| In southern Tunisia we experienced the indigenous Berber culture in the village of Matmata. The highlight of the day was seeing their traditional underground troglodyte dwellings. These houses were all similar with a tunneled entrance leading into a central courtyard, which itself had been dug out. Around the sides of the courtyard were the carved out rooms of the house. These underground troglodyte dwellings were well suited to the southern Tunisian terrain, providing the Berbers with cool temperatures during the summer and moderate temperatures during the winter. During our stay we visited two houses. The first one was being used now as a hotel and was similar to the hotel in Matmata that had been used as Luke Skywalker�s childhood home in the Star Wars episodes. The second Berber house was one of the Berber homes in Matmata that had been set up for tourists. Inside, we saw a woman using the traditional method of grinding the grain to make the Berber bread. On her hands she had red henna to help protect against calluses. |
