A 6am start and early breakfast for those of us who had booked a morning camel ride at the Nanyuki River Camel Camp. The early morning journey there gave us the gift of seeing a pair of white rhino, some elephants, wart hogs on the run, a herd of giraffe very close to the road, zebra, impala, kudos, an eagle and some grouse like birds. These just put us in a reflective mood on how wonderful Nature is, to have produced such a wide variety of species around the world, with no apparent purpose other than simply…this is how life evolves, adapts and survives.
We also passed a lean Masai shepherd working alone with a huge flock. As he waved back it occurred to me that perhaps, one thing that would make his life easier would be to have a sheep dog (a Welsh collie would be perfect) that could do the running around for him, as naturally as they do on the Welsh hills. I don’t know if the long hair might be a problem…but it’s a thought for any reader who may like to follow up this idea and give help to this tough hard working farming practice.
The camel ride was a terrific experience. Joe the camp manager stayed with us and to supervise the two Somali herders. They had ridden their small herd of camels 70 Kms yesterday, setting out at 7am and arriving in Nanyuki by 7pm, covering roughly 6Km an hour. The herd comprised six Somali camels and two Pakistani camels. Although trained camels are generally gentle if anxious animals, the darker furred Pakistani camels can be more bad tempered. Guess who got the first allocation? Yes…yours truly and David – even though he had already made friends with a friendly gentle Somali. Saddled up on a cross arrangement of two stout sticks tied up with rope around a “saddle” of foam and a blanket, we set off for a trek of around an hour. The camels were tied together head to tail in a camel train; the two Pakistani camels were also tied together, but not to the Somalis. We were kept separate. The trek was huge fun except for the short canters which were a bit painful – especially for the men.
Some useful facts about camels in Kenya:
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- Camels are used as pack animals because they are ideally suited to hot dry conditions.
- Camels are by nature docile animals, and only become bad tempered when badly treated. Most people are like this too.
- They do store water, and so don’t need to drink as often as we do.
- The hump is made of fat to store energy for drought and famine conditions.
- The white foam in and around a camel’s mouth is not an indication of thirst. It is usually produced when a camel gets anxious. The camel’s stools also change from neat round ping-pong ball sized to lumps to something that resembles a cow pat. These things are vital for a camel herder to know and observe, in order to maintain the health of their animals.
- Likewise, herders will stop to allow their animals to urinate rather than keep them moving. This accords with Moslem tradition too.
- Cantering and galloping is a painful experience and takes skill to master. Yes I wouldn’t disagree.
- Camel milk is drunk instead of cow milk, and the meat is eaten as frequently as beef.
- Camel urine is mixed with milk and drunk by people to help with digestive problems.
- Camel tails are eaten by pregnant mothers because they contain more nutrients than other parts of the animal. It is similar to ox tail apparently.
- A camel’s foot has two toes; the sole contains many blood vessels in the pads on which it walks. These pads are vital to the camel as they help the heart pump blood around the body.
- Camels eat almost any vegetation, but are particularly fond of thorny bushes. The insides of their mouths are too tough for the thorns to penetrate. They only have a single row of teeth on the lower jaw, and an arc of teeth at the back of their upper jaw to help force food down.
- A young adult male camel will sell for around Ksh 50,000 in Kenya.
Steve picked us all up and drove back in to Nanyuki for an hour, for us to buy provisions, get cash and buy blankets for the cold nights.
After lunch, all teams stayed in camp for the afternoon to catch up with work and any other personal activities such as washing clothes or sorting kit. Teams split out in to separate groups around the campsite, and you could almost feel the energy sizzling as film editing neared completion, scripts were being revised, presentations maturing and generally everything was now coming together.
After a delicious dinner of sphagetti with carrot and tomato stew, with fresh coriander I had bought earlier in Nanyuki. Over dinner, Laurence announced that he had agreed with the manager of Sweetwaters Tented Camp where we were to be working for the next two days, that we could also use the showers, toilets and swimming pool. This is a luxury facility, so the offer was indeed valuable and much appreciated.
The evening was amazing as Laurence, Alasdair and Steve set up an outdoor cinema, with a white sheet screen suspended on the side of the truck, and projection from inside. The film was the long awaited Wall.e conservation romance animation. Everyone was tucked up in their front seats, in sleeping bags or blankets, and most wearing hoodies against the cold. The film was mesmerising even for those who had seen it before. No popcorn, ice cream or Ki-Ora Orange drinks tonight.
After the film, all was packed away, and everyone hit the sack….literally.
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