Dubai: After Fajr prayer, a group of desert voyagers packed their bedding and clothes while some prepared breakfast before the journey ahead.
After a satisfying meal of eggs, beans and bread around the camp fire, the participants discussed the distance to be travelled for that particular day. Once everyone had been briefed, they walked up to their camels to prepare them for the day ahead. Once the saddle and bags were tied, each participant walked by their camel’s side for approximately an hour in the desert.
The morning’s tasks were part of a 10-day trip on camel organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Heritage Centre last month in collaboration with a noted Yemeni voyager.
Fifteen travellers covered 200 kilometres through the UAE desert as part of the project.
According to Max Stanton, a 26-year-old British-American participant in the adventure, the walk alongside the camel is important to exercise the traveller’s legs and for the camel to warm up.
“Once the hour is up, we stop and make our camels sit down so that everyone can hop on,” he said. “The reasons behind us all stopping at the same time is basically because camels are caravan animals. They like to do everything together and hate to be forced to do something alone.”
At some point, the voyagers look out for ghaf trees to sit under to cool off and drink some tea. Once they arrive at the camp site, everyone dismounts and each camel is tied to a sack of sand to stop them from running off. Once they have been fed and given water, the saddles are taken off the camels and the voyagers collect firewood to make a fire.
As an expat, Stanton said that this was a unique way of learning about the heritage of the country and a great getaway from the city.
“Personally, it was about the lack of distractions on the trip. We had a task at hand and we had no phones, so there was nothing to distract you from enjoying the travel through the desert,” he said.
Fahd Al Rumeithy, a Bedouin participant from Al Ain, also couldn’t help comparing the difference between life in the city and in the desert.
“City people are completely different from Bedouins because it’s about the lifestyle,” said 24-year-old Al Rumeithy. “The city is noisy, crowded and fast-paced while the life we lead is more stable, quiet and subtle.”
Al Rumeithy has experience handling camels for as long as he can remember and proudly spoke about this advantage when undertaking the voyage. “The camel is a very sensitive animal. He knows if a person’s heart is pure or not. It is the animal that taught me patience and the importance of being patient,” he said.
Similarly, Fares Al Hajiri, a 19-year-old participant, said the voyage taught him how to take care of the animal sharing the journey with him. He also shared his learning outcomes from the voyage and his appreciation for Emirati heritage. At times, the voyagers were put in challenging situations, but Al Hajiri said it taught them endurance, patience and spontaneous problem solving.
“For instance, at some point we only had one container of water left, so we all had an equal amount to drink and had to endure the thirst until we reached our next camp site,” he said.
He added that one of the voyagers had fallen off his camel after it went out of control. They assisted the voyager and treated his back injury so that he would be in a position to resume the trip.
Al Hajiri, who spends only 50 per cent of his time in the city — that too to be able to attend school — said that when he is on holiday, he prefers to spend his time in the countryside, where he learned how to interact with camels.
“They have been passed down by our ancestors. Once you learn how to interact with a camel carefully, everything moves forward smoothly,” he said.
The three voyagers agreed that the voyage has changed them in one way or the other. They believe that it is every young Emirati’s duty to explore their rich heritage to be able to preserve it and pass it on to future generations.
- Maria Botros is a trainee at Gulf News.
