Chebika: the “small net” oasis in the mountains

Chebika is a mountain oasis and village in the Tozeur governorate, a few dozen kilometres from Tozeur and Nefta, where the desert suddenly turns into a palm-filled gorge.

The name means “small net” in Tunisian Arabic: water from the spring falls down the rock in thin threads that look like liquid nets and meshes. It is known as a hanging oasis, with a clear waterfall and wide views over the plain.

Chebika was once a Berber village, called the “Palace of the Sun”, and its old houses now stand abandoned above the palms. Scenes of the film The English Patient were shot here.

Chebika is one of three spring-fed mountain oases, with Tamerza and Mides, in the foothills near the Algerian border. Dhafria’s home is close by, in Tamerza (Tameghza).