The town of Douz has grown up around a large palm oasis that stands on the northern fringe of the Sahara. Surrounded by little other than desert and dry scrub land, historically it was an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Today tourists come in numbers, many on organized coach tours from the coastal resorts, to get a taste of the mighty Sahara for themselves. http://wikitravel.org/en/Douz