The staff at our hotel El Oued were keen for us to fill in the visitors’ book before leaving. We did this and expressed our thanks, particularly for organising Diana’s birthday party last night. Sadly, we were the only guests in this quite large and very new hotel last night.
We commenced our long journey south-westwards and whilst still on the outskirts of El Oued we asked Ridwane if we could stop briefly to photograph one of the hemispherical reflective roofs. The place we stopped at happened to be where a herd of about twenty camels were grazing near the side of the highway. We had a most enjoyable ten minutes or so talking in French to the camel owner and meeting several of his friendly herd.
Camels grazing near El Oued
There were small eucalypts growing in the area but the camels were more interested in other vegetation and the water that was spilling out of an irrigation line forming a small pond under one of the eucalypts.
Watering system under small eucalypt near El Oued
The camel owner was happy to be photographed especially when next to Corinne.
Camel owner and Corinne near El Oued
The movement of sand dunes through wind action has in some instances, caused sections of the date palm groves we passed to be inundated, resulting in the death of the palms.
Date palms partly buried under sand near El Oued
The Sahara sand dunes were in many places encroaching on the highway from both sides of the road. The existence of the many oases we saw along the way is only due to the discovery of artesian water through deep drilling for wells, sometimes to depths of 200 m.
Water is the ‘lifeblood’ of the Sahara and these green, irrigated productive zones are few and far between. In the 150 km between El Oued and Ouargla, one might drive for 20 km without seeing any sign of vegetation!
Small townships almost invariably occur in close proximity to the oases due to the availability of fresh water. In many of the little villages we passed through, there were public fresh water outlets usually inside a small, square blue and white building with a water droplets painted on the sides. Locals were lining up at some to fill bottles, containers and even large steel drums on the back of a donkey cart.
Fresh water outlet between El Oued and Ouargla
Being Saturday morning, it was often market day in some of the towns. The most common produce on sale were melons of all sorts and sizes, onions of many colours, tied bunches of garlic and various citrus fruits. Pens of sheep were on display too as wealthy families have only another two weeks in which to purchase a sheep to slaughter for Algeria’s version of ‘Thanksgiving Day’.
Market between El Oued and Ouargla
We only had one tourist site to visit today and this was at the town of Temacine (or Tlmoussine) to visit the shrine of Tidjani Zaouia.
This shrine is in the form of a mosque known as the Tomb of Sidi Tidjani Zaouia. It is an ornately decorated mosque built in the 12th century and is considered one of the finest examples of Almohad architecture in North Africa. It has a large central dome and four smaller domes surrounding it.
Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine
Mosque, Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine
Sidi Tidjani Zaouia was acknowledged by his followers as a Sufi Saint (Sidi means saint) and as such, this caused a rift within the Islamic religion which does not follow the Christian custom of declaring sainthood.
Sidi Tidjani seems to have behaved more like an Indian Guru by establishing a distinct ‘brotherhood’ where Islam was supplemented by meditation and other mystic pursuits. The Sufi Tidjani was held with such reverence that apparently his feet were not allowed to touch the ground and consequently he was transported around in a totally enclosed ‘sedan chair’ type of carriage.
Sufi Tidjani's carriage, Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine
Tidjani is buried in the mausoleum section of the mosque surrounded by the graves of his disciples. The central golden tomb is enclosed directly under the main dome and a spectacular chandelier.
Dome and chandelier inside mosque, Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine
Tomb of Sufi Tidjani in Mausoleum, Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine
The prayer hall of the mosque was open and although we didn’t enter, we could see through the door the ornate decorations of carved marble, stucco and ceramic tile work.
Prayer Hall of Mosque, Shrine of Tidjani Zaouia, Timoussine,
This mosque and shrine are considered significant cultural and historical symbols of Tlmoussine’s rich heritage and form an important place of worship for Muslims.
In some oases, farmers use fire to destroy insect pests on the lower trunk sections of the date palms. Normally this only burns the bottom two metres or so and does no damage to the palm. We passed one palm oasis where the fire must have got out of control and the damage to hundreds of date palms was devastating with many killed.
Burnt date palms, between Timoussine & Ouargla
As we approached Ouargla we became aware that the now incredibly barren and utterly inhospitable landscape was rich in crude oil as evident by pipelines across the sand.
Oil pipeline near Ouargla
Petroleum was discovered here in 1952 and Ridwane suggested that the reserves may be even greater than those of the Persian Gulf. Algeria is clever in not releasing the ‘black gold’ too rapidly as this obviously affects the price and Algeria’s comparative wealth is largely dictated by the world’s demand and the crude oil price.
At Ouargla we had light lunch in a restaurant at a table labelled ‘VIP’!
Lunch at Ouargla
We left Ouargla at 14:00 with the temperature at a warm and dry 36°C and passed the Ouargla University’s impressive buildings. We were delighted to hear that this university specialises in mathematics.
After nearly 500 km of travel for the day we arrived at our ‘Farm Stay’ destination and congratulated our driver on his amazing efforts.
Our accommodation is on a small hill overlooking the farm’s oasis growing dates, olives, fruits and fodder crops for sheep and cattle. All the water for the farm and animals comes from a well 200 m deep!
Corinne outside our room at the Farm Stay, near Ghardaia
Date palms and crops at Farm Stay, near Ghardaia
Our farm is along a short driveway from highway N1 which connects Algiers with Mali and Niger.
For our evening meal we had Bedouin style seating arrangements with traditional Saharan foods served practically at floor level. The meal comprised a green salad followed by vegetable soup, spring rolls and meat balls in a herb and spicy sauce. Dessert in the desert was melon pieces and a mixture of honey soaked dried fruits.
Dining area, Farm Stay, near Ghardaia
The tea ceremony that followed was one where tea was poured from a tea-pot, falling down into a glass jar, a metre below. This was done three or four times to produce a thick froth which we were told was to act as a filter, preventing the wind blown Saharan sand from getting into the liquid tea beneath the froth. The tea tasted particularly strong but nonetheless pleasant.
Tea ceremony, Farm Stay, near Ghardaia
We then sat and chatted to our hosts and listened to some delightfully haunting Saharan music before preparing for bed.
Tomorrow we spend time visiting Ghardaia.