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Three days that belong to you alone · Umnya Desert Camp, Erg Chegaga, Sahara Morocco

Three days that belong to you alone

A private caravan, a whole camp, and a team that exists only for your celebration

Plan your celebration

The celebration

Not a party in a venue. A few days in a world of your own.

The camp sits alone in Erg Chegaga, sixty kilometres past the last paved road. For the days you are here it holds your guests and nobody else: eight canvas suites, a fire on the sand, and a team of chef, butler, drivers, musicians and guides whose only occasion is yours.

Between the evenings by the fire, a caravan takes you out into the open dunes for a night under the stars. It is the part guests describe first when they get home.

Last reviewed 2026-09-16.

Your team for the days

Everyone here is here for you

A private chef

Cooking only for you, from Berber recipes and the markets of the Draa valley, over open fire and embers. Menus written around your guests, their allergies and the occasion itself.

A butler

One person whose whole job is your group: the table, the timing, the tent that needs another blanket, the glass that is never empty. Present when wanted, invisible when not.

Your own drivers

Our own 4x4s and our own drivers from the moment you land in Marrakech, and for every excursion after that. Nobody waits for a taxi, nobody reads a map.

A massage therapist

Treatments in your tent or in the shade on the sand, in the flat middle hours of the day when the desert asks you to slow down anyway.

A yoga teacher

Sessions on the dunes at first light, before the heat and the others wake up. For beginners as much as for the guest who practises every day.

Musicians

Berber musicians by the fire in the evening, and a full band for the night you want to celebrate properly, with candles laid along the dune.

Desert guides

Guides from the region who know the erg, the nomad families who move through it and the places no road reaches.

A stargazing guide

A guided session with a telescope under a Bortle Class 1 sky, the darkest classification there is, after dinner and before bed.

The shape of the stay

Three days, and longer if you can

Every stay is written for its group. This is how most of them unfold.

Day one
Arrival by 4x4 convoy or by helicopter over the High Atlas, landing at the camp. A welcome ceremony on the sand, tents prepared for each guest, the fire lit at dusk and a first dinner with nothing scheduled after it.
Day two
Yoga on the dunes at sunrise. Late breakfast, then out with the drivers to visit the nomad families or to lunch in a Berber home in Bounou. Massage in the afternoon. At night, the full celebration: band, candles along the dune, dinner under the stars.
Day three
The caravan. Camels and nomad guides take you into the open erg at golden hour, dinner is cooked on the sand, and beds are laid out under the stars for the night. The chef and the butler travel with you and spend the night in the dunes with the group.
And longer
A picnic laid out in the middle of nowhere, a day at the dry lake of Iriki, guided buggy raids across the piste, sandboarding, a private candlelit dinner for two inside the group. Five days is where most celebrations settle.
Carpets, cushions and lanterns laid out on the sand in front of the camp, ready for an evening celebration

The evenings

When the sun goes down, the celebration starts

Fire and music

The fire is lit every evening at dusk. Berber musicians play, guests join in or simply listen, and the night goes on for as long as the group wants it to.

The thousand and one nights

One evening in the style of the old tales: a band, candles laid along the dune, carpets on the sand and a long dinner that turns into a party.

Dinner with the nomads

A dinner cooked the way nomad families cook it, out on the dunes, followed by tea and the stories that come with it.

Games and animation

Games around the fire, dancing when the music calls for it, and a team that knows how to start an evening and when to leave the group alone.

The sky

No town, no road and no artificial light for tens of kilometres. The Milky Way stands overhead, and the telescope comes out when the fire burns low.

A table for two

Inside a group celebration, the couple at its centre can slip away for a private candlelit dinner on the dune, and come back to the fire afterwards.

The occasions

What people come to celebrate

A milestone birthday

Forty, fifty, sixty, seventy. A birthday that a restaurant cannot hold.

An anniversary

Ten, twenty-five, forty years, celebrated with the people who were there for them.

An engagement or a vow renewal

The days around the moment, with family and closest friends and nobody else.

A family gathering

Three generations in one place, with a team that looks after everybody so nobody has to host.

Friends who travel together

The group that has been everywhere already, looking for the one place none of them has seen.

A very private occasion

The celebration that should never appear anywhere, for guests who value that above everything else.

Up to twenty guests, one group at a time, from September to June. Every celebration is quoted for its dates and its guests, and the written proposal comes back within 24 hours.

Questions

Before you plan it

Can we book the whole camp for a private celebration over several days? +
Yes, and it is the only way we host a celebration. The camp is taken as one group, up to twenty guests across eight canvas suites with private bathrooms, and nobody else books in while you are there. Three days is the minimum we recommend for a celebration; five is where most groups settle.
What does the private chef and butler service include? +
The chef cooks only for your group, all meals, from Berber recipes and local markets over open fire, with menus written around your guests and the occasion. The butler looks after the group throughout the stay: the table, the timing, the tents and every small request. Drivers, guides, a massage therapist, a yoga teacher and musicians complete the team for the days you are with us.
What is a private caravan night in the Sahara? +
Camels and nomad guides take the group out into the open erg at golden hour. Dinner is cooked on the sand, beds are laid out under the stars, and the night is spent in the dunes before returning to the camp the next morning. The chef and the butler travel with the caravan and spend the night in the dunes with the group.
What happens in the evenings during a desert celebration? +
The fire is lit every evening with Berber musicians. One night is usually the full celebration, with a band, candles laid along the dune and a long dinner under the stars. There is also a dinner with the nomads, games and animation around the fire, and a guided stargazing session with a telescope under a Bortle Class 1 sky.
Are massage and yoga available during the stay? +
Yes. Massage treatments are given in your tent or in the shade on the sand, usually in the middle hours of the day. Yoga sessions take place on the dunes at sunrise and are adapted to beginners as well as regular practitioners.
Which excursions can be added to a private celebration? +
Visits to the nomad families by 4x4, lunch in a Berber home in Bounou, a day at the dry lake of Iriki, a picnic laid out in the dunes, camel rides at sunset, sandboarding and guided buggy raids across the piste. All are arranged privately for your group with our own drivers and guides.
How do our guests reach the camp? +
By road it is 8h45 from Marrakech in our own 4x4s with our own drivers, of which the last 1h30 is piste, and many groups break the journey with a night on the way. By helicopter it is 1h40 from Marrakech Menara, five to six guests per rotation, landing at the camp. Groups often send part of the party by air and the rest by road on the same day.
How private is a celebration at the camp? +
Completely. There is no reception, no bar, no other guests and no day visitors, because there is no road for them to arrive on. Our team does not share photographs, guest lists or details of the occasion, and nothing about your celebration is published anywhere.
When is the best time of year for a private celebration in the Sahara? +
October to April. Days are warm and nights are cool, from about 2 degrees in midwinter to 15 in the shoulder months, which makes the fire and the stars part of every evening. October, November, March and April offer the longest comfortable daylight.

Tell us the occasion, the dates and how many of you.

You will receive a written proposal for your celebration, day by day, within 24 hours.

Plan your celebration

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