Between the Hamada al Hamrah or "Red Plateau" and the Sebha-Ghat road, the Erg Awbari is a nearly impenetrable sea of sand dunes. Off Sebha, the Erg Awbari ends in an advance between the valleys of the wadi Esc Sciati and the wadi Al Hayah.
This is the place, in the heart of huge ochre dunes, where the Awbari lakes are nested. Each of them glitters as a gem in a green and gold case of palms and sand.
Um El Ma, "mother of water" in Arabic, is probably the nicest of all the lakes, surrounded by dunes. Unfortunately the sky is milky because of a persisting sandstorm more to the north. Xavier M. Jubier
