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June 2007 Newsletter
Howdy and welcome to another Texas Camel Corps update. I’d also like to welcome all new recipients of this newsletter; our numbers have increased to 279!
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On June 4th we had visitors to the farm. Old friend Deanna Cloud from Indianapolis, Indiana came to visit. Deanna and I met years ago when I was working giving camel rides at the Nashville (Tennessee) Zoo. The camels were actually leased to the zoo by an exotic animal dealer named Tom Smith and Deanna worked with Tom from time to time.
Deanna and her friend, Kayle, spent the day with us and it was a reunion in more than one way. Deanna took care of my oldest camel Gobi, a Bactrian (the two-humped variety), when she was a zookeeper at his former home- the Indianapolis Zoo. Back then Gobi was named Josh and Deanna was, well she was still Deanna. "Josh", though, was a bit of a pill, according to Deanna. Spoiled and bratty are the words I recall her using. I don’t think he’s changed much!
It was great to see Deanna again. Some of you may actually have seen Deanna before. Each Christmas she works with the camels at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on their big Holiday show. If you’ve seen the camels there, you’ve seen Deanna.
By the way, Happy Anniversary to Gobi and our family. It was 4th of July, 1998 when I bought Gobi ("Josh") from the aforementioned Tom Smith. Nine mostly blissful years.
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June 9th camels Gobi and Ibrahim and donkey Hamar headed just a bit north to the nearby town of Whitney for a morning of programs at Thousand Trails, a family campground. Arranged by Activities Director Carla Wilson, this is something we’ve done three or four times in the eight and half years we’ve lived in this area. The campground is one of a chain of sites across the US where primarily RV’ers can pull in and stay for extended periods of time and its clientele is quite diverse. Ranging from families with young children to retirees who are seeing the country, the day was spent sharing our stories and listening to theirs, as well.
A number of the older gentlemen had wonderful tales from World War II in North Africa that included camels and, of course, many of the younger generation were seeing camels for the first time. What a wonderful day. Looks like we’ll be back again in the fall and I think I’m looking forward to it more than they are!
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From the 11th to the 20th I was back out in Arizona, working for VisionQuest, a residential treatment facility for at-risk youth (www.vq.com). I work there ten days each month with their herd of a dozen camels, teaching (hopefully!) their youth to work with camels. It’s always rewarding to see the teens overcome their fear of these huge, 2,000-pound creatures, but in the end we usually see success with each child.
This go 'round was with a group of girls from the Madalyn program. Girls approach camels SOOOOOOOO much differently than boys do. Boys feel it's a "muscle" thing- that they have to overpower the camels. Girls come from more of a nurturing viewpoint. Each tack has its own pros and cons for sure.
Kathryn M. really overcame some hurdles. Just standing next to our biggest, tallest camels made her nervous, so my hat's definitely off to her for getting up there and going on a ride. Sharon L. took on young Marianne, no longer much of a novice camel, really, (thanks to the past work of program youths Aaron, Jesus and Corsica) but at seven years old still somewhat young and I was really proud of Sharon. Other young ladies, Leah, Ashley, Maria and Liz all did well, too, but I think the kids who "come from behind" learn so much more and are challenged much more than the kids who don't face any real difficulties when working with the camels.
Male youth Deyoe Harris was a really big hand as I was experimenting with some new Moroccan saddles/equipment, so thanks to him as well.
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On June 23rd the Texas Camel Corps and the American Camel Company (www.americancamelcompany.com) teamed up to provide camels for the Camp Verde General Store’s 150th Anniversary Celebration in the Hill Country of Texas. This combination post office/gift shop/restaurant stands where an establishment once served the soldiers at historic Camp Verde, home of the old US Army Camel Corps of the 1850’s and 1860’s. The Camp Verde General Store is where last year’s Sesquicentennial Camel Drive ended up.
My camels Gobi, Richard, Ibrahim and Cinco were there and Jim Hale of the American Camel Company brought Dee Dee and Charo. The day was spent talking with the visitors who came and went along the beautiful banks of Verde Creek, a narrow water course that, in its day, served the soldiers, camels and other livestock and settlers in this bucolic slice of Texas.
During the 8-hour event, we probably saw 3,000-plus people, many of whom are descendants of pioneer stock who were around when the US Army had the camels at the nearby fort. All of last year’s Drive participants were in attendance, too: Me, Jim, Ernest Geigenmiller, Frank Gonzales and Gil T. Hernandez. Gil’s our "artifact". His great, great, great, great grandfather James Tafolla was a civilian and soldier who worked with the original US Army camels in the 19th century and it’s always an honor to have him share his family’s heritage with the visitors. Added to the ranks was my 7-year old son, Pecos, decked out in his Middle Eastern best riding atop Gobi. I hope one day that Pecos will feel as strongly about his family’s roots as Gil does about his.
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On the 26th, camels Richard and Ibrahim traveled to Ft. Worth, Texas to the McKinney Bible Church for pictures with this church’s day campers. Group after group after group lined up for their shot with the two Arabian camels (the one-hump variety), all dolled up in authentic Egyptian finery. All three of my kids, Vanessa, 14, Delany, 11 and Pecos came and helped direct the kids where to stand, helped clean up after the camels and answered lots of questions.
Like so many days in the past two months it was a rainy one and the church had us set up under a portico so the kids (and camels) wouldn’t get soaked. A stroke of genius on my contact Nita’s part (thanks Nita)!
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July’s typically a slow month and the Baums are planning our family vacation. I’ll work my usual ten days for VisionQuest, but that’s about it for this month. We are looking forward to a visit from Gobi’s godmother, Joan D. of Long Island, N.Y. in the middle of the month. Joan is a university professor whose love for Gobi defies all lines of genus and species. Joan has shipped carrots and apples in the past from New York, though I intercepted the cous cous, Bulgar wheat and falafel. Gobi’s not getting that!
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On a personal note- our family’s growing! No, Trish is not pregnant, nor are Cinco or Virgie (our two female camels, though I do plan to have Cinco bred this summer). We’ve decided to take an exchange student into our home. Wasen, a 16-year old girl from Kuwait, will be joining our family for ten months as part of a really forward-thinking and much needed exchange program first implemented by the US State Department just after September 11, 2001.
The YES program, funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, provides high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations the opportunity to live in the United States for an academic year. The students are selected for their commitment to community service, public diplomacy and academic achievement.
Once we have Wasen’s arrival date, I’ll let you know. It’s my hope to have a warm welcome here at our farm for her. I also intend on connecting her with nearby Waco’s small, but active Muslim community through the Islamic Center of Waco. I’d also like to be able to provide the opportunity for any other program students living in the area to visit our farm. Will update.
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Finally, the 2008 Egypt/Sinai trip is starting to really take shape, with two folks verbally confirmed, one of whom is a doctor and is trying to get some surplus first aid supplies that we can bring along for the Bedouin (thanks Scott and Morgan!).
It’s looking like early January for this once-in-a-lifetime experience that may possibly include a wedding in Cairo for my "family’s" oldest son Sayed. The wedding date is a bit up in the air, but we’re trying really hard to get the schedule coordinated. Let me tell you, a Cairene wedding is an all out assault on every one of your senses. Come early, stay late, bring earplugs. WOW! The first wedding I went to I learned that these are not spectator events. You will dance, you will toast the couple and you might even end up on a camel or dancing horse.
I’ve said it each year I’ve been blessed to get groups together, but this is a trip you do not want to miss. Price for the 10-day itinerary I’ve got put together is $1950 per person (air not included) and the itinerary is as follows:
Sinai Camel Trek Sample Itinerary (subject to changes and/or substitutions)*
Day one: group dinner in Cairo and home stay with local family
Day two: transfer to Nuweiba, on east coast of Sinai. En route, visit Jezirat Faroun (Crusader-era castle on island just off Sinai coast in Gulf of Aqaba); overnight at quaint Habiba Beach Resort
Day three: jeep to Colored Canyon for hike. Afternoon free (shopping, diving?); Habiba again tonight
Day four: jeep to village of Wadi Samghi to meet Bedouin and camels; camel trek begins today; overnight at tent of friends Salem and Emira
Day five: camel trek; overnight at oasis of Ain Hudra
Day six: camel trek; overnight in open desert
Day seven: camel trek and afternoon transfer to town of St. Catherine’s at base of Mt. Sinai; Overnight in Monastery Guest House within walls of St. Catherine’s Monastery
Day eight: early morning hike up Mt. Sinai in time for sunrise, then back down to visit monastery; mid-day transfer back to Cairo; home stay with local family
Day nine: sightseeing in Cairo (Pyramids of Giza by camel and Egyptian Museum); home stay
Day ten: sightseeing in Cairo (Camel market of Birqash and Khan el Khalili market/Al Azhar mosque/university); home stay and transfer back to airport for early morning departure (or stay the night and continue on your own itinerary/extension)
*All transfers, accommodations, most tips and most meals included. Airfare can be arranged. Entry visas not included.
Late October’s when I need to have final payments in, so I can get all money wired across to Egypt/Sinai. For those of you still on the fence, remember I only need 4 folks to make a trip run and I only take 8 per trip. As folks confirm, we’ll start working on dates that best suit everyone.
Remember, these trips truly and directly benefit the families among whom we stay. There are no middlemen (who, in Egypt, take notoriously HUGE cuts from the Bedouin), so you know that when we leave, these families will really reap the financial reward.
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Thanks as always for your interest in my camels.
Doug
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