Adventure Bug : October 2018

October 18, 2018

Living is Dubai is a great adventure. This month I enjoyed training for the camel trek sponsored by The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (http://hhc.gov.ae/en/events/). I heard over 400 people applied and 15 to 20 will be picked to do the trek, I am not positive about this information, it is what I heard.
I attended the training for three weeks, two days a week, about 2 hours each day.
After three weeks I will no longer attend the training. I feel so grateful to have this opportunity. But, I have other plans for this month. More adventures to explore.

The drive from where I live is about 1 hour, into the desert, to the camel farms. Great highways until the camel farms.

The directions; follow the flags..

There are always a few sandstorms around. It is so much fun to drive in the sand, turn on the 4x4. Arabic for Sand is Ramal (ra'meel)

Jameel (masc), Jamal (singular), Jimal (more than one) is camel in Arabic.

The Camels are fed well

Camel Feed looking perfect

The cinch is very simple, along with the blankets (Arabic Ba-Ti-neea) and ropes; all together it is called the camel saddle. Saddle in Arabic is Shadhad

The cinch and pad is very decorative, we learned knots used to secure the cinch around the camel

The blankets make a comfortable place to sit

Learning how to ask the Camel to go down was a challenge, success made me Happy

Most of the camels are gentle giants

Hospitality is always a part of the Arab Culture. Each day we are greeted with coffee (Khah-wa), tea (Shaai), water (maai) and a few little snacks. The Majilis is a place to rest, eat and socialize

Thanks Shirley for this great pic

The Majilis is always welcoming

A great place to be in school, Madrasa

Isn't He just Beautiful...

There are beauty contests for camels in the UAE, and many Arab and Gulf countries where judges rate the size of the camels’ lips, cheeks, heads and knees.

I personally think their best feature is their eye lashes. Arabic eye, aein ramoush Such fun words to learn. eye lashes, Ramush Alain

To Sam who helped me with my Arabic words, Thank you, Shokran jazeelan

To those to took the time to teach us about camels;

شكرا جزيلا shokran jazeelan Thank you very much

To my fellow friends who will go on the Trek
Mabrook (Mabuk) (congratulations, you are blessed)

Dubai is an amazing place to live...

Today I was delighted to be part of a group of expats that wanted to explore more of Dubai.

We gathered together to learn more about camels and prepare for a camel trek in January.

Almost 100 people applied, only 15 will be picked to go on the trek. Hmm I wonder if I will be picked....

On our first day we learned to put our gear on the camel. Our group came together as we watched, learned and finally geared up our camel.

I learned that knots were important. Our teachers were patient and seemed happy to teach us.

Just like the saddle on our horse, everything needs to be centred properly, tighten, and smooth on the camel.

My camels name was Laal, meaning Red in Hindi

Camel in Arabic is Jamaal, which mean beautiful. And he is...