Tunisia: The Desert Drive

From Gabes we rented a car and spent two days driving further south and west, making our way to the edge of the Sahara desert before heading back to Gabes. On our first day we drove south through a rocky desert landscape dotted with palm trees, small brush and the occasional oasis, distinguished by a small island of green surrounded by the sea of brown around it. The region is heavily populated by Berbers--the original, indigenous inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasions--and we also drove past and to many old Berber fortresses and villages for which the area is famous. The picture above is of a Ksar--a fortified Berber granary--examples of which are found throughout the region.

Since this part of Tunisia was used for the filming of parts of the Star Wars films, our trip included visiting two sites that were used, and which have now become destinations in themselves. This involved driving through the town of Tataouine--also the name of the home planet of Luke Skywalker--and then spending the night in the village of Matmata in his boyhood home, which was a Berber home and is now a very low budget hotel. We wouldn't recommend staying there, though, as the facilities were shabby and somewhat gross. As Annamarie said, they don't have too much incentive to keep it nice, "because they know that dorks like us will come anyway."

From Matmata we drove to the town of Douz, located on the edge of the Sahara desert. Most of the trip consisted of driving in a straight line through more rocky desert, until the hard topography grew progressively more sandy as we drew closer to Douz. Douz itself is an oasis--the largest in Tunisia--with nearly half a million palm trees. We spent our day there exploring the town, eating lunch and riding camels just a bit into the Sahara. Then we drove back to Gabes.

The sign at the city limits of Tataouine, a city of 60,000 that is also the name of Luke Skywalker's home planet.


A Berber stronghold. With the exception of the white mosque in the middle--a recent addition--the buildings all blend in with the surrounding rock.

The courtyard of Luke Skywalker's home, with various movie props still in place. It was at one time the courtyard of a Berber home. There are rooms all around the open space in the middle--all dug into the rock--and large tunnels that connect this courtyard area to two other similar courtyard areas.

A room on the perimeter of the courtyard.


The tomb of a marabout--a local Islamic leader--in Matmata.


Riding camels just a tiny bit into the Sahara desert from Douz.

The sands of the Sahara.


A collection of "desert rose"--a compacted crystallization of various minerals--which is found in the desert.

On our drive from Douz back to Gabes we encountered a herd of about 50 camels being led towards the road. This picture was taken as they finally approached the road to cross it, passing right by us as we stood and watched.

A camel crossing in front of our car.