In connection with the camel stories from all over the world at the occasion of world camel day
A Beautiful Camel Story from the Camels’ Heaven, the United Arab Emirates by Jana bint Batoota
Every time I am around camels, I am fascinated… camels are a magnificent creation!
Jana bint Batoota
We celebrate world camel day on 22nd June each year since 2009. Here is the history of World Camel Day. https://arkbiodiv.com/2020/06/20/history-of-world-camel-day-22-june/amp/
Jana says “when I first visited Arabia, I was invited to the Royal Camel Farm in Bahrain and was hooked! I wanted to know more about Camels! They are a big part of old Bedouin culture as well as modern Arabian culture and I wanted to know more about both!”
The details of the beautiful story are in the following
I moved to the Gulf committed to getting to know people, culture, language, camels, and whatever else mattered to Khaleejy-Arabs. I learned Arabic, about culture and religion, but it was hard to get to know camels. I knew many families who owned camels but staying with the women, we only saw the camels from afar. In Oman, Jordan, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, and Bahrain I met people and camels. I took thousands of pictures and stuck my hand out to camels wherever I found, driving through the lands and sands of each country, whether on farms, free-roaming in the desert, on markets and in tourist places. I got to sit camels. I visited Beauty contests and watched races.
These huge creatures are created magnificently by our Creator! We can only praise God! Strong, enduring, perfectly suitable for dry, arid landscape, deep sand, burning hot sun, scarce water, and food. They can travel long distances, carry heavy loads, remember people, places, water wells. I was drawn to the camels and was blessed by the Arabic people. I enjoyed hospitality, generosity and will be forever grateful to all my Emirati, Omani, Jordanian, Egyptian friends for their open doors/tents and open arms/hearts.
In 2019, I started to learn to ride Camels on the alNamoos farm in the UAE, thanks to a generous local family. My life changed quite a bit. I found myself on the Farm most days. Of course, Corona has allowed more time with camels. The long camel neck is good social distancing.
In 2020 I was invited to join the annual Camel Trek organized by the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Heritage Center in Dubai. Crossing the Liwa desert from the Saudi border all the way to Dubai, was amazing. Depending on the camels, the camels depended on us. I learned about traveling long days through the desert, up and down dunes, under the blazing sun. I felt pride and thankfulness towards my camel for carrying me and for accepting the routes we lead them on. The camels gave us their 100% effort to complete the journey.
In 2021 I got involved with ADCRC.me, the first Camel riding school in the region! Check it out on Instagram and via the webpage. We are learning more about camels and camel care. We learn/teach to ride and we want to make camels more accessible to people.
Sitting on just blankets for a “saddle” allows you to feel the strength, movement, breathing of the camel while running or conquering dunes. I can see God Almighty’s unique handwriting all over these animals. They do not waste fluids or energy, drawing max nutrition out of any food and water. They observe and engage with their human, remember little gestures, and reward kindness. Camels can be affectionate, distant, moody, and even dangerous when using their strength. Stay on their good side and be their happy place! Camels have become my place of escaping the city-work-life-carrousel, a place of a slow pace. The reward is the camels’ loyalty.
Happy International Camel Day everyone!
