Stargazing
& Dune Bashing
The Sahara is not a backdrop. It is an arena. Eight days of full engagement.
Erg Chigaga · Sahara
The retreat
Dunes by day.
Stars by night.
Erg Chigaga is the most remote dune field in Morocco, sixty kilometres from the last paved road, with zero light pollution for a thousand kilometres in every direction. By day, the dunes are the arena: 4x4 vehicles climb 300-metre ridges, descend at angles that make passengers laugh out loud, and cover ground that camel caravans once took weeks to cross. By night, the same dunes are a private observatory.
Two nights in Marrakech to arrive and prepare. Six nights at Umnya Dune Camp in Erg Chigaga - the full Sahara immersion. Daily stargazing workshops with portable telescopes. Camel trek at dawn. 4x4 dune bashing in the afternoon. Morning yoga and ice bath to recover. Pottery and a cooking class for the slower hours.
Apply for this retreat“Speed across the dunes by day. Stillness under ten thousand stars by night. Both are necessary.”
The Sahara at your scale
Stargazing at zero light pollution
Traditional pottery workshop
The experience
What awaits you
4x4 dune bashing
Professional 4x4 sessions across the ridge lines of Erg Chigaga. The highest dunes reach 300 metres. Experienced drivers, purpose-built vehicles, full safety briefing.
Stargazing workshop
Nightly stargazing with portable telescopes at the camp. Star identification, constellation mapping, planet observation. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye at Erg Chigaga.
Camel trek at dawn
Guided camel trek from camp at first light, when the dunes are cool and golden. The oldest form of Sahara transport, still the best way to move slowly enough to see everything.
Morning yoga
Daily sunrise yoga on the dunes. The body needs to open before the day's adventure begins. Cool air, vast silence, sand as the only mat required.
Ice bath protocol
Cold immersion and breathwork sessions at camp. Recovery after a day of movement in the desert. The contrast between Sahara heat and cold water is physiologically remarkable.
Pottery and cooking
Pottery workshop in Marrakech before departure. A traditional cooking class with a local chef: tagine, preserved lemon, the slow food of the Sahara edge.
Day by day
Eight days in Morocco.
Arrival in Marrakech
- Welcome dinner in private riad
- Programme briefing and kit check
- Pottery workshop
Marrakech: medina and preparation
- Morning yoga
- Medina walk and souk exploration
- Cooking class with local chef
- Departure briefing
Transfer to the Sahara
- 4x4 convoy south via the Draa Valley
- Arrival at Umnya Dune Camp
- First stargazing session
First full Sahara day
- Dawn camel trek from camp
- Morning yoga and ice bath
- Afternoon 4x4 dune bashing
- Night stargazing workshop
Deep desert
- Pre-dawn dune walk
- Morning yoga
- Full 4x4 circuit across Erg Chigaga
- Evening Milky Way session
Camel trek and rest
- Extended camel trek at dawn
- Morning yoga
- Afternoon rest and star identification session
- Night: planets through the telescope
Final Sahara day
- Sunrise dune shoot
- Ice bath protocol
- Afternoon dune bashing final session
- Closing dinner under the stars
Return to Marrakech
- Farewell breakfast at camp
- Return 4x4 transfer to Marrakech
- Departure
Included
Everything.
- 2 nights private riad Marrakech
- 6 nights Umnya Dune Camp (double)
- All meals and beverages
- 4x4 dune bashing sessions
- Portable telescopes and stargazing guide
- Guided camel trek
- Private 4x4 transfers throughout
- Morning yoga
- Ice bath and breathwork
- Pottery workshop
- Moroccan cooking class
- Single supplement on request
- The Umnya kit: hand-woven fouta, engraved flask, and the piece made for this retreat
Getting there
How to arrive.
Accommodation: double rooms throughout. Single supplement on request. Private riad in Marrakech, Umnya Dune Camp in Erg Chigaga. All meals and beverages included. Private transfers by 4x4 throughout.
Fly into Marrakech Menara (RAK). The drive from Marrakech to Erg Chigaga takes approximately 8 hours by 4x4, through the Draa Valley and across the hamada. Helicopter transfer available on request.
Nearest airport
These weeks run with a partner
This retreat is not on open sale. We build it with a studio, a club or a clinic that brings its own group, and we open a date around their season rather than ours. Tell us who you would bring and when, and we will come back with a week.
Design this together→2027 Season
Receive the full programme
8 days · 8 to 14 guests · Morocco. We send the itinerary, dates and availability by return.
No newsletters. One email with the programme, nothing more.
Where you stay
Superior accommodation, chosen on the ground by our own experts.
Nothing on this site was booked from a catalogue. Every riad, camp, kasbah and guesthouse was found, visited and slept in by one of our experts before it was ever offered to a guest. The standard is superior throughout, and the reason is practical: after a day of walking, surfing or altitude, comfort is not a luxury, it is what makes the next day possible.
Visited before it is offered
Our team travels the country year-round. If one of us has not slept there, it does not go into a programme.
Original, never generic
Private riads, our own exclusive-use camp in the dunes, restored family kasbahs, guesthouses in Berber villages. Places you cannot book from a screen.
Comfort as a working tool
Real beds, hot water, quiet rooms, proper food. Recovery is part of the programme, not an afterthought.
Groups & circles
Coming as a group?
Six of you or more, and the whole retreat can be arranged around your circle. Tell us the size and the dates, and we prepare a proposal for you.
Request a group proposal→A departure for your circle alone
A private date set aside for your group, at the pace and in the season that suit you.
One group at a time, never mixed
You are never placed among strangers. The camp, the table and the guides are yours.
Group rate and privatisation on request
For six guests or more we prepare a tailored proposal. Simply ask.
Eight days between the dunes and the stars.
Submit your application. We respond within 48 hours.
Apply for this retreat