The Chott el-Jerid is the largest salt lake in North Africa — a vast, flat expanse of glistening white salt that stretches to the horizon in every direction. In the heat of the day, the surface shimmers with mirages so convincing that the illusion of water seems to approach as you drive toward it. In winter it holds a shallow film of actual water, turning briefly pink from halophyte algae.
The paved causeway crosses the chott from Tozeur to Kebili — a 75-km drive across nothing. Stop partway across and walk onto the salt; the texture beneath your feet shifts from firm crust to crystals to mud depending on the season. The silence is absolute. George Lucas filmed parts of Star Wars here — the planet Tatooine's distinctive landscape was shot in the salt flats and the nearby mountain oases, and the association has stuck. Tozeur's airport still receives visitors drawn as much by cinema memory as by geography.