The Ubari Lakes

The Erg Ubari piles its dunes in orange ranges, and between them the impossible happens: lakes - Gaberoun and Umm al-Maa the famous pair - lie palm-ringed in the sand's hollows, salt-dense mirrors fed by fossil aquifers, reflecting dune walls that rise straight from their shores. Swimmers float corklike in Gaberoun's brine; the abandoned old village on its shore recalls the Dawada people who once harvested brine shrimp here; and the dune drives between lakes are the Sahara's roller-coaster classic, engines singing up slip-faces within the deep south's expedition-only travel frame.

What you actually see

• Gaberoun - the great palm-ringed brine mirror and its ruins.
• Umm al-Maa - the 'mother of water' in its reed fringe.
• The dune walls - orange ranges rising from the shores.
• The float - corklike swimming in the salt-dense water.

When to go

November to February is the expedition season. Check current travel advice before planning. Mornings give mirror-still reflections before the wind.

Honest expectations

Expedition arrangements and specialist judgement are the entire method here, as for the deep south generally. At the lakes: brine stings eyes and cuts, fresh water for rinsing is carried gold, and the fragile shores take footprints slowly - tread as guided.

Nearby

The Wadi al-Hayaa's villages, Germa's Garamantian ruins and the erg itself.