During Roman times, Tozeur used to be the border of Africa. The ancient caravan roads started from Algeria and went to the capital through this place. The part between Chalk and Tozeur is bordered by Oasis. Scientists proved that long time ago that there’s a large amount of water beneath the sand. There are small springs here but they do not unite into small rivers and only provide water to the plants of the oasis. Still, there’s a palm tree forest here with several hundred thousand trees. Smaller trees like banana, olive, fig and pomegranate grow in the shade.

Taking a ride with the couch under the palm trees is an unforgettable experience. Date palms can grow as high as 15 meters. They start to bear fruit at the age of seven and they can live up to a hundred years. However, they’re mostly cut in the third or fourth decade of their lives and replaced by new ones. This is the most economical solution and this is the only way to provide a constant good quality harvest. There are more than 60 kinds of known dates and that provides work for a lot of people. The workers climb the trees with amazing skill and without any kind of help. It’s very important since the flowers of the tree must be fertilized by hand. The half ripe bunches are protected by bags which are removed only just before picking. The largest work is the harvest although there are also some work with the drying with a part of the crop. The locals also have to deal with the tourist so they certainly don’t suffer from boredom.