All About Camels

When I first came to Israel I was a complete ignoramous when it came to the subject of camels.  I had seen them in the zoo, of course.  I think I even rode one in a circle when I was 5--it was either that or an elephant.  So I had no idea what to expect in Arabia, the traditional home of the creatures.  When we went to Jordan Kenny and I both had the opportunity to spend 2 hours riding camels, after which we were happy to trade our saddles for a comfortable taxi back to Aqaba.

Amazing fact #1
There are no "wild" camels in Israel or Jordan.
Every camel is bred and branded by the tribe that owns the camel.  Camels will wander the desert in groups that look wild, but they are actually looked after by their Bedouin owners.  They are too valuable to release to the wild.

Amazing fact #2
Riding a camel hurts!
As you may be able to see in the pictures, the saddle for a camel has a front pommel and a back pommel.  This is to prevent the rider from slipping off in either direction as the camel stands up or sits down.  A camel will sit by bending the front legs or the back legs first which pitches the rider forwards on to the neck or backwards to the tail depending on which end went first.  It is generally good to have a back pommel but there must be a trick to riding that I never mastered because when the camels were brought up to a trot, my lower back slammed against the pommel and I had a big pomel-sized bruise for the next few days.  A camel is also much more narrow than a horse so whereas your legs can fit comfortably astride a horse's back, they are constantly swinging around on the camel and there are no stirrups.  Our guide rode with his legs crossed in the lotus position but that seemed to take more skill than we had.  I crossed my legs on the camels neck (see top photo) but that just rubbed my ankles raw.  You could say that we were simply inexperienced and that there are better ways to ride that we did not learn, but we met two women in our camp who had spent 5 hours on their camels for two days and who could barely walk by the end of their desert adventure.  Riding a camel hurts!

Amazing fact #3
10 out of 10 Bedouins prefer cars to camels.
Camels used to be the "ship of the desert" carrying everything from everywhere at a blistering 8 mph.  Today it is the Toyota 4x4.  Even when they are not hosting tourists, the Bedouin men load up their 4x4s and drive out to some remote corner of the desert for some basic R&R.  The trucks are faster, easier to manage, and more reliable.  Camel caravans are expressly for tourists.

Amazing fact #4
Water your camels every 10 days.
Although they will wander far from home, camels will return to a reliable source of water every 10 days.  They can go for up to 30 days without water, but after 10 days they will start to suffer.  In the spring they can go a little longer because the plants they are eating contain some water.  In summer, they need water like clockwork.

Amazing fact #5
If your camel goes missing in Jordan you can call Saudi Arabia.
The border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia cuts right through the desert south of Wadi Rum.  We could see it from our hike up Jebel al Khash.  It is highly policed on the Saudi side since it was a favorite route for drug runners wishing to get their product to market in the wealthy kingdom.  Bedouins cannot cross, but occasionally their camels do.  Since the camels are marked according to tribal origin, Bedouins in Saudi Arabia know when a camel shows up at their watering hole that is originally from Jordan.  They will deny it water and hope it goes back to its home on the Jordanian side.  If a Jordanian hasn't seen his camel for about 10 days, he may call his relatives on the Saudi side to see if they have seen his lost camel.

Amazing fact #6
Bedouins are extremely proud of their camels.
As we were returing to the village with our guide, we came upon a black camel with a white baby camel.  Our guide became instantly animated.  "Those are my camels," he said with such appreciation in his voice that we could tell these were his most valued treasures in the entire world.  A few minutes later we passed a group of childern driving a herd of goats in front of them.  "Those are my goats" he said proudly.  I asked him if the boys we had seen driving the goats were his.  "Oh, yes," he replied without enthusiasm.  "Those are my children."

Amazing fact #7
Riding a camel is really fun!
I hope that I have not deterred any potential camel riders in my audience.  Riding a camel is a great experience.  This was the favored mode of transportation for tons of goods and people for thousands of years and it definitely should be experienced, once.  A camel is much taller than a horse, so riding is like sitting on the top of an SUV, surveying the landscape from such an elevated position as to feel like a king or queen of it.  Camels are also extremely quiet.  When they walk on the sand they hardly make a noise with their big feet.  There is no "clop, clop" like shod horses, just a silent, smooth movement forward.  When roped together, camels will move in one fluid train--the silent "ships of the desert."  I really enjoyed my camel ride (see broad smile in picture above).  Come to Jordan and try it for yourself!