SOUTH TUNISIA STAR WARS & TUNISIAN INFLUENCE TOUR 3 Days/ 2 Nights DAY 1: You will have to take the early morning flight from Tunis to Djerba. We will meet you at the airport, where your tour begins. Djerba was Homer s Land of the Lotus Eaters. Your Star Wars tour begins with Ben s Hermitage. This little house is now used by fishermen as a storage building. In Episode IV it can be seen as the house of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your next stop will be Sidi Jemour, actually a temple, located some miles north of Ben s house. It was seen in the movie as Toshi Station in Anchorhead, in a shot where the landspeeder rushes into Anchorhead on its way to Mos Eisley. You will then leave Djerba for the Tataouine area.
You now drive towards the Tatouine area. The Star Wars planet, Tatooine, was named after this town. Your first stop in this area is Ksar Ouled Soltaine. (This is one of the area s many Ksour (pl), which are Berber fortified granaries mostly seen in North Africa and date back to the 15 th century.) Ksar Ouled Soltaine was used as a background for some of the Slave Quarters shots in Episode I. We will visit the Tataouine souk and have lunch there. Our last stop of the day will be the Berber mountain village of Chenini. Chenini was built between two hilltop ridges - to help protect it from raiding parties. The oldest structures on the hillside date back to the 11th century; some of the buildings are still used to store grain for the villagers, as well as for homes for those who still live here.
We will have dinner and spend the night in a unique restored cave (turned into a small hotel) in Chenini. DAY 2: After breakfast; we will start the day with a tour of Chenini; scrambling around the village and seeing a subterranean olive press (which is how olive oil is still produced here). We then leave Chenini and head for Ksar Hadada. Built out of a Berber Ksar, the Berber architecture was used as the base to create the futuristic planet of Tatooine from Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. We then drive on to Medenine, stopping at the Ksar that acted as the slave quarters in Episode I. It was also used as the exterior the Anakin Skywalker's home in many shots. Lunch will be in Medenine.
Next is a short stop at the edge of the Berber village of Toujane; where ribbon-like roads slice into the mountainside dotted with villagers and their flocks. We then drive on to the Berber village of Matmata, the area of many troglodyte homes. (Troglodyte homes are a form of Berber architecture designed to withstand the heat. The courtyard is dug straight underground and rooms carved out of the side of the courtyard. In these homes especially; you can see the influence on the Star Wars movies). Our first stop in Matmata is Sidi Driss, built from a troglodyte home and which served as the interior of the Lars homestead. Aunt Beru's kitchen is still there - it is easy to get excited when sitting in the very same dining room that the Lars family used.
We will then stop for a visit and cup of tea in the real troglodyte home of our dear friend Saliha and her family. Friends for many years; to know Saliha is to love her. We then leave the Matmata area, and head to Douz, gateway to the Sahara. You will have dinner and spend the night at Sahara Douz Hotel.
DAY 3: After breakfast, we leave Douz and begin the drive towards the Tozeur area. Our first stop will be Chott El Jerid, the biggest salt pan in the Sahara (between 5 and 7 thousand square kilometres). In the Tozeur area, we will stop at the top of the Sidi Bou Hlel Gorge, which is known as the Juntland Wastes in many movies. This canyon was used in 1976 for no less than 9 shots. Lucasfilm named it "Star Wars Canyon". (The canyon was also used in Raiders of the Lost Ark and in The English Patient.) We will have a short walk and lunch in the Tozeur medina.
We then drive to the desert area around Nefta. Our first stop is Lars Homestead s exterior. This lone structure is surrounded by the flat lunar-like salt pan area of the Sahara. Because the Lars Homestead interior scenes were shot in Sidi Dris, the crew had to dig some craters next to it, to make you believe there's actually an underground structure in the movie. Your final destination on this tour is Mos Espa. This set was built from nothing in the middle of the desert, and still stands, surrounded by the flat desert landscape of this area of the Sahara. From here, we drive you to the Tozeur airport for your flight back to Tunis. Sahha! (Arabic for we hope you enjoyed it!)
Price: 1 Vehicle: 1 participant - $810 USD 2 participants - $485 USD per person 3 participants - $370 USD per person 4 participants - $325 USD per person 5 participants - $300 USD per person 2 Vehicles: 6 8 participants - $315 USD per person 9 participants $280 USD per person TOUR PRICE INCLUDES: A 4x4 licensed tour vehicle (including pick up at Djerba airport and drop off at Tozeur airport) Professional tour driver English speaking host / guide All meals from lunch on day 1 until lunch on day 3 A non-alcoholic drink with meals 1 night accommodation at Chenini Kenza Gite Hotel (restored Berber Cave Hotel) 1 night accommodation at Sahara Douz Hotel Bottled drinking water all historical site and other site fees TOUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE: Any flights Travel insurance Tips Personal expenses Between meal drinks or snacks Any alcoholic beverages