EGAD

Stalked by Camels!

I'm noticing a pattern. I'm not saying they're out to get me or anything, but the camels are definitely keeping an eye on me.

Yes, yes, the beaches of the Sinai are camel infested. Nothing suprising about finding 'em there. And on the whole, I'd have to say that the mountains and much-needed exposure to sunshine made up for the fact that three or four would amble by an something like an hourly basis. Some of them were being driven by kids clearly trying to interest ... well, anyone ... in a camel ride. You learned to avoid making eye contact after a while. Others were on some obscure camel-y mission of their own, that seemed also to involve a lot of ambling up and down the beach, but with less of the persistent ride-hawking.

And sometimes, they'd just sit around. I think they figured they could just wait us out. That, or they were operating as some sort of fixed base camp for the kids.

The camel-infested beach at Habiba Camp, where we stayed in the Sinai. Pretty location, though, and actually rather nice-looking camels, as such things go. They still smelled like camels, though. 2005:04:23 14:22:35.

But check this out.

Camel, eyeing your intrepid photographer in the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Can you taste the malevolence? Can you? 2005:05:06 12:27:23.

That's right, they found me in Chicago, too.

Yes, I was at the zoo. But it's not like I asked to go visit the African quadruped pens, or the zoo for that matter. In fact, I was as suprised as anyone else on the bus when we wound up there. Some people blame the Scavhunt judges. I suspect a deeper, humpbacked, agency at work here.