El-Oued:
El-Oued, whose name means « river », is the capital of Souf, an amazing region of the north of the Great Eastern Erg. A veritable sea of sand, the Souf owes its uniqness to its honeycombed appearance. The inhabitants of the Suf arrived from Yemen 5 centuries ago. Over time, they managed to develop the cultivation of date palm in this area, even though it is mineral.
They were able to detect the presence of water under the dunes and began to dig, usually more than 20 meters deep, to find it. At the bottom of 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 it’s important to keep going up the sand that runs down the slopes. Twenty villages were developed at the time around the palm groves, now almost suburbs 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 the streets 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 the Kings, stone pillars sheltered under the Kouba (North African Chapel), are another attraction of the city.
