The one thing neither Christi nor I had expected to find in cave #17 of the Sidi Driss hotel was mosquitoes, but there was a bunch of the noisy little buggers last night. Fortunately, they stood out easily from the whitewashed walls and were easy prey for my weighty Lonely Planet guide to Africa. And as is usual in desert environs, it got darned chilly during the night and both Christi and I were scrambling to find extra blankets. Tour groups start arriving early at the Sidi Driss hotel and on our return from breakfast in the Star Wars courtyard we are surprised to find some Italian tourists follow us into our cave. And they didn’t seem to be in any rush to leave until Christi shooed them out of the way. In fact to escape the tourist bombardment yesterday we returned to the sunlight and explored more of Matmata, including a troglodyte lady who has lived underground her entire life. With no family to support her now she has opened her home to tourists. And not surprisingly she doesn’t seem very happy to have so many strangers tramping through the place. We also found a fixer, Ahmed, yesterday (Is every Arab man named Ahmed a fixer?). Or more accurately he found us and wanted to know our plans for the next few days. He offered to put a program together for us to visit a few interesting places. Naturally he wanted multi-days but we compromised on a day trip with an English-speaking guide. We try to cover all eventualities, because if it isn’t discussed and agreed upon ahead of time, then it is not and will never be a part of the program. And any time you want to change the program, you have to renegotiate the price. Arabs take this very seriously. We agree to visit a Berber village and two Ksars and then to be dropped off in the town of Medenine from where we can arrange onward transportation by louage. Sounds perfect. Well…
Our driver/guide is not the fixer so already there is some confusion with the program. The driver plays loud Arabic music, smokes continuously, insists on stopping at every retail opportunity, and completely ignores Christi and I. We do enjoy a pretty ride through the hills around Matmata, including a stop at the not quite Hollywood-famous sign for Matmata before reaching the first destination in our program: the Berber village of Toujene. Ahmed the fixer said it is more authentic than the more popularly visited village of Chenini. Toujene reminds me of the Berber villages Christi and I saw clinging to the slopes of the High Atlas Mountains. There are a lot of barking dogs in this village, which does make one wary of rabies (we say this after nibbling on bat in Kumasi, Ghana). The town is quite dilapidated or full of character depending on the spin you wish to apply; even the mosque has a wonky filial on its minaret.
Our guide is quite impatient and honks his horn after 30 minutes. We ignore it of course and continue poking around the Toujene. When we do eventually amble back to the car, our driver is apoplectic and tells us we must go more quickly otherwise we won’t have enough time to complete the program.
There are many Ksars around Tataouine, a couple of which were featured in the prequel movies, namely Ksar Hadada and Ksar Ouled Soltane. Ahmed said the latter was too far away to be included in this program and instead substituted the less commonly visited Ksar el-Hallouf. When we reach this first Ksar, our driver insists we only stay 15 minutes. This time I take umbrage and tell him in no uncertain terms that we will take as long as we want. I also tell him to turn off the music and to stop smoking while he is chauffeuring us around. I’m sure I’ve probably offended him because he walks away and ignores us.
Ksar el-Hallouf is certainly remote and its disused ghorfas (stacked cavities) are very photogenic against the backdrop of the dry, golden hills. Ksar means fortified village and it was that part of the community where the harvested grains, dates, figs etc. were stored (in the ghorfas). And since this food meant the difference between life and death, the ghorfas were well protected against theft from enemies. These Berber designs were so visually appealing that George Lucas used them as slave quarters in the prequel movies, particularly Ksar Hadada – our last stop on this abridged tour. This Ksar is the only location so far to openly acclaim its Star Wars association. Part of this Ksar is falling into ruin, but is fun to explore. There are three-story structures here, and each ghorfa is a large vaulted room. The other part of the complex is the Ksar Hadada hotel, which is where The Phantom Menace was actually shot. As with much else here in the desert, the hotel is falling into disrepair. It no longer offers accommodation, only restaurant facilities. Christi and I spend ages wandering through the narrow, low-ceiling passageways imagining we are part of the Star Wars universe. Fantastic.
Finally, the driver can whisk us away to Medenine and be rid of us; we are certainly glad to be rid of him. I think the only reason he did not dump us in the desert is that we hadn’t paid for the tour yet (130 Dinar [US$85]) The louage ride from Medenine to our next destination the port town of Houmt Souq on the island of Djerba (which is linked to the mainland by a long causeway) is a pleasant contrast to the frustrations of our tour.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.
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