The Big Field Trip

When I went to southern Tunisia, I saw how much the environment affected the people and the way they lived. For example, the people (nomads) traveled for great distances in the Sahara with there flocks of goats and/or camels. They did this because there is only a little bit of nutrients in every acre in the Sahara, so the flocks have to keep moving. Every few days, the “desert wanderers” stop at an oasis to fill up on water. These nomads are away from home for about 6 months. I wonder how they find things out like who was voted for as the President. When we crossed a nomad camel herder on the road far from any town he asked us for a newspaper. Or maybe they could stop at a local Saharan news stand! (Just kidding).

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

You would think that in the Sahara the nomads would wear short sleeve clothing too keep cool, but they actually wear long clothes (and turbans).  They do this to protect themselves from the sun sand and wind. The cloth they use as clothing is light-weight, so it is not too hot. The clothes also prevent water from evaporating from their skin, so they do not have to drink so much water.

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

When we were driving in the Sahara desert we saw peas! In southern Tunisia it does not rain very much so when it does, the rain water rushes off the mesas and it makes small riverbeds. The people here build large, dirt barriers where the rain flows in the dry riverbed to capture the water. They also dig trenches to their wheat fields. The people mostly plant plants such as date palms and olive trees.  The date palms and olive trees can grow in the south unlike many other plants because they can grow with out much water.

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

Some Berber farmers make their homes underground (like in Bula Regia) or into hillsides to keep cool. On the outside these houses look like a door put into a hillside . When you go into one of these houses, you usually go into a small, dark corridor then come into an open courtyard with doors all around you leading into small, underground rooms. The underground rooms feel very comfortable and safe. The farmers divert the little rain water they get into large, underground cisterns to use later. They may also have wells.

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

When we went to Tozeur we met Yousef’s friend, Souffien.  Souffien owns two hectares of land in a large palmeraie in an oasis. In the shade of his date palms, he also plants grapes, figs, pomegranates, bananas, and in the summer a vegetable garden.  He gets 6 hours of water from the oasis per week per hectare. This seems a like small amount, but when you hear how much water comes out of the pipe it seems like too much. Twenty to thirty liters per second! If the people use 15 minutes over their time they get thrown in jail! The watering times are one after the other, and everyone uses the same pipe. So if someone’s water pressure is too low, they call the police and the police go over to the house of the person before the caller’s and take them to jail. 

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

Souffien hires two people to help him. Their job (when we were there) was to pollinate the dates. Virtually all of the palms in the palmeraie are female because these are the ones that make dates. Farmers like Souffien take the pollen part (the part that creates the dusty pollen) from a male date palm, climb up into a few female trees with the male part of branch and leave it there for the wind to spread the pollen. These few female trees are playing the part of males. The people Souffien hired get 7 dinar (about 5 dollars) per day. When I saw a sixty year old man climb up a twenty foot tall palm tree with his bare hands (and feet) I was amazed!

From The Big Field Trip – Tunisia, April, 2009

People have been living in Southern Tunisia for over ten thousand years. They are influenced by all of the people that have come there over time, from the Carthaginians to the Arabs. But the most important thing that has influenced the way they live is their climate.

Tags:   adaptation · Desert · Sahara · Tunisia2 Comments