A Camel Safari and Other Minor Misadventures.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, or more generally, day to you! With this entry I present to you the promised account of my camel safari and with it, other tales that I can remember while I am writing.

It was the second weekend since our arrival in India, and one week after we had arrived at the volunteer camp near Jaisalmer. On this very weekend there happened to fall the birthday of one of the volunteers, a young man who goes by the name of Rob. For his birthday, it was elected that the majority of us would undertake a camel safari at the less than princely sum of 700 Rupees. To put it into terms you westerners might understand better, the experience, including sleeping equipment, a camel, some water and two meals cost each one of us just under ten english pounds. It is exactly the sort of bargain we are witnessing with every passing day in this incredibly cheap country. Unfortunately we were not permitted to retain the camel after the safari, a fact I was most sore over after bonding superbly with Bala, my faithful steed.

The day started out with a jeep ride across some roads, and then a little desert where we were presented with a 30+ strong herd of camels resting in the sun. This site in itself was incredible and was the perfect precursor to what turned out to be a rather painful but enjoyable journey. That's right I did say painful, for I cannot be completely full of praise over the experience. No one had warned me that whilst on a camel, certain regions between your legs get slowly, and agonisingly eroded away and any possibility of repositioning yourself during the trip is veto'd by an overwhelming terror that you will end up underneath the camel and on the sand, and camel's are very high above the ground. In fact, this fear was fully justified as I was in a perfect position to watch one of my companions being flung underneath her somewhat startled camel which proceeded to then stamp on her back. Luckly, though, she did escaped relatively, and surprisingly, unscathed although I trust your sympathies will be with her nonetheless. My only hint of trouble was when a deranged camel being ridden by one of the guides decided it would begin terrorising other camels and attempt to bite those riding them. Thanks to Bala, I was able to avoid any major mishap as he handled the situation expertly. By the end of the trip I had mastered my camel, using clicks and calls to adjust speeds and the reigns to adjust direction. I can safely say I was certainly the best at this.

Currently I am in the midst of a project to improve the volunteer camp with irrigation. What this means is, I have been digging. Personally, it is not what I would choose to do while the schools are closed as this does not seem to be for the benefit for anyone but us and it would be considerably more fulfilling if we could be doing this in our project communities. Also, everyone seems to be picking up injuries everyday and I have suceeded in disabling the big toe on my other foot. On a better note I, practically single-handedly, built a badminton court on the sand here. Now I just have to learn how to play badminton.

For my weather update it has to be said that the heat is nearing unbearable levels each day as the run up to summer begins. I wouldn't be adverse to some of the snow that those of you in England have enjoyed in my absence. Flies are becoming more of a nuisance than you could possibly imagine and I wonder why no one thought to warn me about walking through Indian streets with my mouth open.

I feel that this entry has begun to run on a bit and in the interests of my fingers and attention span I will leave it here. Hope you have enjoyed the read and I expect to see you soon.

Farewell.