The Ubari Sand Sea, about 150 kilometres west of Sebha, contains one of the stranger landscapes in the Sahara: a group of roughly twenty lakes sitting in the middle of vast orange dunes. The lakes — fed by underground aquifers left over from when the Sahara was a wetter place — range from the size of a large swimming pool to several hundred metres across. Some are flanked by date palms and reeds. Some are salt-saturated to the point that nothing grows around them. The contrast between the deep turquoise water and the red sand is startling.
The most visited are Lake Gaberoun and Um el-Maa, both accessible by 4WD from Sebha. The drive involves serious dune travel and an experienced guide is not optional. The best time to visit is October to March when temperatures are manageable — summer heat in the Ubari makes the area dangerous and the colours are less vivid. The landscape around the lakes was part of the ancestral territory of the Tuareg people, and the remaining Tuareg communities in the area can sometimes be arranged as part of a guided expedition.