the Great Eastern Erg

inhabitants of the Suf arrived from Yemen 5 centuries ago. Over time, they managed to develop the cultivation of date palm in this area, which is nevertheless mineral.

They were able to detect the presence of water under the dunes and started digging, usually more than 20 meters deep, to find it. At the bottom of the craters that can reach several hundred meters in diameter, they have planted date palms that have since been rooted in the water. Irrigation is no longer essential, but you have to keep going back up the sand that runs down the slopes. Twenty villages were developed at the time around the palm groves, today become almost suburb of El-Oued which has expanded considerably.

Touggourt:

On the northern edge of the Great Eastern Erg, Touggourt is the most important city of Wadi R'Hir, a fossil river. Capital of the dynasty of Oulled Djellab, the city is famous for its dates and its ksar with alleys covered with trunks of palm trees. It was the starting point of the Black Cruise, a rally that led Citroën vehicles to Timbuktu in 1923. The Tombs of Kings, corners of stone sheltered under the Kouba (North African Chapel), are another attraction from the city.