350 km behind us and 150 km to cover today...... we have a full agenda.  One small adjustment to the start position.  We stayed in Gafsa last night not Tozeur, as I had indicated in my last post.  Gafsa, is the mining capital of Tunisia having one of the worlds largest phosphate mines.  It has a storied history which is similar to other parts of the country.  However, not much remains of the founders influence here, as the town was heavily bombed during WWII.   Recently, Gafsa has had an important impact on the modern Arab world.  It was here in 2011, in this industrial backwater town that the roots of the Arab Spring movement got its start.  While the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was swift with it's response to the uprising, the movement survived and Tunisia became the first of the Arab nations to revolt. Now let's get back to the tour.

First stop is the town of Melaqui, where we will board the Lezard Rouge(red lizard) train, for a ride through the Selja Gorge.  The train itself has a story, as it was originally owned by the Bey of Tunis. The Bey were the monarchy ruling Tunisia until the independence of 1956.  The train was used to transport the royal family (all 4 wives. children, etc) from the palace in Tunis (you know the one that is now a museum) to the beach in Hamamamet.  It was the height of glamour in those days. Not so much anymore, no matter..... we are here for the views.  The railway weaves its way through the canyons using the same rails the mine uses to transfer phosphate to the coast.  The Lezard runs once a day during a gap in the traffic.

A pleasant ride.  Back in the chariot,  Ali points the truck west toward the Algerian boarder.  We past through Tozeur, which will be our stop for the night,  to see an Oasis in the middle of the otherwise inhospitable desert.  Actually it is really three villages in a loosely connected Oasis.  Mides, Tamerza and Chebika.  Each one has a distinct geological difference, which is the reason for the visit.  They are very poor places with the shared bad fortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   In 1969,

 it rained, violently and for many days.  A "Build the Ark" kind of rain, A Vancouver winter kind of rain.....the  resulting flood wiped out all three villages.  They rebuilt but many villagers lost their lives.  

Three distinct features are as follows: one village is at the source of the spring that feeds the greenery of the Oasis, the Second has a waterfall, the third a grand canyon like gorge.  Getting to the first two locations required us to walk through the middle of the destruction.  The ruins of peoples lives torn open and left bare for all to see.

The spring of life in the Oasis. 

 The canyon

The falls.  I threw this shirt out after seeing this picture!  it made me look fat....Johanne is thinking of throwing that dress out as well!

Back to Tozeur, known as the "Door of the Desert"  I am hungry! Our hotel for the night is called Ras El Ain.  Absolutely magnificent. Tomorrow across the salt flats, a ride to remember and a night under the stars.

Be well

Salaam