Camel ride

A fellow NASPA Board member was in town last week (hey Jeanine!) and we had fun getting to know each other.  Saturday (9th February), Jeanine and Tim and I spent the day being tourists in Abu Dhabi.  Nothing like riding a camel and holding a hawk to jump-start a friendship.

We started with a breakfast snack at Marina Mall, deciding on whether to drive around ourselves or take the Big Bus Tour of Abu Dhabi. We opted for having our own schedule and drove.

First stop was Heritage Village. Now, I've posted about this place, along with photos of the camel there.  That day, we each rode the camel :-)

For 10 dirhams ($2.72) you can ride the camel for a few minutes.

Jeanine went first, so I was forewarned about the steep incline as the camel gets up on his legs (from a position of lying down), and when he lies back down so you can slide ride off.     After I went, Tim opted in as well.

Here is a video. It's about 1.5 minutes. You'll hear three different voices: mine, Jeanine's and Tim's ... a little commentary to assist. 

When the camel stands up, his back legs go up first; for a moment you think you'll topple over, head first. Same when the camel goes to lie down; front legs first and for a second or two you are pretty sure you're going to roll forward and off.  You grip VERY tightly onto two straps that run alongside the blanket, and don't let go!

Gotta love the wonderful bedouin gentleman.  This is his camel. And he had a sense of humor. For people who stand next to the camel for a photo, they don't see him tug gently on the rein, which makes the camel bring his head toward the guest, which makes the camel also protest. The guest usually jumps or even squeals a bit, laughing. The guest is coaxed back to still get the photo, and the bedouin gentleman cracks a smile.

And a couple of photos.

The fountain behind us has all kinds of shards of pottery making lovely designs and forms.