If you are in an Arab country camel racing is one thing you feel you have to see. One day we set off to experience this aspect of Arab recreation. There is (or used to be) a problem with camel racing in that they used child jockeys and this became socially unacceptable. Qatar was the first country to ban child jockeys, so instead they have little robots that are tied to the back of the camel and are operated by remote control.
We got to the race track, parked up and went to the seating area, only to find a handful of people. There were rows and rows of camels being taken to somewhere deeper in the compound but we did not know where. We were told by various gestures and in various languages (except English) to go in our car. So we got in our car and followed a land cruiser that was going into the compound. After a fair bit of driving and losing our way and following some camels and cars we ended up at the start of the race track. Here all the camels were resting. Generally the camels were in threes, the mummy camel and two baby camels. It’s the baby camels that are raced one by one. They are all well groomed and are a pleasure to see, not like the ones you see at resorts giving rides to holiday makers.
By now there are as many vehicles gathered on either side of the race track as camels. I was with Monica and Slaw, and Monica stood up in the car through the sun roof, only to be told by some other drivers that this is dangerous. ‘Why?’ we wondered. Cars (mainly land cruisers) kept coming around our car (a small 2 door Honda by the way), and lining up. You could tell something was going to happen but we weren’t sure what. The first batch of camels were being lined up for the race behind a barrier. They are not like horses all calm, these are being held by their keepers and won’t stand still, and there is a lot of commotion going on behind the barrier. The barrier is released and the camels set off, initially not knowing which way to go, but they generally follow the crowd. It’s a wonder that the keepers don’t get trampled, as they are amongst the camels as they are released. Anyway, so off they go, and so do the land cruisers, yes, on both sides of the race track. So, imagine the start of a formula one race, sort of similar, cars weaving in and out. So if you are in the middle of this you have to do the same and Slaw set off also. It was quite harrowing being amongst these vehicles racing alongside the camels. So you wonder why do they do this? Well of course, the remote control jockeys must only have a certain signal range and the cars have to keep up so the owners can operate the jockeys remotely. Many cars had passengers so I presume the driver was not the one operating the control, and I dare not think who was operating the control where there was only one person in the car. Just to let you know that Monica was in the car when they set off and wasn’t on the roof. It was quite a harrowing experience for Slaw as he was driving but it didn’t stop him from going round the second time, on our request.
The races continue into the afternoon. As we left camels were still coming. I don’t think there is any betting going on, so I guess the races are just for fun, or to exercise the camels, or for betting that might be going on behind closed doors, I am not sure, I need to find out...
We got to the race track, parked up and went to the seating area, only to find a handful of people. There were rows and rows of camels being taken to somewhere deeper in the compound but we did not know where. We were told by various gestures and in various languages (except English) to go in our car. So we got in our car and followed a land cruiser that was going into the compound. After a fair bit of driving and losing our way and following some camels and cars we ended up at the start of the race track. Here all the camels were resting. Generally the camels were in threes, the mummy camel and two baby camels. It’s the baby camels that are raced one by one. They are all well groomed and are a pleasure to see, not like the ones you see at resorts giving rides to holiday makers.
By now there are as many vehicles gathered on either side of the race track as camels. I was with Monica and Slaw, and Monica stood up in the car through the sun roof, only to be told by some other drivers that this is dangerous. ‘Why?’ we wondered. Cars (mainly land cruisers) kept coming around our car (a small 2 door Honda by the way), and lining up. You could tell something was going to happen but we weren’t sure what. The first batch of camels were being lined up for the race behind a barrier. They are not like horses all calm, these are being held by their keepers and won’t stand still, and there is a lot of commotion going on behind the barrier. The barrier is released and the camels set off, initially not knowing which way to go, but they generally follow the crowd. It’s a wonder that the keepers don’t get trampled, as they are amongst the camels as they are released. Anyway, so off they go, and so do the land cruisers, yes, on both sides of the race track. So, imagine the start of a formula one race, sort of similar, cars weaving in and out. So if you are in the middle of this you have to do the same and Slaw set off also. It was quite harrowing being amongst these vehicles racing alongside the camels. So you wonder why do they do this? Well of course, the remote control jockeys must only have a certain signal range and the cars have to keep up so the owners can operate the jockeys remotely. Many cars had passengers so I presume the driver was not the one operating the control, and I dare not think who was operating the control where there was only one person in the car. Just to let you know that Monica was in the car when they set off and wasn’t on the roof. It was quite a harrowing experience for Slaw as he was driving but it didn’t stop him from going round the second time, on our request.
The races continue into the afternoon. As we left camels were still coming. I don’t think there is any betting going on, so I guess the races are just for fun, or to exercise the camels, or for betting that might be going on behind closed doors, I am not sure, I need to find out...
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