This is the trek most people mean when they talk about the Merzouga dunes. You leave the village by camel in the late afternoon, ride about an hour and a half into the Erg Chebbi, and spend the night in a camp pitched between the dunes with no road access and no lights beyond the campfire.
Dinner is a tagine cooked at the camp and eaten in the main tent. Afterwards the handlers usually bring out drums, which is less of a performance than it sounds; it is what they do anyway. The main event is the sky. With no light within 30 kilometres the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye for most of the year.
You wake for sunrise, either from the camp itself or by walking up the nearest high crest, and ride back to Merzouga after breakfast.
Meet at the edge of Merzouga in the late afternoon, with the time set by the season. Leave your main luggage at the departure point and take only an overnight bag; the camels carry it. The train heads east straight into the sand, and the village disappears behind the first ridge within a few minutes.
The ride to the camp takes around an hour and a half at walking pace, climbing steadily into the higher interior dunes. There is a stop on a crest for the sunset before the last stretch. You reach the camp in the dusk.
The camp is a ring of tents around a central dining tent, pitched in a hollow between dunes so the wind passes over it. Tea on arrival, then time to climb the dune behind the camp before dinner, which is worth doing while there is still some light in the sky.
Dinner is soup, a tagine and fruit, served in the main tent. Afterwards there is a fire outside and the handlers bring out drums. Once the fire dies the sky is the reason to stay up: with no settlement within 30 kilometres the Milky Way is plainly visible from spring through autumn, and shooting stars are common.
Wake before dawn. The crest immediately above the camp is a five to ten minute climb through soft sand and gives a clear eastern view for the sunrise. The dunes are cold and completely still at this hour.
Breakfast at the camp: bread, olive oil, jam, and mint tea. Then the camels are loaded and the train returns to Merzouga, arriving in the morning. If you would rather not ride twice, a 4×4 can collect you from the camp instead, which takes about twenty minutes.
About an hour and a half each way. It is the longest most people want to spend on a camel in one go, and it is the main physical demand of the trip.
Fixed tents with proper beds, mattresses and heavy blankets, arranged around a central dining tent. Nights in the desert are cold from October to April and the blankets are thick for that reason.
Yes, the camps have shared toilet and shower facilities in a separate block. Water is trucked in, so showers are basic but they work.
Yes, on request at no extra cost. The drive from the camp to Merzouga takes about twenty minutes. A lot of people ride out and drive back.
Between November and February it can approach freezing before dawn. Even in summer it drops sharply after midnight. Bring a warm layer regardless of the season.
An overnight bag only, with a warm layer, a torch, and anything you need for the night. Leave the rest at the departure point, where it is stored securely.
An hour and a half by camel is far enough that there is no road, no light and no sound from the village. That is the difference between sleeping in the erg and looking at it from the edge. You get the sunset on the way in, a fire and drums after dinner, a sky with nothing competing with it, and the sunrise from the crest above your tent before anyone else is moving.
