Like most of the places such as Tozeur, there is a much more modern town today. But we, of course, were much more interested in the more ancient parts of Tozeur. We toured quite a bit of Tozeur but really, it mostly looked similar. It’s an oasis and has hundreds of thousands of trees, of all sorts. It is divided up by owner or farmer and has fences and gates for each but the land itself is mostly just one big oasis.

Tozeur has thrived for 2,000 years on the edge of the salt flats and the Sahara in a remote and lush oasis. It seemed like just a giant date palm grove but we learned otherwise. We saw the following trees touring and hiking in Tozeur: pomegranate, figs, olives, bananas, apricots, plums, oranges, and lemons. They also grow vegetables underneath the trees with the same irrigation water. With all the fresh fruit and veggies, I told our guide that I was thinking of dropping off our tour and staying in Tozeur.

There are lots of ways to get around in Tozeur, but we went by horse carriage. It was very quiet and comfortable.

We walked through one of the farms with a local guide, met some workers, and enjoyed every minute of it.

The date palms are the main source of revenue and work in Tozeur. One tree can produce 220 pounds of dates.

All date palms are hand pollinated and handpicked. One of the workers demonstrated by going clear to the top and showing us how he worked. I gave it a try but those dates would never get pollinated by me.

We saw this irrigation setup in the middle of the farm. Spring water comes from higher ground in the mountains through irrigation channels and is shared communally by everyone. They used to have unlimited amounts of water but no longer. Irrigation has been reduced and farmers are allotted a certain amount of time and water. They have also had to dig some very deep wells for water as they can no longer get by with just the water from the mountain springs.

You can see a banana tree in the center and some figs and other trees around it. We could pick a ripe banana or dates if we so desired….and I did.