They call camels the “Ships of the Desert” as they are the most resilient and efficient form of travel. I actually hadn’t planned on riding a camel. I had been warned, “They spit! They bite!” And other travel bloggers noted that the gate of a camel is awkward and will make you walk funny for days after.
But I got caught up in the mystique of the pyramids, and so happily joined my friend on a camel trek in the desert around the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plus it cost so little! Just 120 EGP (plus 10 EGP tip at the end). Thats less than 20 bucks!
I had ridden horses before, no problem. After swinging my legs over the saddle, I fortunately remembered you were supposed to lean back as the camel stood up, first with its back legs, and then with its front. But…what no one had warned me was that camels were tall, like really really tall. It must have been another 5 feet taller than a horse up there.
My fear of heights took hold, and as we swayed along, I felt like I was going to slide off. I desperately grabbed onto the little knob in front of me with both hands, but it wasn’t big enough for two hands. I gripped for dear life as we went up and down sand dunes. My camel also was walking funny, as it would lift up a leg to try to itch itself while walking, which tilted my saddle at weird angles. It certainly didn’t help my fear. And then my friends, much taller camel kept trying to beat the line, and so its head was right next to my head, its eyes looking into my frighten soul.
As I watched the group that went before us, I realized there was another knob on the back. I reached for it…and stayed like that for the remainder of the tour. My friend behind me kept asking me to take a photo of her. “I can’t! I cannot turn around.” I was in such fear that I had put myself in the wrong direction. I couldn’t see the beautiful pyramids since I was too fearful to move around. So much for the point of this tour!
A photo I took over my shoulder. I’m sad I never got to see this view in “person” as my camel was facing the wrong way.
While we were preparing for a photo op, one of the camels in our group ran in circles, and then disaster struck! The entire saddle shifted to the side, and the occupant held on for dear life. It was like watching a bull rider. This was my fear, either falling off, or the entire saddle falling off. Somehow, the man stayed on, but got his foot caught in the fabric. Two camel handlers ran forward and caught him before he hit the sand, and got him away from the angry camel. After calming it down, they re-attached the saddle and the man got back on. Man was he brave!
While we waited, my camel kept turning its head towards me. I was worried it would spit or bite me, but no, it just rubbed its head along my leg and shoes, trying to itch itself. Finally it was time to head back now, and as we turned I was now in the proper view of the smaller queen’s pyramids, and the view helped get my mind off of things. At least I had the presence of mind to still lean back so as to not fall off when the camel sat down.
My camel, the moment I got off. It was as relieved as I was.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the camel ride, but it certainly was an experience! Although, next time I think I’ll just walk on my own. And yes, I did walk funny after the ride, and I gave myself a huge blister on my hand for holding on so tightly.
Stereotypical photo of Camels in front of a Pyramid.
Travel Missteps is an every-other week series on how sometimes part of the journey is making mistakes and getting lost.
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