Lake Schott el Jerid

Lake Schott el Jerid, along with the Sahara desert - two miracles of the Tunisian south. Ideally flat surface, covered with a very fine salt crust, stretching almost 5000 square meters. Km. - This is how Schott el Jerid looks most of the year. Connected by the underground waters with the Mediterranean Sea, the lake reacts sensitively to the seasonal increase in the water level in the latter, turning in the winter into an equally boundless water surface with flat islets, here and there. Tremendous mirages, grooves with pink, green and violet sulphate water shimmering in the hot air, sparkling salt mountains and a free wind continuously sweeping the open spaces - this is how Schott el Jerid appears before admiring tourists.

Schott el Jerid is a link in a chain of salt marshes beginning from the Gulf of Gabes, on the shores of which is the homonymous Tunisian oasis city, and extending westward throughout the north of Africa. Because of the high solar activity and the lowering of the groundwater level in summer, the Chott El Jerid completely dries up - its "bottom" stretches as far as the sight from the horizon to the horizon. However, the water does not go deep into the soil - channels along the causeway passing through the lake have been dug to allow monitoring the water level. It can be clearly seen that dry salt soil covers only 5-10 cm of water.

For this reason it is strongly recommended not to descend to the surface of the lake by car - it is easy to get bogged down. Confirmation of stupid arrogance is the backbone of the tourist bus, left on the lake for edification by the brave ones.

Lake Schott El Jerid is a fantastic natural beauty landmark. This is the case when you understand - greatness in simplicity. There are no iconic monuments or interesting places - just a boundless, impeccably aligned Nature with a circle, wherever you look. On the northern horizon, the lake rests in the ridge of the Atlas mountains with dark green strokes of the date oases at the foot. On the south - somewhere far into the sky.

During the bulk road there are several tourist stations with a motorway platform, a simple shop selling dates, salt from the lake and "roses of the desert", and an even more primitivist toilet. It makes sense to stop here, so you can easily get off the lake. Palms huts, salt sculptures and old boats have been built there too - an excellent place to take pictures.

Schott El Jerid - one of the locations of the Star Wars: Luke Skywalker watched the sunset of the two suns of the planet Tatooine in the fourth episode of the epic.