Of course there have to be camels in this gallery because this is Saudi Arabia, and camels are a big part of the culture here. And because I personally find them irresistible! In fact, our host made a point of taking us out back to see his camels, perhaps because I had peppered him with questions about them at lunch. It was probably not such an exciting topic to him, but I found it fascinating to be able to ask not only a Saudi about them, but a Saudi who actually owned some camels.

However, I have to admit that I’m torn about posting even more camel pictures since, after two camel galleries, people might have had enough of them for a while. So perhaps I’ll just post the rest of the pictures all at once, or at least in groups as I have time to process them. (With some restraint, I think I can limit it to four, or maybe eight, pictures ;-)). For now I’ll just post this one, which I quite like.

In any case, I wanted to relate some of what I learned about camels. Our host told me that he used to have a herd of camels, but that he now only has four of them, including two babies, because they’re expensive to maintain and provide no return, except for their milk, which is why he keeps the few he still has. They’re enormous animals and eat a lot, plus they need to be walked for many kilometers every day, he said. He explained that the main difference between the different colored camels is the flavor of the milk they give – white ones provide sweet milk, while the milk of dark camels is salty. (Tim tried some camel milk at lunch; I didn’t but will at some point.) He talked about how camel beauty is judged (such as the length of the neck, size of its head, roundness of the hump and if the lips cover the teeth) and said that they had become incredibly expensive. A while back they could be bought relatively cheaply, but now the price for some of them has become astronomical, in the millions of dollars. Our host also mentioned the danger of camels on the road – which is why the desert is fenced off and which several people had asked about – and said that collisions are almost always fatal for both parties: the camel of course, after being hit by a car, but the car’s occupants as well because of the way camels are built, with very long legs and all the weight up high. Rather than bouncing off a car like a smaller animal might, camels are thrown into the air and usually land on the roof, with obviously deadly results. He also talked about families going out to the desert to camp and bringing their camels along – in trucks. I said, “But why not let them walk out there? That’s what camels are supposed to do.” And he said it would take too long ;-). So I guess the modern age has caught up with camels as well!