Ride a Camel

Hold your nose!

I just returned from a trip to Tunisia where I rode a camel on the island of Djerba. I had been looking forward to this the whole time. My husband got the information for me and we went to the beach. He whistled to man who was leading four, almost pure white camels, and brought them in our direction. They were gorgeous!

Anyway, like others mentioned here, I was surprised at the jolt you felt when the camel stood up, and especially when it sat down again. The height was rather frightening and exciting at the same time. My four-year-old son rode with me and I felt perfectly safe with the man holding the camel on a leash. The camels seemed to be so calm. Because I was frightened, my body was really tense at first and it didn’t work well with the camels wobbly movements. I had to force myself to relax and move with the camel. It was scary realizing that our bottoms were sitting up higher than the man’s head who was walking beside us. However, it was great fun and very exciting. I might like to try a longer ride next time without a guide holding the camel.

After the ride, I asked if I could pet the camels. The man said yes and even showed me that he could kiss the camels. I wanted a picture of him doing this, but he refused. He said that I had to kiss the camel…so I also experienced kissing a camel. I did get a bunch of camel slobber on my cheek and his breath was pretty nasty, but I enjoyed horrifying the European tourist nearby who vocally found this form of camel affection pretty disgusting. :O)

I am going to Tunisia in about a week. My husband knows that I want to try riding a camel. He already told me that one of the places we are going has camel rides. I don’t think I would like to ride a camel for hours through the desert, but I would like to try riding a camel for a short period of time. I really love camels! They are amazing creatures the way they built to survive in such a harsh environment. They have those long eyelashes and closing nostrils to keep the sand out. They preserve their water supply in many different ways. The fat is stored in their humps and not the rest of their bodies because they live in such warm climates. They have soft padded feet for walking on the sand. They can eat cactus because they have tough mouth, tongue and lips. I think they are great! I love llamas and alpacas, too. They are so pretty…until they spit. I was just at a petting zoo near my home and they had three baby camels there. They were so cute and sweet. My kids weren’t even afraid to touch them. I am really looking forward to trying to ride an adult camel! I am little nervous too…(;o)