A Day At The Races....

We had a chance to visit the famous camel races in the little town of Dukhan, about 40 minutes west of Doha. It's amazing to me that it takes almost 45-55 minutes to get from the east to the west side of the country of Qatar. That is if you travel during off-peak times. On a Saturday, it could take one hour to get to the grocery store less than 8 miles away.

We went during the day when the jockey's were training and exercising the camels, not during an actual race.
This is the image you see on the road up to the track. They bind the legs of these creatures and load them up by the crane attached to the truck. We saw a small Toyota truck carrying 5 camels on it with the tail end almost touching the ground.

By the way, did you know that if you double click on any of the photos on this blog you can get a full screen image?

Photos are usually not allowed in most places in Qatar without permission. This is for security and privacy reasons. Since we were in our car, I didn't know who to ask permission. I quickly found out by the yells, smiles, posing and thumbs up, that pictures were not only allowed but encouraged. This was a first for us.

It doesn't seem like these camels are going fast, I was moving about 20-40 km in my car and they still were passing me up. These long legs don't have to put out as much effort. Did you notice the little stumps on some of these camels? These are robot jockeys! They are battery operated jockeys that whip the camels backside to get them to move faster.

Here, this man saw us coming and quickly got up to show us and demonstrate how these jockeys work. Pretty cool, I thought.

This road behind him is the road for the cars to travel along side of the track by car.

Some are on the road going to the track.

The camel races are strictly for sport and entertainment. Betting is illegal here and is against the teachings of Islam.

O.K. here are some cool facts about camels....

There are 2 species of camels, single-humped, Arabian or dromedary, mainly used in Arabia and North America, and the dual humped, Bactrian, mainly used in central Asia. Some Bactrian exsist in Turkey and Mongolia. The humps are storage places for fat and water. Camels range in color from dirty white to dark brown and have long necks, small ears, tough skinned lips and powerful teeth. Adaptations to desert life include broad, flat, thick-soled two toed feet that do not sink into the sand; the ability to go for long periods without drinking and valvular nostrils lined with hairs for protection against flying sand. Horny pads help protact the chest, knees, and thigh joints against injury from the hard surfaces on which the camels sleeps.

Strong camels usually carry from 500-600 lbs. and can cover about 30 miles a day. Some Bactrian camels can transport 1,000 lbs.
Geologic findings indicate that the camel originated in North America, that one group migrated to Asia and the other to South America and that both became extinct in North America. (information provided by encyclopedia .com)

I have read that a man in Arabia who owns a camel is considered to be wealthy.

It reminded me of the passage of our Patriarch Abraham and his nephew Lot that reads, "And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great , so that they could not dwell together". Genisis 13:6

Other passages read "that the land could not contain them for their possesions were so great", this is speaking of his herds of various animals, including camels.

God blessed Abraham far more than he could have ever hoped for, even in ancient times when such wealth was not common or recognized.

One of the walls had some nice murals painted on them. Here is one that I liked.

These camels are owned by the locals and from what I understand, they are extremely expensive. The jockeys are employed by the owners to train and race the camels. They are all expats from various countries.

Remember, it is against the law here for a "local" (Qatar national) to do manual labor. Everything is done by hired help and expats. Also, every business must be owned by a local, according to the law, allowing some locals to own multiple businesses and for those ambitious enough, making some very wealthy.

This was an exciting experience. Everytime we saw a herd of camels the boys screamed, "look there are more overthere".

I've often said that camels sound like "Chabaca" from Star Wars. There were alot of Chabaca sounds that I wish I could include and share in this post.

May be one day we'll come again to see an actual race.

Even though we do not own a camel, don't you feel blessed and as wealthy as Abraham must have felt? I do! God is Good. May all be said and done to glofiy his precious name.