Umnya Desert Raids
The Sahara
is our terrain.
Fifteen years of Paris-Dakar expertise. Private access to Erg Chigaga. The most technically demanding dune field in North Africa, sixty kilometres from the last road.
15
Paris-Dakar editions
60 km
from the last road
150 m
dune heights
0
commercial noise
Two experiences. One terrain.
We do not offer tours.
We organise raids.
Product launches.
Brand events. Media productions.
One brand per window. Full location exclusivity across forty square kilometres of virgin dune field. Zero other operators. Zero commercial infrastructure visible in any frame. The terrain does what no studio can.
- +Exclusive access to Erg Chigaga
- +3 to 7-day event windows
- +10 to 100 participants
- +Production logistics included
- +Helicopter transfers available
- +Overnight bivouac and base camp
Small groups.
Technical routes. Dakar veterans.
Four to eight vehicles. A Paris-Dakar veteran in the lead car. Routes built from fifteen years of competitive desert navigation, none of which appear on any public map. You drive. We guide everything else.
- +4 to 8 vehicles per group
- +3, 5, or 7-day routes
- +Your vehicle or our support fleet
- +Dune technique training included
- +Recovery protocols: deflation, extraction
- +Bivouac under the Milky Way at Erg Chigaga
The expertise
Not a guide.
A competitor.
Fifteen editions of the Paris-Dakar and the Dakar Rally. Our lead driver does not read the dunes from a guidebook. He reads them from memory, from mistakes made at speed, from thousands of kilometres of competitive desert navigation.
Erg Chigaga is our home terrain. We know its seasonal changes, its shadow lines at each hour, its risk zones and its spectacle zones. Line selection, deflation protocols, cross-axle recovery, sand anchor techniques: all of this is embedded knowledge, not theory.
For corporate clients, this translates into zero-risk logistics and a production environment that looks effortless on camera. For amateur drivers, it translates into skills you carry back into every off-road terrain you encounter afterwards.
15
Dakar editions
7,000+
competitive km
60 km
exclusive dune access
Corporate launches
One brand.
One desert. One window.
We work with a small number of institutional clients each year. Each engagement is private, exclusive, and designed from zero around your brief. No shared schedule, no other operators, no competing visual noise.
Erg Chigaga offers forty square kilometres of undisturbed dune field, sixty kilometres from the nearest town, accessible only by piste. It is the Sahara as it was before tourism reached the other dune fields. Your product launch, your brand event, or your media production takes place in terrain that no competitor has occupied.
Send us your briefBrand categories we work with
Automotive
4x4, SUV and electric vehicle launches
Technology
Product reveals requiring extreme terrain
Watchmaking
Dakar-heritage collections and adventure lines
Tyres & lubricants
Performance testing and media content
Action cameras
Aerial and ground-level content productions
Luxury goods
High-impact press trip and influencer content
3 to 7
day windows
10 to 100
participants
1
brand per window
0
other operators
Amateur raids
Your vehicle.
Our terrain. Our knowledge.
The Initiation
Dune technique training, crest driving, two nights at Erg Chigaga. Entry-level technical route. All recovery scenarios covered.
The Classic Raid
Full Erg Chigaga crossing, bivouac on the dune field, and return via the western piste. The complete amateur desert experience.
The Dakar Circuit
Sahara south loop: Draa Valley entry, Erg Chigaga, Merzouga dunes, return via the river route. Technical, remote, unforgettable.
What is included
- Paris-Dakar veteran in the lead vehicle throughout
- Pre-departure technical briefing: deflation, line selection, recovery
- Full recovery equipment: sand ladders, high-lift jack, straps, compressor
- Satellite communication and GPS tracking on all vehicles
- All fuel, meals, and accommodation on route
- Night bivouac at Erg Chigaga under zero light pollution
- Post-raid debrief and route documentation
Vehicle requirements
You can bring your own vehicle or use vehicles from our fleet. Minimum requirement for your own vehicle: high-clearance 4WD with a reliable low-range transfer case. Tyre condition is assessed at departure briefing.
Vehicles we regularly work with: Defender, Land Cruiser, Patrol, G-Class, Grenadier, Hilux, Amarok, Raptor, and all Sahara-configured 4x4s. Electric vehicles on request, with logistics adapted.
Plan your raidThe terrain
Erg Chigaga.
The last real Sahara.
Erg Chigaga is the most remote accessible dune field in Morocco. Sixty kilometres of piste separate it from the nearest town. No tarmac, no lights, no infrastructure of any kind visible from within the erg.
The dunes reach one hundred and fifty metres in places. The terrain varies: technical crests, wide bowls, steep slipfaces, and flat corridors. It offers every category of difficulty in a contained geography, which is exactly why it became our permanent base.
The same qualities that make Erg Chigaga technically demanding make it visually extraordinary. The light changes six times between sunrise and dusk. At night, the Milky Way is visible with the naked eye. Zero light pollution for a thousand kilometres.
150 m
dune heights
60 km
from any road
0
light pollution
40 km2
exclusive access
Corporate and institutional
Product launches, brand events, and media productions in the Sahara.
Send us a brief. We respond within 24 hours with an initial concept and available windows. One brand per window. Full exclusivity guaranteed.
journeys@umnya.coAmateur and enthusiast
Small-group raids for 4x4 enthusiasts and overland communities.
Tell us your group size, vehicle type, and preferred dates. We design the route around your level and your ambitions. Season runs October through April.
Start planning