Tunisia may be the smallest state in the region but it has a tremendous variety of scenery. I visited my first 'desert' oasis here and, although we were never far from a fridge full of coke or some mint tea, there were some isolated sections. An oasis is actually an area of prolific water abundance. To support the growth of date palms, an oasis has to gush forth huge quantities of water from warm or cold mineral springs. Every so often in the desert, this water gurgles out of the rock or the sand. All oases are cultivated with date palms: the dates are both sustenance and used for trade or as a cash crop. Under the shade of the date palms, other fruits and veggies are grown, including lots of pomegranates. A natural source of water sustains all the people that live in the oasis and they, in turn, cleverly cultivate the area to maximize irrigation through terraced areas and concrete culverts.
In southern Tunisia, the major towns developed due to the presence of water and the growth of date palms. These centres still cultivate thousands of acres of date palms (called palmeraie). Incredibly, a date palm can require up to 500 litres of water each day during the height of summer. Many of the most southern towns were originally Roman outposts and lookouts, designed to keep the marauding desert tribes from threatening Roman settlements to the north.
Along with the desert, you always get camels. The camels that are commonly found in North Africa actually originate in Sudan. They are transported here in large herds and sold at market for agricultural work, load carrying, tourist photos or sent to slaughter for the dinner table of poorer families. Camels have a much nicer life in the oil-rich states of Arabia, where they are prized and groomed and displayed at camel shows. The ones I saw were not so lucky. Many were heavily scarred from their tether ropes; usually polypropylene rope is use which causes deep burns. There is something majestic and regal about these creatures: they are intelligent, obedient and unbelievably patient. I never witnessed the stereotypical spitting and ill-tempered camel. They move with such grace in the desert and their feet are perfectly adapted to walking on sand. Plus a camel has this uncanny ability to dip its neck and turn its heads 180 deg. so it can show you its face and its butt at the same time.
Only the male camels are worked. Females are left to wonder the desert in a semi-wild state. They are rounded up each year by local herders, much to the delight of a few lucky males. Truly wild camels do exist but they are in the souther desert of Tunisia and Libya, far away from humans.
The Three Wise Men traveled by camel to Bethlehem. Enough said.
