Camels

Yes, another post about camels. Over the years I've posted several times about camels, and here's another one (with another to follow). They are contrary beasts, but I do love them. In the space of a couple days in Salalah I bet I saw over two hundred camels. They were all over the place. Now, when you're driving around the UAE, especially when you're commuting between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, you do see the occasional camel, but that hardly prepared me for the camelfest that is Oman. Sometimes I saw single camels strolling along, and at other times I saw groups of twenty or thirty camels. I suppose part of their prevalence might relate to the fact that it was the dry season and they were being driven further afield in search of food.

On the first day that I was out driving (more on that later) I came across a stretch of road with a camel crossing sign. This made me smile as I reflected back on the moose crossing signs in Vermont, and how they never lead to me seeing more moose (in twelve years in Vermont I've seen exactly four moose, and it's not as if I don't go looking for them). However, not five minutes after seeing the camel crossing sign I came around the corner, thankfully in time, to find six moose holding forth in the middle of the road. Like moose, camels aren't particularly bothered by anything and will just stand there until they decide to move - or their herder whacks them on the butt and makes them move. Right on the outskirts of Salalah I saw a camel stare down a speeding truck, which thankfully swerved at the last minute to avoid a crash. Sometimes I would see an Omani herding them along, but other times they just seemed to be roaming around on their own. As I crossed into the foothills I saw a lot more than I did on the coastline itself, although I also saw some down by the beach. They were often in the company of cows so apparently they must get along fine together.