Youssef Ben Amor, 54, runs a traditional pottery workshop in Guellala, the hilltop village on Djerba's south coast that has been making ceramics for centuries. His family has been potting for five generations. He speaks Arabic, French, and enough English to argue with anyone about olive oil quality.
My whole life. My grandfather taught my father, my father taught me. I started shaping clay when I was eight. I'm 54 now — that's 46 years of making pots. My hands know the clay better than they know anything else.
Guellala has been a pottery village for, I don't know, maybe a thousand years? The clay comes from the hill behind us. It's a specific red clay that fires well. We use techniques that haven't changed since the Romans were here. Nobody wants to change them — they work.
Q: What do tourists usually get wrong about Djerba?
They think Djerba is just a beach. They fly in on a charter, go to their all-inclusive resort on the northeast coast, lie on the sand for a week, and fly home. They never see Guellala, never visit El Ghriba, never eat at a local restaurant. They eat hotel buffet food — which, honestly, is not Tunisian food. It's tourist food.
Djerba is the largest island in North Africa. It has 2,500 years of history. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Berbers, Arabs, Ottomans, French — all of them lived here and left something behind. You can't understand that from a beach lounger.
Q: Tell us about El Ghriba Synagogue.
El Ghriba is one of the oldest synagogues in the world. Maybe 2,500 years old. The Jewish community on Djerba is one of the oldest in Africa. They've been here since before the Romans.
Every year during Lag BaOmer, thousands of Jewish pilgrims come from around the world. It's beautiful — the synagogue is full of candles, people praying, families reuniting. Muslims and Jews on Djerba have lived together for centuries. We share the island. We share the olive oil. We argue about whose grandmother made the best couscous. That's how it should be.
Q: What about the Djerbahood street art project?
Ah, Djerbahood. In 2014, they invited 150 artists from 30 countries to paint the walls of Erriadh — the village where El Ghriba is. At first, many of us were skeptical. You're going to paint our walls? Our old, beautiful, whitewashed walls?
But the result... I have to admit, it's special. The art and the architecture work together. You turn a corner and there's a three-story mural next to a 200-year-old doorway. Some of the art is political. Some is funny. Some is strange. But it brought visitors to Erriadh who never would have come otherwise. And the artists respected the village — they worked with residents, asked permission, used the architecture.
I still prefer the whitewashed walls, honestly. But my daughter loves Djerbahood. She says I'm old-fashioned. She's right.
Q: What food should visitors eat?
First: couscous. Djerba couscous is made with fish, not lamb like the rest of Tunisia. The Friday couscous with grouper and harissa is the meal every Djerbian mother is judged by. My wife's is the best on the island. Don't tell my mother I said that.
Second: brik. Thin pastry wrapped around a whole egg and tuna, fried until crispy. You eat it with your hands and try not to let the egg yolk run down your chin. Most visitors fail at this. It's entertaining to watch.
Third: ojja. Eggs poached in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce with merguez sausage. Perfect for breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. We eat ojja at every meal and nobody complains.
And the olive oil. Djerba produces excellent organic olive oil — I would say better than Italian, but an Italian would argue. They'd be wrong, but they'd argue. Buy a liter at the market for 15-25 TND. Use it on everything.
Q: What's the best time to visit?
April to June is my favorite. The weather is warm but not the scorching 38°C of July-August. The tourists are fewer. The flowers are out. You can sit in my workshop courtyard and drink tea without sweating through your shirt.
September to November is also good. The sea is still warm from summer, the crowds have gone home, and the light in the afternoons is golden.
July and August are for Europeans who want to lie on beaches and turn red. I don't understand it but I appreciate their business.
Q: Any local customs tourists should know?
Djerba is more relaxed than mainland Tunisia, but it's still a Muslim island. Dress modestly in villages and markets — cover your shoulders and knees. On the resort beaches, bikinis are fine. But walking into Houmt Souk in a swimsuit is not fine.
During Ramadan, many local restaurants close during the day. The resort restaurants stay open. If you're not fasting, don't eat or drink openly in the streets during daylight hours — it's disrespectful. But the iftar (sunset meal) atmosphere is wonderful. Some restaurants do special Ramadan menus that are incredible.
Bargaining is expected in Houmt Souk. Start at 40-50% of the asking price. But be friendly about it — it's a conversation, not a battle. And if you buy ceramics in Guellala, buy from workshops, not from the tourist shops. You'll get better quality and a fair price.
Q: What do tourists never discover about Djerba?
The south coast. Everyone goes to the northeast resort beaches. Nobody comes to the south — to Guellala, to the fishing villages along the coast, to the flamingo lagoon near El Kantara. There's a beach near Aghir that I swim at on weekends. Maybe ten people. Beautiful water. No loungers, no hotels, just sand and sea.
Also: the Djerba Heritage Museum in Guellala, which covers all the island's cultures — Jewish, Muslim, Berber, Ottoman. It costs 5 TND and most tourists don't know it exists.
Q: What do you hope for Djerba's future?
I hope my grandchildren can still make pottery from the clay of this hill. I hope the Jewish community stays — they're part of what makes Djerba special. I hope the hotels don't swallow the whole northeast coast.
But mostly, I hope visitors come with curiosity, not just sunscreen. Djerba has so much to offer if you leave the resort. All you have to do is walk into the village and say hello. We'll do the rest.
For more on what to do beyond the pottery, our top 9 things to do in Djerba covers the cultural highlights. If comparing Mediterranean options, our Djerba vs Malta comparison breaks it down. For another North African cultural immersion, Chefchaouen in Morocco offers a similarly atmospheric medina experience.
