Sahara – Camel Riding and Desert Camping
It's time for a little drama. Drama-derie! *snicker*
Rushing down the steps of the oasis hotel and into the desert once again, we were greeted by and adorable caravan of camels. These one-humped cuties were our ride out to the desert camp where we'd be spending the night.
Turns out there are three types of dromedaries (one-humped camels): the black, curly-haired Moroccan camels; the white Afghanistan camel; and the tawny, hybrid camel. The white camels are the most highly valued, with the local black camels being valued the least. Despite the varying value, I thought they were all equally adorable. Also, only the male camels are used for caravan rides. The, again more valuable, lady camels are kept safely back at camp.
The camel drivers don't generally name their herd, so we took the liberty of naming our rides. Meet my camel Jamal the jamal (Arabic word for camel) and Pineapples, the affectionate camel under Ang and behind me.
Early on, Pineapples discovered that any time his curly-haired little head was near me, I'd give him all the skritches. Soon I was getting gentle nudges and headbutts from my fluffy friend. As evidenced by my llama-whisperer skills and further proved by the gentle grunting of Pineapples, camelids love me.**
I found the gentle swaying and slow pace of the caravan to be a pleasant and soothing experience. Their soft feet on the sand made for a smooth ride over the dunes as the evening sun settled on the horizon. Not everyone agreed with that assessment - there was a lot of exclaiming coming from farther back in the caravan.
It was a short ride out to the camp, perched on the edge of the Sahara and the arid lands to the east. Upon arrival, we immediately set out (with jackets and headlamps this time, but still no lifesaving water) to climb the tallest dune we could see to watch the sun set. Oh man that was a butt and calf work out! The Stairmaster has nothing on climbing up a mountain of loose, deep sand.
We were not alone in enjoying the amber and fiery sunset, as we were joined by our tourmates and a couple of couples from camps nearby. One guide had a lovely little doggo with him that instantly snuggled up to Ang and... began gnawing at its fleas. LOL!
Trudging back down the sandy dune, it was time for dinner and a show back at camp. The camel drivers, our guides (there were two groups staying at the camp that night) and the camp staff treated us to a performance of Gnawa music. The night's performance included several drums, heavy castanets called qraqab and singing/chanting.
Ang had the honour of being asked to sing a few songs and try out the drums. Jazz standards and Gnawa drums!
With the sun long gone and an early morning ahead, I retired to my tent to try for a good night's sleep. After dorping around drawing camels in the dark of course.
Waking up before the dawn, it was time for more camels (yeah!) and more bus (boo!). We rode out of the desert and watched the sun rise over Algeria.
Another four hours on the bus and we'd arrive at the Todra Gorge in the mid-afternoon. We have become the People of the Bus.
**We were later warned not to pet the camels as they can turn mean and bite. I'm confident neither Pineapples nor Jamal would have taken a chomp out of us, but another tour member's camel was less friendly and bit the lady riding in front of him. It was a nasty scrape and bruise!
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