Tataouine is where the Sahara starts to feel close. The town of some sixty thousand people sits on a dry plain south of the Dahar hills, in the middle of the southern Tunisian steppe, and beyond it to the south and west the dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental stretch toward Algeria and Libya. Its name will already be familiar to anyone who has watched Star Wars, since George Lucas borrowed it, with a small spelling change, for Luke Skywalker's desert home. The film crews shot around here, and the fans have kept coming.
The real attraction lies in the ksour, the fortified granaries of the Berber people. These are stacked, vaulted storerooms built of mud and stone, arranged around courtyards, where families kept grain and olive oil safe from raiders and drought. Some are clearly ruined and some have been restored, and a few hill villages such as Chenini and Douiret cling to the ridges nearby, with cave dwellings cut into the rock and a white mosque on the crest. Chenini has a legend about the Seven Sleepers, a story shared by both Christian and Muslim tradition, with a shrine said to mark their resting place.
Riding here is about space and light. The roads cross open country in long, straight runs and gentle rises, with sudden bends where the land folds into hills, and the colours range from pale yellow to rust-red. The scenery is dramatic, but the surface may include patches of sand and gravel. Wind can be strong, so keep a firm grip, and camels sometimes cross the road without warning. Summer is fiercely hot, with temperatures well above forty degrees, and the best months are from October to April.
Tataouine is a proper regional town, so it has fuel, cash and food in good supply. The main road has plenty of stations, but stock up whenever you see one, since the distance between towns can be large. Try the local dishes: lamb or chicken cooked slowly with spices, fresh bread baked in clay ovens, and sweet mint tea served hot and strong. It is a friendly place, and a few words of French or Arabic go a long way with locals.