I'm on a camel!

"Ride a camel" has been on my to-do list for quite a while now. Very happy I can check it off and proceed down the long list of things I need to do in life-two of those things being "african safari" and "background dancer in a rap video."

Our group of over 50 people took a two hour camel ride from the hotel in Merzouga to an oasis in the Sahara. Before out departure the hotel staff dressed us in a burqa to protect us from the sun and sand.

I have many things to say about riding a camel. First and foremost, they are way taller than I realized. When the camel goes from sitting/lying down to standing up you have to hold on tight because it jerks forward and then backwards and then forwards again. It kind of reminded me of a bull riding experience at Johnny Utahs.

The initial feeling was quite exhiliarting. I was a big horseback rider in middle school so it felt good to be straddling a large animal once again .. We were sorted into groups of five, our five camels connected by a rope with a guide holding the rope at the front. So it was very different from horseback riding in the sense that we did not have to direct, lead or do any kind of steering. It was also very different because instead of a saddle with stirrups we sat on a bunch of blankets and other unknown uncomfortable items strapped on with ropes with our feet dangling down on the sides.

Unlike humans who generally pause, think and then motion towards the nearest "WC" sign, camels go to the bathroom whenever they want. And they go a lot. The girl in front of me was basically riding a walking toilet the whole time and I couldn´t handle it. I guess I´m kind of immature because every time I saw her camel do his business I felt the need to shout out to her and laugh about it.

All of this silliness said, the camel ride was so liberating, relaxing and unlike anything I´ve ever experienced. Knowing that I was in the middle of nowhere, let alone the Sahara surrounded by sand for miles was such a calming feeling. However, by the end of the two hours my body was more than ready to dismount from the creature. I never expected to actually get a workout from riding a camel, but my legs were super sore afterwards!