Nefta and the Corbeille: a palm grove inside a bowl

Nefta is an oasis town in the south-west of Tunisia, close to Tozeur. It is famous for the Corbeille, “the basket”: a luxuriant palm grove set in a hollow of about 25 hectares in the heart of the town.

From the viewpoints around the rim you look down on thousands of palms, a pool and the springs that water them. It is a good place to understand how an oasis works: water in the middle, shade from the tallest palms, and smaller crops growing below.

Nefta is also the starting point for the Ong Jmal and Mos Espa film set, in the dunes north of the oasis.