates for us to try from the sweet and red allig to the translucent and creamy deglet nour, which tasted just like honey. Between well-cultivated gardens were saltwater ponds with toads croaking their melancholy song in the stillness of the surroundings.
Our next stop was the zoo, where we were greeted by a cute, cola-drinking camel. The zoo was home to rare animals, including desert monitors, raptors, scorpions, snakes, fennec foxes, and sand and horned vipers. The zoo-keeper wrapped a snake around my neck as my brother clicked a picture while mom looked in consternation.
We stopped by for lunch at a local outdoor café. I tried the chakhchoukha of Jerid, lamb cooked in sauce accompanied by a traditional semolina bread called mtabga. Post lunch my brother and I went camel riding. I needed practice getting on and off the camel. It would come in handy for going deeper into the Sahara to explore its mysteries. As the heat intensified in the afternoon, we decided to return to our hotel.
