The salt crust
Glittering white.
Atef Ouni — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kais photographies — CC BY-SA 4.0 · HalloulimedAmeur — CC BY-SA 4.0
The largest salt pan in the Sahara, spreading over thousands of square kilometres between Tozeur and Kebili in southern Tunisia. Its floor is a white crust of salt glittering in the sun, broken by shallow pools that sometimes turn pink or red. A straight paved road runs across it on a long causeway linking Tozeur with Kebili and Douz, and visitors stop along it to take photos, walk a little on the salt crust, and buy salt crystals and desert roses from vendors. In summer especially, mirages of water and trees shimmer on the horizon, and at sunrise and sunset the chott turns gold and pink. On its edge near Nefta, the Lars family homestead set was built for Star Wars. Do not stray far from the road into the chott: the crust can hide sticky mud beneath. It is usually seen on the way from Tozeur to Douz, or on a sunrise tour.
Glittering white.
On the summer horizon.
In gold and pink.
Between Tozeur and Kebili, on the road across the chott
Only a little near the road: the salt crust can hide sticky mud further in.