Camelback Riding in Egypt - Sawdust and Wanderlust

It was the combination of their subtle smiles, gentle eyes, and seemingly tranquil demeanor that made me excited to experience camelback riding through the Egyptian desert. And best of all, the encounter took place at a spectacular location – the Giza Pyramid Complex near Cairo, Egypt. I’ve had the pleasure of having many memorable travel experiences in my life, but this one ranks near the top.

We arrived early afternoon, with stunningly perfect blue skies gazing down upon us as we were greeted by dozens of camels all patiently waiting to take eager riders on an afternoon jaunt. I was glad our guide (known as a cameleer) let me select my own camel from the herd. The one I chose was calm, not too-too-too tall, and she seemed comfortable with me so I was hopeful we would get along. And more importantly, I was hopeful she would not let me fall! Once I had selected my ride, it was time to mount up!

GETTING ON THE HUMP:

Camels kneel with their bellies on the ground for riders to get on. Despite this assistance, my camel’s hump height was taller than I could climb without stirrups to boost myself up from. So, to help me up, our cameleer graciously held up the lower portion of the saddle blanket in a cup-like fashion to create a makeshift stirrup. He then told me to place one foot in the cup of the blanket, grab the saddle-horn, and stand up on the blanket. Sounded simple enough, right? I did as instructed and then managed to summon enough momentum to swing my other leg to the far side of the hump. And with that I was successful in mounting this desert beast and was left wondering – Now what???

THE ASCENT:

Next came the hard part – the camel had to get up on her feet. I’m not sure how I expected that to happen, but I would soon learn it was the most frightening part of the whole experience.

With everyone in my group on our camels, our cameleer instructed us to lean back. This was to prepare for our ascent as the camels began to stand up. The camels are trained to stand up with their back legs first. This action aggressively throws you forward, and you can easily fall off if you aren’t leaning back. I was informed that tourists regularly fall off, so when the cameleer signaled to the camels to stand and my camel obediently straightened her hind legs, I was determined to not become the next tourist to be the victim of a fall. It was far from a graceful process, but I managed to lean back enough and hold on tight enough to stay on despite my camel abruptly lurching me forward.

Next, we were instructed to lean forward. The cameleer then signaled to the camels to stand up on their front feet. This action wasn’t nearly as aggressive as the first part, but still felt like a rodeo ride. And with that, my camel was standing tall on all four of her stilt-like legs and I found myself 7 feet in the air atop a creature I had no control of! Now I just need to manage to stay on for the duration of this expedition. But with no stirrups to balance in and no reins to hold onto, that would prove to be a monumental feat.

*I’m not sure why I thought “lean back” meant “lean back, look up, and tightly clench your teeth!”.*

*Hind legs straight and for some reason I’m still looking up!*

*NO SIR! I will NOT wave to the camera!!! I’m too busy* *focusing on not toppling to the ground.*

THE STINK:

It’s worth mentioning that camels have a very distinct smell – and I don’t mean “distinct” in a good way. CAMELS. SMELL. BAD!!!! I guess that’s to be expected given they live in hot sweaty environments, don’t take baths, regurgitate and re-chew their food, and intentionally pee on their own legs to cool down. That combo is a recipe for stench if I ever heard one. It’s kind of like the smell of a goat that’s been rolling around in a garbage truck full of vomit. I have a VERY strong aversion to the smell of goats which prevents me from even considering consuming goat meat, goat milk, or goat cheese, but camel smell was WAAAAAAAYYY worse in my book. Trust me on this one – it’s really bad!

GETTTING IN THE RHYTHM:

“On horseback you feel as if you’re moving in time to classical music; a camel seems to progress to the beat of a drum played by a drunk.“
–Walter Moers

The girth of a camel’s body is massive! This may not be a problem for some, but it left me and my relatively short legs feeling like I was practically doing the splits the whole time. And me and the splits have not been friends in a long time. Additionally, camels have an awkward gait that dramatically rocks the rider from side to side with ever step. This makes it even harder to stay on.

But I came to realize the key to camel riding – as in life – was to go with the flow. Instead of trying to resist the motion of the ride, I found it best to relax and swivel my waist belly-dancer-style while swaying my torso with the movement of the camel. Once I got into the rhythm of my camel, I actually started to enjoy the ride. I wouldn’t describe the experience as comfortable, but I was eventually comfortable enough to wave to the camera.

ENJOYING THE RIDE:

The whole ride lasted around 90 minutes, but the distraction of the spectacular pyramids made the time go by quickly. We took a welcome break halfway in and dismounted our camels to stretch or legs, take photos, and take in the historic scenery of the three main pyramids of Giza. The camels perform the same ritual on command to let us off as they did when we got on – only in reverse. First, front legs down as we leaned back. Then, the back legs dropped while we leaned forward.

The respite was brief, and we again mounted our lumbering transportation and our journey continued. We made another brief stop at The Great Sphinx before returning our rides to their pen and concluding our expedition.