| For travellers Along the Red Sea coast astride a camel
Ramune Visockyte
Egypt is a country in northern Africa that attracts tourists
by its incredible history, Giza pyramids, the mysterious sphinx and the exotic beauty of
the desert. I decided to visit that country wishing to run away as far as possible from
the conveniences and culture of the European civilisation, led by the dream to have a ride
on a camel's back and to see the Bedouin life.
My dreams started coming true already at the pyramids, where decorated camels were running
around. However, we were warned to avoid riding on them: you could be seated astride for
one dollar, but when you wanted to get down, the Bedouin might ask for a hundred… But I
could not resist the temptation to sit on such a big animal. I sat down on its back
sideways, had a picture quickly taken of me and jumped down before the owner of the
'desert ship' pulled the rope our from under the animal's foot, which is a sign for the
camel to stand up.
But after a few days my dream was fulfilled: my daughter and me went on a trip in the
desert that included riding on camel's back and meeting Bedouins, the real desert
dwellers. These people do not have a permanent place of residence, they settle down
wherever they find water. Their huts can be easily dismounted and carried to another
place.
Camels are vitally important for Bedouins. Their milk and meet provide the daily
nourishment, the wool is used for producing material for clothing, the skin - for making
shoes and harness, and the dung as fuel for burning fire. Apart from all that, the 'desert
ship' is an irreplaceable means of transport for the nomads.
In the oasis the Bedouins treated us with tea and wrapped around our heads Arabic
kerchiefs that had to protect us from the sun during the two-hour ride on camels along the
'Shell Coast' of the Red Sea. The Bedouins chose for us quiet camels more suitable for
women. Normally they do not consider females as valuable as males and do not even count
the female population. But my daughter and me were representing a different type of women:
we had some dollars in our pockets, and their rustle is very pleasant for Bedouin ear…
You should have seen the face of the child when it sat on the camel for the first time.
Her eyes were full of fear, apprehension of new experience and adventures, curiosity and
disgust with the sweaty animal's smell. The Bedouin complaisantly and tenderly helped her
sit down on a lying camel's back, but she screamed immediately: "I am scared. I want
to get down." She was scared she would fall down over the camel's head when the
animal stretched its hind legs first and only after that stood firmly up on the front legs
as well.
I did not have any more confidence but could not show my fear: if I started screaming
with, my daughter would have been frightened even more. Trying to brace myself and my
daughter up, I tried to adapt to the camel's movements and started swaying in the rhythm
of the animal's stride. But when it started running, we could not help shouting:
"Stop!" The teamster, a nine-year-old Bedouin boy, smiled at us and slowed the
pace of the whole caravan down. After walking part of the way, he jumped on the back of
the camel going ahead and sat there safely like a cat on the branch of a tree. It was a
reassuring sight.
Having overcome our fear, we started looking around, forth and back, at the seashore
strewn with broken shells and at the endless silhouette of the pre-coastal mountain.
However, we could not completely get rid of our fears: in some places the camel walked on
the very edge of a narrow path. One step aside, and you would fall down the slope together
with the animal… Actually our fear was groundless because camels have a perfect eyesight
and can find a safe place for each step even in the darkness.
After the two-hour ride, in the end of the seven-kilometer route, when we already felt
ourselves in the saddle as comfortable as in an armchair, when the smell of camel sweat
and dung stopped irritating, our faces got sun burnt, we forgot about the conveniences of
the European civilization and the beauty of the Red Sea coast did not excite us any more,
we had to dismount from the camels' backs and tried to stand on our trembling feet again.
We would have rather continued swaying on the 'desert ship"…
Alas, everything that is good ends so quickly. I am glad I still have a possibility to
repeat it again someday. |
