Guelta d’Archei: A Dreamlike Oasis in the Heart of the Sahara Desert

It is strongly recommended that you stay away from this beautiful place.

If you happen upon this sight after staggering through the desert for days, you’ll assume you’re seeing a mirage or a vision of dehydrated delirium. Rest assured, this surreal spectacle is very real (and not AI-generated, either).

The Guelta d’Archei is an ancient watering hole located deep in the Sahara in the Ennedi region of northeastern Chad.

It consists of a narrow valley filled with shallow freshwater, bordered by towering rock walls. As one of the few pockets of water in the hyper-arid region, it serves as a much-needed refuge for nomadic tribes to bring their camels to rehydrate.

But the camels cannot relax too much. The Guelta d’Archei is also home to a small population of Nile crocodiles that have managed to survive since the time of the “Green Sahara” between 15,000 and 5,000 years ago.

“This oasis is home to relict fauna and flora, concentrated mainly in the ravines with water sources. One of the most emblematic examples is the presence of crocodiles in the Guelta d’Archeï. These crocodiles have survived since the end of river connections thousands of years ago. They are the last survivors in the Sahara, in addition to the populations in the Nile Valley in Egypt and Mauritania,” explains a brochure published by UNESCO in 2016.

Another shot of the Guelta d’Archei, packed with camels and blue skies above. Image credit: David Stanley via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) While humans are rarely seen here today, the region’s prolific rock art shows a faint glimpse of their presence from thousands upon thousands of years ago.

The wider Ennedi region is home to thousands of rock carvings and paintings dating from between 5000 BC and 1700 AD. The artworks depict wild animals, livestock, humans and, of course, camels, illustrated in a variety of local styles.

“These paintings help us reconnect with our identity, our culture and our place of origin. Ennedi is an open book to the history of our ancestors,” Angèle Aloumbe, who works for African Parks based in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, told BBC Travel.

“I always cry when I go to Ennedi. It is such a beautiful landscape with very unspoiled people. No one can go there without feeling a connection. There is something really special about it,” Aloumbe explained.

As tempting as it may be to record a travel vlog here, we do not recommend visiting Guelta d’Archei. The US State Department advises travelers to “reconsider travel to Chad due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping,” while the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the region.

Even if the heated socio-political situation does not discourage you, the trip would deter even the most passionate traveller. According to the UNESCO brochure, it is a four-day trip through the desert in a 4×4 to reach the vicinity of the Guelta d’Archei from N’Djamena.