Tozeur Favorite Tips by JLBG Top 5 Page for this destination

View of the Belvédère in 2002

Favorite thing: Since the previous picture was taken, the belvédère has been cropped by bulldozers in order to get more space to build new hotels. Moreover, huge heads have been carved, mimicking USA !

This picture was taken from one of those hotels that have been built where was a part of the palm-grove.

However, there remains enough space on top for the view-point but the landscape is now heavily spoiled. We have not been able to check it : as can be seen on the picture, there was a strong wand wind and there would have bee nothing to look at !

Children playing in the oued

Favorite thing: The children played in the oued, which was the coolest spot of the oasis. Thus, they could endure the temperature very easily. However, whilst 55°C at day time was not too difficult to handle, 48°C (118°F) all night long was much more a problem ! At that temperature, when I took my camera, as it was completely dark, I felt at first that it had been heated in the oven !

Cooling in the oued

Favorite thing: On our 1974 visit, as I said in another tip, there was a heat wave (yes, even in the Sahara, there can be heat waves as well as cold waves !) and during the day, the temperature in the palm-grove remained 55°C (131°F) all day long. We did not visit much of the oasis (we did it on other visits !) Our friendly guide brought us to the oued that collects water from the 200 springs of the oasis and we spend the whole afternoon and evening in the water, chatting with him and his friends.

As far as I have seen at my last visit to Tozeur, the oued has much less water (hotels need much water !) and often is completely dry, even in March !

Close up on dates

Favorite thing: On this picture, in August, dates look almost like green olives. Dates grown in Tozeur and in the other oasis of the Djerid are considered as the best in the world. They are called "Deglet nour" (fingers of light) and are sweet and almost tasting like honey

Close up on a bunch of dates in the palm-tree

Favorite thing: One bunch of dates can weight several kilos when it is collected ripe, in November. A visit to Tozeur in November would be a good choice (I had never the opportunity to do so), as it is the time of date harvest and the temperature is pleasant.

Dates in the palm-tree

Favorite thing: However, and given these three levels of growth, dates are the main crop. In July and even in August, they are far from ripe and on the very top of the palm-trees, 10-15 meters high, are big bunches of green fruits, hanging.

Vines climbing the palm-trees

Favorite thing: In the palm-grove, there are 3 levels of growth. At ground level, there are vegetable crops (carrots, salads, mint for tea, forage for the cattle, wheat, etc…). Mid heights level is for fruits, banana-trees (actually not a tree !), fig-trees, pomogranate trees. And top level is palm-trees. Vines climb along the palm-trees and give delicious grapes.

Donkey ride

Favorite thing: Our friendly guide kindly offered a donkey ride in the palm-grove to our two kids who were very happy with that. Now, there are so many tourists that donkey rides, or horse-drawn carriage rides are proposed as a, payed of course, tourist service on an almost "industrial" basis !

Looking for a place to camp in the palm-grove

Favorite thing: This is an old picture, taken in 1974. At that time, there was no camping. A young man had approached us as a guide and he offered to camp with our caravan in the palm-grove of his family, close to the oued that drains the water from the 200 springs of the oasis.

The palm-grove

Favorite thing: The palmeraie (Palm-grove) used to be one of the most beautiful of the whole Sahara. Unfortunately, it has been deeply spoilt by tourism. Parts of it have been cut to build new hotels. Increase use of water has dried many of the 200 springs that watered it and many trees are dry and dead. When we visited it in 2002, it was far from as beautiful as it was on previous visits.