Chott El Jerid Things to Do Tips by JLBG Top 5 Page for this destination

Plant growing nevertheless

Of course in the central part of the chott El Djerid, nothing grows. However, it has not a rim with on one side the salted chott and on the other side the land. Progressively the salt is more and more sandy and though with a high content in salt, plants and bushes can grow and flourish.

Composition of the salts

I have written "salts" and not "salt. Actually, the mean composition of the water input in the chott (surface water + groundwater), thus of the salt crust is the following :
NaCl (sodium chloride, "salt") : 38%
CaSO4, 2H2O (calcium sulfate, gypsum or plaster-stone) : 40%
MgSO4 (magnesium sulfate) : 14%
CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) : 4%
KCl (potassium chloride) : 3%
MgCO3 (magnesium carbonate) : 1%

A difficult choice

Then you have to make your choice. Either you avoid Summer to visit Southern Tunisia and the weather will be more pleasant to visit Tozeur, Nefta, Tamerza, Douz, etc…(unless you get some sand wind, which we had in 2003) but you are sure that the chott El Djérid will be a vast stretch of mud. Or you visit in Summer, you will either have a hot weather or a very hot weather (I once had 55°C in the shade in Tozeur oasis in late July), but the chott will be superb.

The best : come twice !

Tyre marks on the salt surface

These phenomenon explain why it is only in summer that you will be able to see the Chott in all its beauty. However, it will not always be pure white. Depending of the nature of the salts, of the suspended matter content of the water (sand) and of the quality of the light, it can look of various colors though red shades are the most often.

Crystals of salts

Rain is always scarce, only in winter and early spring, sometimes in autumn and the average height is 90 mm while the average evaporation height is over 2,500 mm. This huge difference help to understand why even if the salt content of water is low, there, in the long run accumulates high amounts of salts. The accumulation of salt is 2 cm per year.

Water and crystals of salts

From where does the salt of the chotts comes ? It comes both from surface water from the rain that washes the surface of soils. When they are drained into the chott, their salt contents are not very high. But as heat and winds are high, water evaporates fast, leaving it's salts. Moreover, the subterranean groundwater layer has a high content in salts coming from deep. At some periods of the year, the groundwater layer rises at the surface and enriches the surface water in salts.

Regular mirages

As it is completely flat, when there is no wind, you very often can see mirages. They are, if I can remind it, reflections on layers of air of different density/temperature. This is why they occur only when it is hot and that there is no wind. The most common ones will turn a turf of dry grass into a forest. As much as you approach, as much it become smaller. It will also make a regular car look on the horizon like a double-decked London bus. Another feature (seen here), is the horizon being "double", as if there was a peninsula extending among a lake, but there is no water and no peninsula ! Double click to enlarge the picture, you will better see what I mean.

Cart surf ?

Due to the neighborhood of the Great Eastern erg, the climate in the chott is very continental. The difference between the colder month and the hotter month reaches 20°C. For the same reason, there are often strong winds. As the soil is mostly flat, that allows cart surfing. Actually, I did not see any but I know that it is a well-known spot for cart surf lovers.

Paved road

There is now a paved road that crosses the Chott El-Djérid safely from Tozeur to Kébili. However, as the soil is not strong, it is difficult to keep it in good condition all the time and there are often segments that are on repair. On this picture, taken in March 2003, the road is on the far left. On the right, a canal has been dug to drain the subsoil under the road and improve its condition.

Salt track

Until recently, there was only a 90 km single track (not a dirt track, a salt track !) that allowed to drive across the chott, only in Summer. You had to follow very carefully the track as otherwise, you might be caught in mud. There were always a few abandoned cars on the sides of the track, stuck in the mud because they had driven too much out of the track to cross another car. Driving across the chott was always an adventure. This picture was taken in 1973.