A private desert camp

Nothing speaks for the Emirates quite like a drive through golden dunes. A four-wheel drive carries you across the sand, an exhilarating ride, and stops at a private site prepared with every comfort. There you watch a traditional falconry display, ride camels, have henna drawn, and taste Emirati cooking under a sky full of stars.

What we add is privacy. Instead of the large camps that seat hundreds, we arrange a site for your family or friends alone, inside or beside the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The reserve covers 225 km², the largest protected desert area in the country, and Arabian oryx and gazelles live freely within it.

It can be an evening that begins before sunset and ends after dinner, or a full night in a furnished tent with a majlis of rugs and cushions and a fire for the coffee, followed by a quiet sunrise over the sand. If you prefer to sleep within the reserve itself, Al Maha Desert Resort has 42 villas there.

The menu follows your taste: mandi, machboos or meat grilled over embers, with luqaimat and Arabic coffee. A falconer can introduce you to his birds, or a guide can take you out at first light to find the oryx.