Vegetation in the oasis is made of surprises.
Once you’re past the shock of all this greenery in the middle of a sandy and rocky landscape you start looking at it in detail. First there are the dates. They reign over the oasis, they’re its sweet and precious core. But don’t think they stick to a boring old brown, they go from a tender yellow to a raspberry pink and a deep purple while their stems show off the most unexpected pale orange.
If you look hard enough you might find a few citrus fruits, may it be on tree or on the local market. There has to be some for you to drink all those lime juices!
And the flowers? You won’t find many there, it seems that the gardens are the realm of men that aren’t too fond of them, and since the houses are in the sandy portion of the oasis, it looks indeed difficult to grow some there. There are a few exceptions though, and I must say their rarity make them look quite glorious. A burst of fuchsia in an all-green-and-beige landscape is quite something.
Ernest Brown
Nice photos of the of the area. Are those round fruits called limes? Did you try those while you were in there?
The Voyageur
@Ernest We definitely had lime juice and ate oranges from the market. The ones pictured here looked like some sort of yellow-ish oranges.