Camels

A few weeks ago I got a job in Balgo Hills W.A., working as a cashier in the only shop in the little community. I had been in aboriginal communities before, but this was the first one with a pet camel. Being from Canada, this was rather novel.

The first camel I ever saw was on the edge of the 'empty quarter' on the road between Nizwa and Salalah in Oman. The enormous, caramel colored animal was crouched down in the back of a little Toyota ute, speeding along the single lane highway comfortably chewing on something and gazing serenely at us following along behind her.

A camel completely dwarfs the back of a little pick-up, yet she seemed very comfortable and content with her enormous chocolate colored Bambi eyes, rimmed by long dark lashes, taking in the landscape going by so quickly. She actually looked like she was smiling!

The next time I saw one was on the road to Dubai. On some dunes just outside of the city were two regal looking characters, dressed royally in red and saddled up for local tourists to ride. They appeared to look down their noses at us, like Dubai looks down its nose on their more grounded neighbours in Oman as they move more cautiously into the future. Omanis are like poor country mice while the UAE, the big city mice, eagerly gallops into the new world without fear.

'Bring it On!'

In Dubai they race the camels. When I first arrived in the area they were still bringing in children, from places like Pakistan, as jockeys, but as the world was watching they had be a little more PC and devised little robots to sit on the camels backs. They race them in Oman too; the camels run along a track while pick-up loads of white robed young men ride along side, standing in the back, cheering for their favorite camel to win.

On the road to my favorite resort, Al Sawadi, I would often meet up with a small group of camels left to forage on the sparse desert grass, rubbish and tamarin trees. The male would be shackled, his front legs tied loosely together to keep him from wandering too far, while his haram was left to roam freely; they never strayed too far from their man.

When I moved from a village just outside of Muscat, to Salalah, closer to Yeman, I found the camels even more revered. Students would tell me how rich they were in terms of camels. Some of my students would bring me camel milk: "very delicous teacher! Good for health." The meat too is said to be lean, tasty and good for you.

Hitting a camel on the road is a crime. These are much loved animals, highly prized for so many things.

I was surprised when I heard that here in Australia, camels are considered by many to be a liability. I see them running wild in central Oz and am surprised that someone doesn't collect a few and put them to some sort of economic use: tourism, gambling, food production.

But then again, there are wild horses out there too and no one seems to care. Historically the domestication of animals just wasn't all that popular here in Oz..

Amazing how some things don't change.