Sunday, August 14, 2011

The camels of Lanzarote

I live in the Arabian desert so camels have become less of a big deal so I didn't immediately notice how every tourist shop in Lazarote was selling camels - stuffed, paper mache, ceramic, plastered with Lazarote ... Very curious as I wouldn't have expected to see camels on one of the Canary Islands off Spain. But, I had more important things to do than worry about why the tourist shops stocked camels, so let it go. Then, on our way to Timanfaya National Park, the mystery was solved.

 We first saw a huge parking lot of cars along the highway to the national park and thought we had reached our destination, but then saw what looked to be trail horses moving up the side of the hill.

Upon closer inspection, we realized they were the camels of Lanzarote! While Brian groaned, I begged him to pull into the lot so I could get some pictures (secretly, I was hoping I could convince him to take a camel ride with me).

The lot was packed with cars, with people and with camels. We didn't stay long enough to find out how much or how long the ride was (Brian's such a party pooper sometimes!) but we did get a couple of fun photos.
 Group of camels resting? Waiting for their shift? I couldn't believe how many there were!

I don't know much about camels, but have heard that they are cranky and bite and spit. I guess maybe that's the reason for the chicken wire around their muzzles? I suppose the tourist board frowns on camels biting annoying tourists! :)

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