Old School Transportation in the Negev: Camel Riding

After a rough morning (due to a night out on Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem), the bus pulled into a little development in the middle of the desert.  Smack dab in the middle.  Every direction was filled with vast emptiness, all we could see was sand, rocks, hills, and a random shrub here and there.  It was utterly breathtaking.  And probably the freshest air I have ever breathed.  It was so refreshing to be out of the city.

And enjoying these splendid views all at the same time.

The moment we stepped off the bus I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.  It’s such a hard feeling to describe.  Feeling totally out of place (as New York is probably the furthest thing from a desert), we prepared ourselves for what would most likely be one of the highlights on our trip- camel trekking throughout the desert.

Every one started partnering up, and since none of us had ever ridden a camel before, there was no right choice.  Since N. and I were lucky enough to get accepted into birthright together, it was obvious we would ride that stinky thing as a team.

No words can describe my initial thoughts of the camels.  They were HUGE. Absolutely huge.  Bigger and taller than I had imagined.  And to be honest, pretty ugly and really smelly (which was even more pungent up close I quickly discovered).  “How was I ever going to get on top of that thing?” was my first question.

The Bedouins led us to the group of camels, and without wasting any time, we were sitting on the back of these large, stinky animals.  As soon as N. and I were on, the Bedouin men hit the camel with a wooden(?) stick to urge them to stand up.  And the way they stand up: backwards.  The camels stand up with their back legs first, basically shooting the person in the back right up.  They then pick their front legs up to finally balance things out.  That was an experience in itself… thankfully I was in the front!

Being atop the camels was an experience like no other.  Between balancing and dearly holding on for life, even I, the girl known by all her family and friends to take pictures of every. single. moment. was having trouble handing the camera.  Thankfully others (on the ground) were able to get decent photos of us.

Has anyone realized just how big a camels tongue is?  And with a big tongue, comes a lot of slobber!

Even though the Bedouins were walking alongside us, occasionally grabbing rope that worked like a leash, I never felt truly secure.  One bump in the road, and I was wishing for a seatbelt.  I thought any moment would be my last on that bizarrely tremendous animal.

All in all, riding those two-humped camels in the sweltering desert heat was surely pretty thrilling.  After our ride of about 10-15 minutes (total guess from the girl with no watch), the donkey riders and camel huggers switched animals.

***Thank you to some of my fellow Birthright-ers for their great camera-handling abilities!  Not all images are my own. If you would like to use a photo, please contact me first.