El Guettar Attractions

El Guettar is a small oasis village 18km/11mi south of Gafsa on the Chott el Guettar. The palm-groves here, which yield high-quality dates, are still irrigated by the traditional foggaras, otherwise found only in the Nefzaoua oases on the southeast side of the Chott el Djerid. The water flows through underground channels, the line of which is marked by a series of vertical shafts, with a built-up mound of earth at the point where the channel emerges from underground. The advantage of this system is the reduction in the amount of water lost by evaporation. Many of the underground channels, however, are now blocked.