What is Iriqui National Park and is there really a lake with flamingos in the desert?

Iriqui is the park that makes guests' jaws drop when I describe it, because the headline sounds impossible: flamingos in the Sahara. It's Morocco's largest national park by some measures, sprawling across the deep south between Foum Zguid and the dunes of M'Hamid, and at its heart lies Lac Iriqui — a huge seasonal salt lake. For much of the year it's a cracked, shimmering pan of dried mud, the very image of desert desolation.

But in years of good rain, the lake fills, and something extraordinary happens. Water birds appear as if from nowhere, and yes, flamingos really do wade in the shallows at the literal edge of the Sahara. It's one of the most surreal sights I've ever shared with travellers — pink birds on a mirror of water with sand dunes on the horizon. The park also protects acacia steppe, and there have been reintroductions of desert antelope like the addax and oryx in fenced sectors.

I have to be completely honest about the catch: the lake is seasonal and unpredictable. Some years it barely fills, and the flamingos don't come. So I never promise them — I promise the experience of crossing a magnificent, empty desert wilderness, with the lake as a glorious bonus if conditions align. Even bone-dry, the drive across that pan, ringed by dunes and black hammada, is staggeringly beautiful and utterly remote.

Access is strictly 4x4 with an experienced desert driver — there are no roads, signage or facilities inside, and it's easy to get lost or stuck. I reach it on the piste between Foum Zguid and M'Hamid, often combining it with a desert crossing and a night under the stars. This is expedition territory, not a casual day-trip, so I plan it carefully with water, fuel and a guide who knows the terrain intimately. For adventurous travellers, it's the wildest park in the country.