The Chotts of Tunisia are large inland salt flats that were once large shallow lakes but are now dried up. Periodically, they fill with water from winter rains. This night was one of those periods. It had rained in the desert a few days earlier and the whole chott was full of water. The road across is 94 kilometers long with only one building the whole way at a wide spot in the road where an enterprising Tunisian set up a roadside stand to sell pieces of desert rose to tourists. It was maybe 10pm when we stopped. The moon was nearly full, the Chott was full of water, and we couldn’t see a single light anywhere. It would be a very romantic place to pass the night.
Supposedly, the Chotts of Tunisia are actually below sea level. Possibly up to 20 or 30 meters below sea level. Back in the 1800’s, the French attempted to build a canal into the Chotts to flood them and give a place for the French fleet to hide so they could attack the British fleet and rule the Mediterranean. Fortunately for Tunisia’s Digla Date production, this never happened. The chief engineer on the project died before they had even begun digging. The plan was later revisited in the 1960’s, this time by American interests under the guise of the Plowshare Program, a front setup by the American Atomic Energy Commission. They proposed to build the canal by means of controlled nuclear explosion. Basically, they wanted to detonate a bunch of atomic bombs across Tunisia to create a canal. Needless to say, it never happened. It is interesting, however, that the Tunisians never speak about the elevation of the Chott. I think that many people are afraid that someone will once again try to build a canal into the Chott and once again flood them with ocean water. Evidence of the wreck of a Roman galleon on the north shore of the Chott has long been held up to show that yes, indeed, these were once connected to the sea. Today though they only produce mirages.
On the bus driving through the emptiness of the chott.
The building in the middle of the chott. No one was around to sell us desert rose on that night.
Getting ready to pull away into the night.