I have to admit I’m not a great camel fan. I can cope with them, but they’re never going to be my favourite animal.
On the way back after sunset I wasn’t comfortable and the handlers kept telling me to move further back over the hump. The trouble was, I already was. I was yelling that to the lead as was MrP who was walking behind me.
Eventually they decided the saddle needed adjusting and got me off. That’s when the camel decided it wasn’t interested in following the usual routine. It folded its front legs but refused to bring its back legs down, leaving me pitched forward hanging on while everyone tried to persuade it otherwise.
MrP was on the camel behind watching the whole thing unfold. He told me afterwards he was genuinely worried that the camel was about to roll on me.
They eventually fixed the saddle, but by then I’d lost confidence in the situation rather than the camel itself. I thanked them, declined the offer to get back on and walked the rest of the way. It wasn’t far, and for both of us it was probably the better option.
So, I've also walked the Sahara Desert.
Today as we got ourselves ready for the pool (now in Marrakech) I noticed a have a very large bruise on my upper left leg, the shape of the bar that you hold on to. Only on one leg. Consistent with the camel pitching forward and starting to roll to the right. My left leg was the only thing keeping me on the saddle. Entirely consistent with MrPs observation at the time.
Camels like consistency and do not like their patterns being interrrupted. What happened that night was not the normal pattern of what should have happened. It was detached from the others. It was told to get down completely out of sequence while others were still standing and mounted. It got angry. The handlers knew that and were barking orders at it.
By the time I'd walked back through the dunes I was completely done in, stressed and all I wanted was a shower to clean up and cool off. But no. The door to the tent would not open. The manager couldn't open it. Eventually he broke the lock and we could get in. Dinner had started 10 minutes ago. I did not give a toss how late we were.
