Wadi Matkhandoush is one of the most important rock art sites in the Sahara — a 12 km stretch of desert-varnished sandstone covered in petroglyphs dating from 10,000 BC to around 2,000 BC. The carvings depict elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and domestic cattle — evidence of a time when this desert was green savanna. You will see no camel carvings, which seems strange until you learn that the camel was only introduced to the Sahara around 200 BC.
The route lies south of Germa, about four hours by 4WD. You drive at speed over a flat plateau of gravelly sand to Wadi Berjuj, a wide valley alive with vegetation and grazing camels, then pass a control point that checks your Acacus Desert permit before climbing a gravel ridge and dropping down into the wadi over several kilometers of large, uneven black stones. The wadi itself may be barren and bone-dry, or green and full of water if there has been recent rain.
Germa is about two hours' drive from Sebha along the Wadi Al-Hayat. Further south from Wadi Matkhandoush lies the Idehan Murzuq (Murzuq Sand Sea).