On Djerba, the mosques look like fortresses, and for good reason. The island off the south-east coast of Tunisia was a place of pirates, raiders and rival fleets, and its Ibadi Muslim community, a small branch of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shia majorities, built its places of prayer as strongholds: thick whitewashed walls, stubby buttresses, few windows and flat roofs with small domes, so low and plain that they seem to grow out of the earth. The Fadhloun Mosque near Midoun is one of the best known, with a courtyard, prayer hall and, as in the others, an underground cistern to store rainwater, since the island has no rivers. Louta, the other mosque on this ride, belongs to the same family.
Djerba as a whole was recognised as a World Heritage site in 2023, for a pattern of settlement that includes these mosques, the farmsteads called menzel, the villages and the careful use of scarce water. It is a flat, sunny island of olive trees and date palms, whitewashed houses with blue doors and low stone walls, and since antiquity it has been connected to the mainland by a causeway. In Homer's Odyssey, it is sometimes identified with the land of the lotus-eaters, where sailors forgot their homes, and visitors still talk of the island's slow pace.
Riding on Djerba is straightforward. The island is only about twenty-five kilometres across, with a network of small, flat roads, mostly well surfaced, that wander between olive groves and villages. Traffic is thick near the main town, Houmt Souk, and around the hotels on the east coast, with scooters, taxis and lorries, and drivers can be unpredictable at roundabouts. Out in the countryside, the roads are quiet, with dogs, goats and the occasional donkey cart. Sand blows across the tarmac after windy days, so take care on bends. The best seasons are spring and autumn, with mild, sunny weather, while July and August are very hot, and winter can be breezy and wet.
Midoun, a town of some thirty thousand people four kilometres away, has fuel stations, shops and cafes, and everything you need for a day on the island. In the market, look for the local pottery from Guellala and for woven baskets, and try fresh grilled fish, brik, the thin fried pastry with an egg inside, and mint tea with pine nuts. Dress modestly and ask before entering the mosques, and remember that these are working places of worship, with times of prayer that visitors should respect.