Tijma is all there for tourism. The family owning this beautiful troglodyte, has the tourists as their business. A large part of the money that visitors bring to them in form of tips of different kinds, are ploughed back into keeping the troglodyte neat and clean. And even better: genuine.
But the drawback is that the place is swarmed with tourists falling in on the place from their buses and 4X4 cars. There is no way of getting a real grip of the place as long as they are there, and they start popping up early in the morning and do not go away until the sun sets.
This is what the place looked like when I was there. I thought that coming by in the middle of the August when temperatures were above 40° Centrigrade (104 Fahrenheit), would have emptied the place.
I was wrong: Two buses and one 4X4-car was there before me, and one more arrived before I left.
Nothing. Go to Matmata (5 km).
Nothing. Do this in Gabes, unless you're staying in one of the better hotels in Matmata.
Tijma is right on the main road, and can easily be reached with public bus. But don't be surprised if you have to walk the rest of the distance to Matmata.