After the visit to El Jem early in the day it was then off for a good 3 hour ride to where I would spend the night which happened to be in a little place called “Dar Horchani” which is more than a hotel but less than a bed and breakfast. It was wonderful however and my guide and myself were literally the only ones staying the night. I had the pool to myself and cats roamed the dirt alleys. Just a perfect little resting spot in the middle of the desert.
The following day it was up and off for a tour of a number of oasis, canyons, dunes, and more…it was to be a rapid fire visit to numerous locations. Chebkia oasis was where scenes from the English Patient were filmed among other movies. It really is remarkable to watch clean water springing from a rockface and causing acres and acres of sandstone to sprout palm trees and life. Deep in the middle of a 110 degree heat was to be found a grassy pool with frogs swimming about. There were a few of these to visit and then it was off to Mides Canyon which is right on the Algerian border and was the most impressive natural feature of the day. Deep and vertical, the canyon is not quite a “slot” canyon and more “eroded” than carved as one might get in Utah sandstone it begged for longer exploration along its bottom where you could hear birds and other animal life chirping among its cooler and wetter depths.
