Dhofar camel – I think I have only ever posted two other images of a camel, thought I should add one more 🙂
I prefer the horse, but once one gets familiar with the sideways motion of a walking camel, it’s a very comfortable ride.
Dhofar camel.
Published
David A Lockwood 
Love this image. Simplicity.
The camel was most obliging, very unusual. 🙂
I don’t trust horses or camels, thank you very much. They’re just so…big.
That’s unfortunate, they always know if the rider is not happy or fearful. Just a case of getting the right animal & a good instructor.
I remember the first time I got on a camel and this was after being a reasonably confident horse rider, everything was so different. I had a very good friend who introduced me to one of his best camels, showed me the brake (a length of string attached to its nose 🙂 ) warned me about guiding the camel with touches to the neck on the side it should turn and not falling off when it gets up or sits down (lean back, lean forward) hook your leg over the front of the saddle and away you go !
I must admit I still prefer horse riding but a walking camel over long distances is so comfortable one can almost fall asleep while doing so.
In the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence’s memoir, he actually mentions people dozing off while riding camels several times. Of course, those being war times, everyone was exhausted.
When I was younger I was very comfortable with horses, but have become more fearful with age. I suppose it’s partly a matter of not being around them for too long.
Talking of T.E.Lawrence, have you read anything about or by Gertrude Bell or Freya Stark ? Both for some reason, get less recognition for their exploration of the Near East. In some ways their travels were far more derring-do than T.E.L’s.
I’ve read a good deal about Gertrude Bell in a biography about T. E. L.; apparently the two were good friends after the war. I haven’t read any of her writing though, although I’d definitely like to.
I think part of the reason Lawrence gets so much recognition is the sheer pleasure of reading his writing. His adventures may not have been as extravagant as others’, but the quality of his writing is phenomenal. He was also a celebrity before he wrote the Seven Pillars, which surely helped.
Of course, since I haven’t read any of Bell’s or Stark’s works, I have no way of knowing if Lawrence’s writing was any better than theirs. Then there’s the matter of defining what ‘good’ writing actually is…
Lawrence describes the desert perfectly: colours, sand after rain, night sky, the cold !, hour after hour of nothing but open space and then finding a well or small oasis. The best water I ever drank came from a desert well, given to me by a bedouin when I asked him which was the best track as the sand had covered most of them & I was a little lost.
So yes I agree! his descriptive writing is superb, I just think the others get a little overshadowed by his untimely death & controversies generated by Seven Pillars.
Then there is Wilfred Thesiger very well known in Oman.