Lakes of Ounianga

    Chad

    Eighteen strikingly blue and red lakes survive miraculously in the hyper-arid core of the punishing Sahara Desert.

    Warmest month is June at 41°C on average. Coolest is January at 23°C.

    Costs and travel essentials

    • CoffeeWorld Bank PPP baseline
      $1.50 (~$1.50)
      Country-level price estimate for Chad, 2026-07-11. Scaled from a US baseline, not a local survey.
    • BeerWorld Bank PPP baseline
      $2.25 (~$2.25)
      Country-level price estimate for Chad, 2026-07-11. Scaled from a US baseline, not a local survey.
    • Flight timeMethodology
      6h from London Heathrow
      Great-circle plus routing overhead.
    • Flight CO2eDEFRA 2024 factors
      1,544 kg return from London Heathrow
      DEFRA 2024 economy factors, includes radiative forcing.
    • FCDO advisorygov.uk, snapshot compiled 2026-07-11
      FCDO advises against all travel.
      Check the latest FCDO advice before booking.
    MonthAvg highDaily spreadRain days
    January23°10°C·
    February26°11°C·
    March32°11°C·
    April37°9°C·
    May40°6°C·
    June41°4°C·
    July40°4°C·
    August39°5°C·
    September38°4°C·
    October34°9°C·
    November29°7°C·
    December25°9°C·

    What to do

    • Photograph the surreal contrast of lush green palm trees against orange sand dunes
    • Float effortlessly in the highly saline waters of Lake Yoan
    • Learn about the ancient salt extraction methods used by local communities

    How we know this

    Values are the average of the last ten calendar years of daily readings from Visual Crossing, snapped to the destination cluster. Daily spread is the width between the 10th and 90th percentiles of daily highs, not a forecast error margin. Rain days count any day with at least 1 mm of precipitation.