Camel Craziness: Al Marmoom Heritage – Echoes of My Neighbourhood

I’ve not seen such number of Camels gathered in one place all my life. Certain things are better witnessed to appreciate them and the Dromedary (Arabian) Camel racing at the just concluded Al Marmoom Heritage Festival is one of those things.

The Festival celebrates a most valued beast of burden (in these parts) with more than a week of thrilling camel races and cultural exhibitions.

We managed to attend on one of the days and the excitement of spectators was simply contagious. Nothing prepared me for the prospect of seeing fleets and fleets of gangly dromedaries in full flight carrying their robotic jockeys on their humps while their robot handlers/trainers raced along beside them in their 4 x 4 SUV’s.

The camels’ hail from all across the Middle East. They are the stars of the show and they compete in various heats during the day, over a 12-day period. Believe me, it’s an exhilarating one-of-a-kind camel-crazy jamboree!

I even got a generous offer of 50 camels as dowry for my old hands from an interesting fellow with tobacco stained teeth. Quite an experience 😉

Have you visited charming Bamberg? Lady Lee sure knows how to take a trip. You can take a vicarious trip online with her 🙂

I would like to offer the free use of any of my photographs that interest you.

Should at any time you wish to use my images, please feel free to give me a nudge and I’ll email it to you free from any image credit attributions.