The “Red Lizard train” – passenger train of the 19th century, runs through the red and pink rocks, split by canyons of the Sahara Atlas mountains, Tunisia. This is one of the most spectacular train trips one can take. The scenery is wonderful. This old fashioned train travels through stony desert landscapes, mountains tunnels, steel bridges, water springs, deep gorges, but also stops at green oases. The train and track were built in 1910 so the Governor of Tunisia. The “Lizard” also used to serve the phosphate mines from Metaloui, but now it is only a tourist attraction. Nowadays, the only way to visit the gorges of Selja is by train. The old-fashioned train leaves every day around 10 am from the station of Meltaoui (about 40kms from Tozeur) and the train line follows an old mining track. The average speed is 40 km per hour.

The interior and atmosphere of this train of two century ago has been preserved up to nowadays. The train consists of several types of wagons designed. In one type of the wagons there are red plush divans, leather arm-chairs and even French porcelain lavatory pans. The train returns after hour of the same way it has come – giving you a second chance to take pictures if you missed the first time!