The Lakes of Ounianga

The Lakes of Ounianga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the remote northern Sahara of Chad, are one of the most surreal and beautiful natural wonders in Africa, a group of some eighteen lakes improbably surviving in the middle of one of the hottest and driest places on earth. Fed by ancient underground water, they persist against fierce evaporation, and their waters glow in an astonishing palette of colours, deep blue, green and even red, depending on their chemistry and algae. Framed by towering golden sand dunes, dramatic rock formations and, in places, fringes of palm and reed, and dotted with islands, these jewelled lakes amid the emptiness of the desert are a mesmerising, otherworldly sight.

What you actually see

• The coloured lakes - the blue, green and red desert waters.
• The dunes and rocks - the golden dunes and formations framing them.
• The palm fringes - the reeds and palms around some lakes.
• The surreal setting - the lakes amid the vast Sahara.

When to go

November to February, the cooler winter months, are the only comfortable time to visit this scorching corner of the Sahara; even then, the desert is hot by day and cold at night. The lakes are extremely remote, reached only by long four-wheel-drive expeditions with guides, usually combined with a wider Ennedi and Sahara journey.

Honest expectations

These lakes are among the most remote destinations on earth: days of desert driving from N'Djamena, no facilities of any kind, and everything from fuel to water carried in convoy. For the reward of one of the most surreal sights in Africa, jewelled coloured lakes improbably surviving amid the golden dunes of the deep Sahara, they are genuinely extraordinary.

Nearby

The Ennedi Massif and the northern Sahara are within the vast region.