Your guides will meet you at the hotel at 9 a.m. to take you on a tour of Merzouga and the surrounding villages. Stop in Khamlia, the home of set free Sudanese slaves who have been settling in Morocco for generations. Listen to their Gnawa music, spiritual songs, and lively dancing. We’ll go off-road, following the Erg Chebbi dunes to remote desert villages, abandoned mines, and a nomadic Berber encampment. These welcoming nomadic families will greet us with tea and an explanation of their way of life. We’ll return to Merzouga for lunch, and we highly recommend trying the traditional Berber “pizza,” which consists of meat and vegetables stuffed into a bread crust and cooked over an open flame.

In the late afternoon, you will be taken to the dromedaries—one-hump camels native to this region of Morocco—for about 90-minute camel ride to our camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes (standard or luxury camp options available). If you want, you can watch the sunset from behind the dunes and go dune sandboarding. Return for dinner and music, as well as a glass of traditional mint tea. Our guides will entertain you with drums and castanets, breaking the silence of the desert with laughter and singing. You’ll fall asleep to your camp for the evening under the dazzling light of the Milky Way. Remember to look up and see stars like you’ve never seen them before.