Qualla: Selja Gorges https://qualla.com/selja-gorges en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Selja Gorges https://qualla.com/selja-gorges Selja Gorges: Introduction https://qualla.com/selja-gorges/ Photo credit Touzrimounir, CC BY-SA 4.0. They called it the Red Lizard, and the name was perfect. The refurbished mining train snakes through the Selja Gorges in a sinuous red streak, winding between sandstone walls that glow ochre and crimson under the Tunisian sun. Passengers lean from open windows, cameras clicking at scenery that has no business existing in the arid foothills of the Saharan Atlas. Yet here it is: a lush, improbable ribbon of green cutting through some of the driest terrain in North Africa, where the Thelja Wadi carves its ancient path toward the salt flats of Chott El Gharsa.

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Image: Touzrimounir | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/snjg-selja-gorges-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Selja Gorges: A River Through Stone https://qualla.com/selja-gorges/ Photo credit Houss 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Selja Gorges link the Gafsa Valley with the Redeyef plateau in southern Tunisia's Gafsa Governorate, threading several kilometers through deep ravines at altitudes between 210 and 450 meters. The surrounding landscape is mountainous and arid, a fragment of the Saharan Atlas r...

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Image: Houss 2020 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/snjg-selja-gorges-a-river-through-stone.mp3 0:06 2 full Selja Gorges: Wings and Scales https://qualla.com/selja-gorges/ Photo credit Touzrimounir, CC BY-SA 4.0. What makes the gorges remarkable is the wildlife sheltering within them. Endangered golden eagles ride the thermals above the canyon rims, and Eurasian eagle-owls hunt the twilight hours from rocky ledges. Below, the spiny-tailed lizard Uromastyx acanthinura basks on sunbaked sto...

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Image: Touzrimounir | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/snjg-selja-gorges-wings-and-scales.mp3 0:06 3 full Selja Gorges: Iron Rails Through the Canyon https://qualla.com/selja-gorges/ Photo credit Touzrimounir, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1896, engineers faced a challenge: how to connect the phosphate mines of the Redeyef plateau with the processing facilities at Gabes and the port of Sfax. The answer was to lay track directly through the gorge, an undertaking that demanded numerous tunnels and bridges along it...

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Image: Touzrimounir | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/snjg-selja-gorges-iron-rails-through-the-canyon.mp3 0:06 4 full Selja Gorges: The Flood and the Future https://qualla.com/selja-gorges/ Photo credit Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0. In September 2009, massive rains overwhelmed the Redeyef plateau and sent a flood surge roaring through the Selja Gorges. The waters tore up track, swept away wagons, and closed the railway line for a year while crews rebuilt. The episode underscored the gorges' vulnerability: up...

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Image: Dennis G. Jarvis | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/n/j/g/selja-gorges-wp/snjg-selja-gorges-the-flood-and-the-future.mp3 0:06 5 full