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Chott El Jerid, the crystal desert
Like a lunar landscape, vast and desert, the chott
el Jerid offers stunning panoramas. It illustrates the
sharp contrast that marks the region of southern
Tunisia. No one can tell where the sky begins and
the ground ends in this magic universe.
T
he Chott El Jerid is Tunisia’s largest salt plain with an area of about 5000 km2.
It is located in the continental part of the country’s South West region. Crossed
by only one road which links Tozeur to Kebili, it is a dazzling sight under the burning
sun. Along the road, small ditches are filled with colourful water. Indeed, the Chott
El Jerid, which contains subterranean water sources that are red due to high iron
content, constitutes, with its dried-up surface covered with a hard salt crust, a site
that seems like an infinite desert.
This extraordinary site might also give the impression that salt crystals shimmering in the
sun cause mirages to appear. One might even have the feeling of being on the seaside.
Almost a hundred kilometers long from east to west, it practically covers the width of
southern Tunisia, between the Gulf of Gabes and the Algerian border. The Tunisian
government has submitted the site for future inclusion on Unesco’s World Heritage List.
True arid land, there is no vegetation at all on it since it is composed of clay, salt and
gypsum. During the warm season, the salt crystallizes and form a white translucent
surface, hardened by the sun, which offers an extraordinary light show, especially at
sunset. During the rainy winters, the Chott turns into a stunning inland sea. When the
water slowly recedes, letting a brilliant white salt surface appear, it reveals a frozen
desert landscape. Whereas the spring season, with its sand storms, brings out the
ochre tint in the site. A beautiful journey where serenity and silence are combined
with this site of a rare purity. I
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