[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

The Camel.

The technical specifications for this "ship of the desert"; A 4 legged HGV, economical, environmentally friendly beast of burden, personnel carrier, heavy lift and purveyor of trade goods by desert caravans often in teams of more than 1000 animals. It can travel at 20 kph over considerable, grueling distances and barely does its heart rate increase. It can cover 150 kilometres a day and can carry a huge load of up to 200 kg. Remarkably camels were fed and watered on the move therefore big caravans rarely stopped.

Consumption; Very economical! Fuel capacity is either a couple of jerry cans of water every two days or 30 gallons about every 10 days to two weeks so long as it can nibble up greenery on route between times and the odd handful of straw and perhaps some "shire" or wheat from a canvass bucket. They get bad tempered without that extra supplement. It lives for twenty to twenty five years though during that time can give birth only about 10 times.

Remarkably a camel can operate hot… allowing its body to heat up to 115 degrees without sweating (thus preserving fluid). Peculiar urine chemistry 3 times more efficient than other animals allows them to limit fluid loss so that they pass urine far less in hot weather. Specially developed kidneys allow them to drink low quality, brackish, salty water often found in remote desert wells. Their nasal passages are so twisted that the air cools 10 degrees going in and dries as it exhales conserving water by preventing dehydration. The camel sucks in water like a huge vacuum cleaner and can ingest between 20 and 30 gallons in one session of a few minutes. Water is stored not in the stomach but in the tissue cells and blood. Their oval red blood cells can expand 240 times their volume. Humans are in serious trouble when they lose about 5% of body weight through water loss however a camel can drop 25% without any problems. They simply shrink. Their extremely long eyelashes protect them from the glaring sunlight and in sand storms they simply shut their eyes and can see through the lids! Built in anti sand storm and sunglasses!! Somehow they can scent water miles off and will make a beeline straight for the water source. Overnight at camps they can be left on their own untethered but with their front feet tied so that they can wander a little to eat their favourite desert thorn tree food. Given half a chance, however, the camel will run off!

The soles of the feet are calloused so they don’t get hot feet as are the elbows on which they rest when crouched down. Its teeth resemble those of a lion with huge incisors which are used to tear down branches of acacia thorn trees so that the more juicy leaves can be nibbled and eaten. The camel has specially designed mouth and lips to carefully and delicately separate thorn from leaf. Great care must be taken especially in the colder mating season since getting between a bull and a cow can prove fatal. A "Galaisa" or lead bull camel can be very vicious at this time.

Camels get sick for no apparent reason and can suddenly just drop dead. Toxic plants and bad water are their main enemies. After exhausting journeys they need proper rest since they have no mechanism for indicating that they are tired. They are extremely unpredictable and just when you think you have an animal trained it will run away or even try to bite. They are susceptible to fright at the least excuse and a seemingly subdued animal can turn into a wild, bucking, hissing, spitting, biting, mad, demonic beast in a flash for no apparent reason. The apparent lack of concern for their owners makes them easy to steal. Milking can be dangerous as the technique of milking is by the herdsman standing on one leg and leaning against the animal's body; made hazardous as the animal may then try to move or chew the person doing the milking. Mating often has to be assisted by the herdsmen since the male and female are very clumsy animals and giving birth is also hazardous since the newborn can be injured falling to the ground or being trampled by the mother. The male organs of the bull camel are also ridiculously small making mating very difficult.

Camel meat and milk is delicious and virtually free from cholesterol though normally young camels are bred specially for this purpose as are cows in other parts of the world. Camel meat is usually reserved for wedding feasts. The camel has more than 160 words in Arabic underlining its importance in the regions cultural heritage. The word Jamal can mean either beautiful woman or camel. Dreaming of a camel is a good omen. Bedouin are buried in the skin of their favourite camel to be near it in their afterlife. In mythology the stars are said to be grazing camels that are at eternal peace.

Without it the great Bedouin tribes would never have survived and trade around Arabia would have been almost impossible. The huge caravans of camel laden with all manner of goods would not have traded between the great souks of Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo, Marrakesh, Shiraz, Sanaa and Mecca to name a few. They were the vital transport link between the Silk Road to China, Persia, Istanbul, Africa, Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula covering thousands of desert kilometers in years gone by. It is for this reason that the Camel has the well earned name; "Ship of the Desert".


Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

P.S. So you may have thought , like I did, that 1,000 camels in one single train was pretty huge... Think about this... The camel trains across the Sahara Desert were often 25,000 strong !!