An oasis covered with volcanic ash: the most amazing place in the Sahara

Such an amazing combination of natural objects in one place is not anywhere else on the planet. In the very center of the Sahara desert is a Libyan oasis with three lakes, located the last of the black sands at the foot of an ancient volcano. The view of this place in combination with the desert landscape makes an indelible impression, and even the difficult road and lack of service do not stop travelers who are eager to get here at all costs.

The Wau en Namus oasis is located in the sparsely populated part of Libya, in the south of the country. This part of the Sahara is called the Libyan Desert.

The heart of Wau en Namus is the caldera of an extinct volcano, the ruins of which are about 100 meters high. In the distant geological past, during active eruptions, the volcano produced a huge amount of lava and ash, the crushed particles of which are today distributed in the vicinity of Wau en Namus to a distance of 20 kilometers. And even millennia later, the Sands of the Sahara could not completely absorb volcanic rocks. For this reason, an unusual oasis is clearly distinguishable from the air.

Another amazing feature of the oasis is the huge number of mosquitoes. By the way, Wow-en-Namus is translated from Arabic - "an oasis of mosquitoes." If you believe that these insects live only in the humid climate of the tropics, then this oasis will make you change your mind. Yes, mosquitoes need warm standing ponds for breeding, but they can be found even in the vast Sahara. And since there are no permanent reservoirs for many kilometers, these blood-sucking insects have chosen the oasis of Wau en Namus as their breeding ground.

And if for the inhabitants of the Libyan desert the “Mosquito Oasis” has not been something unique for a long time, then the Europeans, who first came to this place only in the 20th century, were simply struck by its unusual beauty. Today, Wow en Namus is gaining more and more popularity among tourists who ventured to visit the Sahara. Nowadays, people have moved from camels to SUVs, but, like hundreds of years ago, travelers are still attracted by this oasis, covered with ashes.