What are things to do in the desert beyond a camel ride?

The camel trek gets all the photos, but honestly it's a fairly short, gentle plod — an hour or so to and from camp — and if that were all the desert offered, I'd tell you to skip the overnight. The real reward of staying out at Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga is everything around it. Top of my list is just the dunes themselves on foot: climbing a high ridge at sunset or, better, before dawn, then watching the sand turn from grey to pink to deep gold as the sun lifts. Bare feet, total silence, your own footprints the only marks — it's the moment people remember.

For the more active, there's plenty to do. Sandboarding down the big dunes is genuinely good fun (clumsy and hilarious the first few goes), and a 4x4 desert run takes you to places camels can't — the black volcanic village of Khamlia, where descendants of sub-Saharan peoples play hypnotic Gnaoua music in a simple house, and out to the dry Lac Iriki bed or fossil fields near Merzouga. Quad biking is available too if you like an engine under you. None of this is on the standard camel itinerary, but it turns a one-night stop into a proper desert experience.

The quieter pleasures matter just as much. A good camp or guide will lay on real stargazing — the Sahara has some of the clearest night skies on earth, and a guide pointing out planets and the Milky Way through the dry desert air is unforgettable. By day, visiting a nomad family at their tent, sharing mint tea and seeing how they actually live, is humbling and far more meaningful than any souvenir. And there's a genuine activity in doing nothing at all: sitting on a dune with tea as the light shifts is something my most travelled guests rate above almost anything.

So my honest steer: book a stay long enough to do more than the camel cliché. One night is the minimum and frankly feels rushed; two nights at the dunes lets you fit a sunset walk, a 4x4 excursion, a music stop at Khamlia, stargazing and a sunrise without sprinting. Be clear with whoever arranges your trip that you want activities, not just the trek — a good desert specialist will build them in, and you'll come away feeling you actually experienced the Sahara rather than just photographed a camel.