What am I doing here, travel diary, day 17: more than humps, camels are highly sacrificed animals

Until a few days ago, here in Qatar, in the only place we had seen camels was at the opening party of the World Cup. Instead of horses, as in Argentine football, the policemen were mounted on these animals native to Central Asia. It was like a sort of honor guard that controlled the entrance of the emirate’s highest authorities and diplomatic delegations through the VIP-recontra area of ​​the Al Bayt stadium. Since then we have only seen them on the labels of some well-known cigarettes and on restaurant menus.

Is that there are some preparations made with the meat of this noble animal, which He has a reputation for being a hunchback but is actually very selfless.

If one wants to find camels there is no other choice but to go to the desert.

And there’s an industry whipping up (literally) these creatures that are first cousins ​​of dromedaries and distant relatives of llamas, alpacas, vicunas and guanacos. Is that in the desert, which is about 50 kilometers from Doha, you can do, among other things, the traditional camel ride. An industry that has flourished during this month in which one million tourists are estimated to pass through this small emirate thanks to the work and grace of FIFA. Everyone, or almost everyone, wants to take a picture between the humps.

According to a cable from Agence France-Presse, before the start of this tournament, which brings together the 32 best selected in the world – in fact, the 32 who qualified -, the camel drivers offered around 20 rides a day. On the weekends the business grew and tripled.

However, these days, the numbers are very different: about a thousand walks are carried out a day, distributed between day and night.

Which has forced the Bedouins who run this business to increase the number of camels: before they had 15, now they have a “fleet” of 60. And there’s no joking here: they went from a maximum of three trips a day at fifteen or twenty . What is concerning about the health and care of these animals, beyond the fact that their owners say they care for them and even “love” them. How not to love them: they are an invoicing machine.

How much does a ride cost and how long does it take? There are short 10-minute rides that cost about six dollars and others longer that last half an hour and whose value amounts to 15 green bills with the face of Washington.

The only good thing, from a camelid point of view, is that when they are tired they have almost no way of getting up: they remain seated until they recover their energies. Better not get close, yes. They get moody and growl that it’s scary. And, moreover, the discharges are quite powerful on an olfactory level.

Attention, walking tourists eager to have a photo to share on Instagram waiting for lots of little hearts is not the only activity these generous creatures carry out. There is also camel racing in a camelodrome (?) which is located in Al Shahaniya, a city located about 45 minutes drive from Doha. There, every Friday between October and February – when the high temperatures are more tolerable – national and international competitions are held.

The main event, a kind of Kentucky Derby, is HH the Emir, held towards the end of the season in March and April.

Walks and rides, even food platters, camels, in the end, are everywhere here. One last curiosity: in the last few hours there has been a beauty pageant for camels. It also happened in Al Shahaniya, the place where the stallions with the fastest camelids in the county are found. it seems an nonsensebut no.

In fact, while researching the subject, I discovered that last year in Saudi Arabia, next door, there was one such contest that ended in scandal: they found out that 20 of the nominees for Mister or Miss Camel are entered ‘mule’: their owners they had been injected with botox to bring out their features. There was no mentoring – they were all disqualified.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.