The lakes formed thousands of years ago when underground water, left over from the time when the Sahara was wet and green, seeped up to the surface. Today the water is very salty - more salty than the sea - which means very few creatures can live in it, but the colour it creates is a brilliant turquoise that looks almost unreal against the pale orange sand.
The sand dunes surrounding the lakes are some of the tallest in the Sahara. Some rise more than 100 metres high - taller than a 30-storey building. Sand dunes of this size make a low, humming sound as the wind moves sand grains down their steep sides. Locals sometimes call it 'singing sand'.
The Tuareg people - desert nomads who have lived across the Sahara for thousands of years - know the Ubari region well. They have navigated its dunes using the stars, traded goods across the empty desert, and made their camps near the palm-fringed lakes for generations.
Visitors who reach the lakes often float on the surface because the very salty water makes you extra buoyant - similar to the Dead Sea. The salt crystals around the edges sparkle in the sunshine like frost.