Lakes of Ounianga

When to go

A tourist travel season cannot currently be recommended: the lakes are in northern provinces to which the FCDO advises against all travel. Use UNESCO materials. If the official situation changes, heat, sandstorms, water, fuel, roads, permits and reliable communications would need to determine the expedition window.

Things to see and do

Information sources allow comparisons of Ounianga Kebir and Ounianga Serir, water colours, reed mats, dunes and oasis settlements. Do not organise a journey at present. With future official access, avoid swimming without local permission, driving on sensitive shores, pollution, collecting plants and entering private or sacred land.

Practical tips

This page is purely informative. Ennedi and other northern provinces face risks from armed groups, mines, disputed goldfields and kidnapping; rescue and communications are extremely limited. Do not organise a private desert convoy or count on your own evacuation. Travelling against warnings may invalidate insurance.

Getting there and getting around

There is currently no safe tourist access. The lakes are several days' travel from larger towns and would require permits, an experienced team, four-wheel-drive vehicles, satellite communications, fuel and water. While the warning remains in force, do not book an expedition or use older routes as proof of access.

Where to stay

Accommodation would be possible only as a self-sufficient expedition or after official coordination with local communities, but is not currently recommended. In future, an operator would need to confirm water, food, shade, communications, medical care, hygiene, waste removal, fuel and independent evacuation.

What to try

Dates, millet, pulses, dairy products, meat and sweet tea are common in the region's oases. This is cultural information, not a travel recommendation. For a future permitted expedition, food and safe water would need to be brought with reserves, without putting pressure on scarce local resources.