Camel trekking in the Tunisian Sahara: Lexicon

Karawane in der tunesischen Sahara: Kamelenwanderung

Bedouin - Berber - overnight camp - camel drivers - the female 'cow' camels
horse and camel racing - dromedaries - fennec
desert rats - Berber houses - ksours - marabout - Mehari
Nomad - desert fish - Camel excursion
Beetles - sloogi - steppe - Tamarisk - Tuaregs - Troglodyte houses

Bedouin : these Arab nomads, now pretty much settled, were originally from the Arabian Peninsula. Having arrived in Tunisia at a very early date during the first Arab-Muslim invasions, they inter married with the native population: Christian Berbers from the Northern Maghreb and Tuaregs animists from the South, to make up today's population. In the South of Tunisia they continued to be nomads up until around 1900 when they settled. Ever since then they have lived in villages that have built up around artificial oasis constructed by the government.
Berber : The Berber population, natives of the North of Maghreb often converted to Christianity following the Greek Roman invasions. In certain parts, (especially in Kabylie in Algeria, and to a lesser degree in the Matmata region of Tunisia) despite their having converted to Islam, they have remained very attached to their own culture, quite dissimilar from the Arab-Muslim culture. The traditional songs and dress are different. In Kabylie they have kept their language: Amazigh
overnight camp : the place where overnight camp is set up, and where you will sleep: a Bedouin tent and other tents are put up, a fire is made and a dining space is set up. This spot is carefully selected by the head camel driver according to the wind, the weather, the sand quality, the season etc...
the female 'cow' camels: roam freely in the desert from March to November ; at this period they can be seen from time to time in twos and threes with one or two baby camels. From November to March the camel shepherds round them up into herds which they guard. It is the Bedouins, semi-nomads who will 'camp out' in the desert for the 3 or 4 months of the spring. Most often it is the older or unmarried men who go off with a couple of Bedouin tents, the camel herds and the essential equipment for "camping," whilst the young women stay in the village where the children go to school. They only join up with the family in the desert for weekends or holidays. This is very important for the self-sufficiency of the economy of the Southern villages. On good years, the herds live well and inexpensively since food is free whilst the young are being born. During the drought years (in the region of Nouaiel it had hardly rained at all for 7 years) food must be bought throughout the year; some people don't have enough money to buy more food in the springtime so the ewes and the goats, which are less well fed reproduce fewer young. Some people even have to sell some of their animals because they cost too much to feed.
camel drivers : people who drive, tame, take care of and load the baggage dromedaries. At the time of ancient desert caravans, all the desert nomads were camel drivers (particularly the Bedouins and Tuaregs, the Berbers having always been more settled). Since the settling of the nomads, the only people who preserved the nomad and camel driving traditions were the elders. It is thanks to the trekking and Meharis organized for tourists in the Sahara, that this proud authentic culture of hospitality and solidarity is coming back into being, and the knowledge of the desert, its geography, its peculiarities and its beauty, is once again being transmitted to the young people of the villages .
Horse and camel racing :During the Douz Festival races are organised for thoroughbred Arab horses and Mehari camels (racing camels). What a superb sight watching these riders in traditional dress, galloping across the desert at great speeds, observed by the crowds gathered together in the tribunes, against a backdrop of the vastness of the Sahara. We can compare the baggage camels with our packhorses and the racing camels with our riding and racehorses. They are ridden with the rider seated in front of the hump, legs crossed on the animal's neck, whereas the trekking dromedaries are ridden with the rider astraddle, seated behind the hump. Perhaps not so sportsmanlike, but definitely easier!
dromedaries : dromedaries have one hump as opposed to the bactrian which has two. We often speak about the camels of the desert, female 'cow' camels and camel drivers...but in North Africa there aren't any bactrian camels they are all dromedaries. Slightly smaller than bactrian camels they are more resistant, can go for a long time without drinking and can carry up to 300 kilos. They are proud noble animals, peaceful and good-natured. During the first four years of being broken in, patience and skill is required. When they are two or three years old they are already capable of accompanying caravans and carrying light baggage and can be put to work. The baggage dromedary is often male. The female camels live in camel herds, roaming freely in the desert for most of the year. Camel herdsmen round them up just for a few months in the winter for the mating and season and to give birth. During this period the male camels from the caravans must be attached or chained up during the night, because an aroused male camel, even if really well tied up, having scented a herd of females, is capable of journeying many kilometres during the mating season. They are also very jealous during the mating season and there is a risk of frustrated males fighting amongst each other.
fennec : A small desert fox with big ears. Rarely shows himself except at night. A likeable character, this fox has been chosen by the Tunisian Government to be the mascot for protecting the environment
desert rats : : A type of large mouse with long back paws. Their holes and footprints can be often be spotted. They come out rarely except at night.
Berber houses : Tunisian Berber Tribes' dwelling places. Contrarily to Algeria, where many Berber tribes in Kabylie are very protective about their language, (Amazigh) and their traditional songs, in Tunisia only a handful of families have preserved their traditions and their typical Berber culture, and so it is only in the region of Matmata where ancient pre-Islamic insignia can be found in the troglodyte houses (fish, hands and gazelle horns...) Berbers were often more settled than the nomads and didn't live in tents: they hollowed out their houses in the sides of the clay earth mountains of the region: troglodyte houses
ksours : fortified storehouses belonging to the families of the Tataouine region. These semi nomads subsisted from their herds, which they put out to graze in the desert for most of the year, and from their lands, harvested during their "break" in the period of the year when they were settled. In those times the coastal areas were often ransacked, so they erected groups of fortified storehouses, which were guarded by defending soldiers whilst they travelled across the desert for the seasonal migrations to different pastures. The soldiers where given a percentage of the harvests they guarded as payment. These storehouses, resembling honeycombs, are dotted around interior courtyards forming a maze of passages, stairways and picturesque nooks and crannies. Named after the tribes who built them: Ksar Ouled soltane (Soltane's children's storehouse), Ksar Ouled Debbab (Debbab' s children's storehouse), some of these stores were used for filming certain scenes in Star Wars.
marabout : Originally, the Marabou was a wise man. We would probably call him a Saint. However the word has taken on another meaning, it is also his crypt (like a miniature mosque) normally situated where he lived or died, or where he is worshipped (usually in the desert but often near to a well). One of his ancestors takes care of and guards the tomb. Situated next to the mausoleum there is often a "hotel", a small room where pilgrims can shelter for the night. In this small room the "guardian of the tomb" often leaves a little flour, couscous, pasta, oil, etc. so that the pilgrims can restore their strength if they so need. The ever-present nomads hospitality!!!
mehari : Trekking in the Sahara on camels. Each trekker who so wishes can hire his own dromedary and ride it whenever he chooses. Since the hiking rhythm is quite an easy pace, groups are often mixed, desert hiking with camels and trekking on camels, i.e. some people are walking and others have their own dromedary.
Nomad : a person who lives without any fixed home in the desert. He travels with his tribe and goes wherever necessary to find food to feed his herds. Apart from in summertime, it isn't necessarily a water source which determines the itinerary, but more often where food is to be found. Sometimes the women travel with the dromedaries for many kilometres in search of the nearest well. The encampment of Bedouin tents is set up for several days or weeks until another more fertile pasture determines its departure. Nowadays nearly all the nomads in Tunisia are semi settled and the only true nomads that we might encounter are the Raibya from Algeria.
desert fish : : a type of Lizard which lives under the sand and looks very much like a fish with feet. The camel drivers find them by following their prints in the sand.
Camel excursion: hiking in the Sahara. We leave in caravan on foot, and cross dunes, steppes, oasis and ancient abandoned villages. We are accompanied by camels, which carry our baggage, water, food and tents... If necessary, people who are tired may take turns to be carried by the camels.
Beetles : Completely harmless, these black hard-shelled insects are to be found in large quantities in the desert, particularly in the springtime. Their prints make very pretty lace like networks in the sand. The Egyptians considered them to be a symbol of constant new life.
Sloogi : the sloogi is a desert hare. A smaller version of the European hare, delicately built with the same fragility, and rapidity. They are prized for hunting small game fowl in the desert. During the Douz festival there are sloogi hunting demonstrations: rabbits are set free and then quickly caught and pinned to the ground by the fastest of the fast sloogis!
Steppe : desert ground that is flat or almost flat, often slightly stony, inhabited by small bushes and grass
Tamarisk : Scanty leaved bushes which provide shade, but let the wind through. Overnight camp is nearly always set up in areas where tamarisks grow (near to water sources in the dry salt lakes) or where desert broom grows (in the sand) to provide protection against the wind, shade in the afternoon and twigs for the evening camp fire.
Tuaregs : prior to the Arab- Muslim invasions, they were the native population from the South of Maghreb: Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Niger. These peoples are nomads and warriors. Up until they converted to Islam they were animists. They are also known as the blue men because they wear deep indigo blue clothes.
Troglodyte houses : Hollowed out in the side of the clay earth hills by the settled Berbers from the Matmata region. These large "holes" open to the sky make up little courtyards. In the sides of these wells honeycombs are dug out which are the rooms of the houses, kitchen, bedrooms, living room, storage rooms and stables. With their natural air conditioning, they are cool in summer and of moderate temperature in winter. It is in one of these troglodyte houses, renovated into a hotel where many of the scenes from star wars were shot.