From Djerba: Explore the Ksar Ghilane Desert and Tataouine by 4x4

About This Experience

Nothing else in the Djerba catalogue comes close to this one on volume — 1,671 guests have rated it, roughly two in five of every review the island's desert operators have collected between them. That is worth knowing before you compare itineraries, because it means the day has been run enough times to have stopped improvising.

You are collected around 6am and off the island by causeway before the light is up. Breakfast is at Ghrabat. The morning belongs to the Dahar, the stone plateau where the fortified granaries stand: Ksar Hadada, whose stacked mud-brick cells played the Mos Espa slave quarters in The Phantom Menace, gets about 35 minutes with a guide, and Guermassa — a Berber village half-abandoned on its ridge — follows.

The afternoon is Ksar Ghilane, and three hours there is unusually generous. It is the most southerly of the Tunisian oases, sitting on the eastern edge of the Grand Erg Oriental, and the pool at its centre is fed by a warm spring you can swim in. The Roman castellum of Tisavar stands under a kilometre away — a border post on the limes Tripolitanus, built no later than the reign of Commodus. Camel and quad rides wait at the oasis and are paid for on the day.

Lunch at a traditional restaurant is included, along with round-trip transport in an air-conditioned vehicle, the guide and tour insurance. Guides work in English, French, Italian and Arabic. It is a long day, some of it on rough ground, and the operator asks pregnant travellers to choose a gentler itinerary.

Highlights

• Three hours at Ksar Ghilane — long enough to swim, not just photograph
• Ksar Hadada, the granary that played Mos Espa's slave quarters
• Guermassa, a Berber ridge village most coach routes skip
• Lunch at a traditional restaurant and tour insurance included
• Hotel pickup anywhere on Djerba or in Zarzis

What's Included

• ✓ Round-trip hotel transfer in an air-conditioned vehicle
• ✓ Professional guide
• ✓ Ksar Hadada and Guermassa visits
• ✓ Three hours of free time at the Ksar Ghilane oasis
• ✓ Lunch at a traditional restaurant
• ✓ Tour insurance

Not Included

• Drinks, including with lunch
• Camel and quad rides at the oasis
• Gratuities for the guide and driver
• Souvenirs and personal purchases

What to Bring

• Swimsuit and towel for the hot spring
• Sun hat and sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Closed walking shoes
• Cash in dinars for the optional rides

Good to Know & Caveats

• Pickup starts around 6am; the return is early evening, so plan a quiet night after it.
• Part of the route is desert track rather than asphalt. It is a long day on rough ground.
• The spring-fed pool at Ksar Ghilane is open air and swimmable year round.
• Camel and quad rides are arranged at the oasis and cost extra.

Meeting Point

Hotel pickup across Djerba and Zarzis from about 6am; you are dropped back at the same address the same evening. The operator confirms your exact window the day before rather than at booking.