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ELSA EXARHU
On a visit to a camel farm in Shahaniya, a guest met the host's friend, an architect, who owned only horses but no camels.
The guest asked him about his lifestyle and the architect said that he went to office every day.
"And you do not have any camel," he asked."How can you live without one? What can you do? Unbelievable. I cannot see life without them," he said.
Middle East is clearly the abode of camels. They are present in farms, utilised in the military, used for leisure and for riding and breeding. There are some 22,000 camels in Qatar used just for racing and about 55,000 across the Gulf region.
Camel races are very popular in Qatar. The participants are many and the show is great with the owners and remote jockeys egging on their animals, shouting from their Land Cruisers running alongside the sand track. Crashes are frequent, but the adrenaline is so high that this would be the last detail to count.
Those who have not seen the sight will be left wondering about why some camels have their head and neck painted orange. This is saffron that is put to honour champions, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners only.
And while Arabs cannot see life without camels, Westerners cannot understand the size of the camel game: travelling with the camels to competitions, from one country to another. Transportation in special trucks is delicate and the logistics huge. After that, prizes are amazing, like the value of these precious animals too.
At the breeding centres, camels swim in very special conditions to keep them fit and fast. Before they start competing, at two years, camels are trained well and cared for. They even have their own hospital in Qatar.
Besides the races, there is camel riding for pleasure, the camel milk to enjoy. Traditional camel saddles even decorate tents that seem to pop up in the desert during winter.
For keeping mankind connected through impossible times of heat and distances, this very special animal deserves to be loved and honored the way we see it in Middle East today.
Dromedary, the Arabian Camel, can be found even in Souq Waqif or near Aspire Tower. It may be found all over Qatar but its main land is in Shahaniya, near the big official race track.
The writer, a Doha resident, is an avid reader of Qatar Tribune & can be contacted at [email protected]
