Chapter 12: Do Falcons Smoke Camels?
They can't all be gems
12.09.2022 - 12.09.2022 103 °F
Chapter 12: Do Falcons Smoke Camels
September 12, 2022
For an introvert like me, it’s wonderful to be with an extrovert adventurer like Paul who makes most everything fun. This time around I would say ‘Well, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into Ollie’.
We decided to have a desert safari adventure. Paul had a vision and I went along. That is our normal pattern. We departed for our adventure with Shaquille driving us into the desert, to Al Weir to be exact. As we turned off the main road and literally into the sand I had a moment of concern. As we went deeper into nowhere my moment of concern took two paths – one, I started to wonder if Shaquille maybe was not legit and we were being kidnapped, and two, I hoped I didn’t lose my lunch.
But we arrived safely to meet our two camels, Joe and Josephine. They were resting in the sand, tied to a brick. I was reminded of a young man whose donkey I hitched a ride on in Petra. He told me ‘Lady, relax with Max, he does this everyday’. I assumed the same for our camels, took a deep breath and hoped on. Getting your foot over a camel when you are 5 feet tall with short legs isn’t the easiest. Paul took Josephine who was tied to the back of Joe. I’ve been told, or maybe read, that if there is any danger in a plane flight it would likely be upon take-off or landing. The same is true for riding a camel. The guide said hold on tight and sit back. When that camel gets up there is some serious rocking. Up we both were and on our way. As long as the camel just walked on flat sand all was fine and quite fun. However when we went up or down a slope in the sand, well, hold on tight. Still fun but a bit of a jolt. Josephine was, in my opinion, somewhat of an aggressive camel. She did not want to stay behind Joe and was always pushing forward rubbing her neck against my leg. I didn’t want to upset Josephine so I let her have her way with my leg. At one point a car whizzed by and then a 4-wheeler. I had a moment of ‘oh no’ is the camel going to spook and take off; no they just went about delivering us back to their home base. Clearly they do this many times a day and are phased by nothing.
A couple of points of interest on camels. You often see their eyes exaggerated in caricatures. Their eyes are enormous and their lashes the envy of every woman I know. They for sure do not need latisse.
The other observation is that when you walk your camel, you are not required or expected to carry a poop bag to clean up. In case you have any interest, a great big camel makes pretty small poops.
Another form of camel entertainment is an evening at the races. Yes, in Dubai there are camel races just as we have horse races in the US. Same principal, named camels, some famous 'race camels', some who win big races equivelant to the Kentucky Derby and others. We also understand they are ridden by robot jockeys and run in a chute of sorts around the track so they have no choice but to keep going straight. Races are early in the morning before the heat gets to be too much for the camels. We haven't experienced this yet but it is on our list to possibly give it a try.
We moved on from our camels to meet Mono the falcon. We had him on our arm and on our shoulder. When he was on our shoulders you could feel his talons. Falcons are raptors, they hunt rabbits, other birds, and whatever looks tasty at the moment. On our arms we were face to face with this little guy. He had a cute little pink tongue and a sharp curved beak. I’m not sure how he manages to grab his prey but we had no desire to find out.
Our plan was to ride the camels and see the falcon before a romantic dinner for two in a desert setting. That last part of our plan didn’t happen as we planned. Our private dining table was semi-private. It was a bit like our favorite Cabo bar, The Office, with peddlers trying to sell us all kinds of things. In Cabo we enjoy it. Here it was not what we had in mind. Our romantic dinner plan was being overtaken by belly dancers and a fire show. We found Shaquille and told him we would like to go back to the hotel. That stressed him and we had to talk to ‘the boss’ and assure him that Shaquille took very good care of us, the dinner and show was just not what we wanted.
The belly dancing show--during which we gave up on our idea of a romantic evening to depart--gave rise to a complicated discussion of Islam in Dubai. If women must dress modestly here, how in the world can belly dancing be allowed? The answer is that this is complicated but as with all things UAE, we shall attempt to demystify it. First, not all people here are Muslim. Shariah Law in many if not most cases does not apply to non-Muslims in Dubai. Second, as with Christianity, there are many versions of Islam and, just as there are many ways of interpreting The Bible, there are many ways of interpreting the Qur’an. Some forms of Islam forbid any form of dance or even music as haram--forbidden. Others do not. As we discussed this, I said to Beryl, "It's like the movie 'Footloose' I guess." She's never seen it. Guess what. I will fix that via Netflix.
Once back at our hotel we cuddled up to finish a movie we had started earlier in the day and then settled in to chat with all of you through our blog.
Basically, I blew it with this one. It was not at all what I had hoped for and, in hindsight, B4’s opening line was apt: “a fine mess” is what it was. Oh, well. She loves me and I’m forgiven. This excursion was more tourist trap than upscale adventure for me and my lady.
But we did research a bit about our mounts. Dromedary camels can go ten very hot days without water, can drink over fifty gallons of water in one three-minute session and last several months without eating. True? The internet says it so it must be so. Our camel crew was severely deficient with English so we didn’t understand what little they did have to say. We were curious about another hump we saw, this one on the camel’s chest. “Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called a pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.” Mystery solved. Thanks, Wikipedia.
My camel was uncomfortable to ride for some reason—maybe it was the type of saddle. Twice before when I have ridden these beasts, I thought the ride was nice. Not so here.
I was pleased, however, with our all too brief interaction with the falcon. Given to understand that we would be a part of a “falcon show” where the bird would fly, chase bait swung by a long rope and return to its handler’s shoulder, I felt let down that it mostly just, well, sat. But that was good anyway. As for the rest of this outing, skip it.
