Advertisement
Published: December 14th 2014
Algiers
I suppose it is a hallmark of happiness when you are torn between home and the awaiting adventure. I am always more than eager to jump a flight to foreign countries, but this year my heart felt a little tug before leaving. How do you explain to a face this cute that you are leaving to go spend time with other camels? It may have been a little more difficult to board the plane, but I have a bucket list to complete!This time of year always conjures up the excitement of childhood holidays. For me nothing could match the flutter of excitement the day the JC Penny’s Christmas Catalog arrived. It was the size of a dictionary. Its glossy pages filled with photos of childlike dreams.
I used to slowly remove the brown cover as if opening a delicate parcel. I would then proceed to study each and every page as if preparing for an exam. There would be highlighting, dog-earing and dreaming…lots of dreaming.
Some years passed and just as Santa Claus, his elves and flying reindeer lost their mystique, so did the Penny’s Catalog. But as my excitement for the Penny’s Catalog diminished, my excitement for another periodical grew. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how an aspiring globetrotter like me was drawn to National Geographic Magazine.
The glossy, sturdy pages of breath-taking photos of faraway places, detailed accounts of auspicious rituals and issued invitations to colorful cultures, exotic animals and fairy tale landscapes. The magazine provided abundant material for day dreaming, trip planning and “how to spend hypothetical lottery winnings” conversations.
Over the years, there were many times I studied a National Geographic photo or article and thought
Algiers dressed in finds from The Pushkar Camel Fair
A funny side bar: When we were planning our next trip over a year ago, the committee (Kyle, Dad and me) had narrowed it down to two destinations and we were engaging in lively conversations about which one to choose and why. One particular conversation included my mother--not a voting member, but an interested party. I soon found out, mom and dad used the conversation as a decoy to drop a huge surprise in my lap. As we were weighing the pros and cons of each trip, dad looked at me and said, "Well, don't forget about the baby camel." I had no idea what he was talking about and my look reflected it. He continued, "When we leave, you will have to be away from your new baby camel. Your mother and I are getting you a new baby camel." You can only imagine the excitement and joy that followed! “I must see that,” “I have to stand in that very spot,” or “I will go there.” Some of these thoughts turned into travel adventures. Others are on standby.
A particularly special Nat Geo issue has sat on my desk for years. It gets shuffled around, covered by piles of paper or brushed out of sight, but inevitably it surfaces every so often. Its pages are tattered and the cover is a bit faded, but its haunting allure has never dissipated.
The article that spoke to me tells of an enormous beauty pageant held in an isolated spot in the desert that lasts for several weeks. Cultural heritage is displayed with pride and contestants travel for weeks across the desert to get to this destination. The winners can take home millions of dollars and their families celebrate with great exuberance. There is much excitement and pageantry, but the hook for me is certainly the contestants themselves… thousands and thousands of CAMELS!
So Kyle, Dad and I have packed our bags filled with our desire for adventure, our love of animals and our family ancestry that includes generations of animal herdsman and showmanship. This year the twinkle of holiday lights, the
Big Brother and Little Brother
Siwa has been teaching Algiers how to be a camel, and a little brother. smell of wood burning in the fireplace and the sound of jingle bells are being traded for warm desert sand, the call to prayer and camels…lots and lots of camels.
Our destination includes Oman and the United Arab Emirates. We plan to go sand boarding and SCUBA diving (well, Kyle anyway). We plan to visit an oasis, animal markets, souqs, mosques, the world’s tallest building, and, oh yeah, did I mention camels?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.238s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 15; qc: 131; dbt: 0.1636s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Tim Stone
non-member comment
Guy Huggins oasis coordinator
Kyle, Roy and Val. Please be safe. And have fun. I would like you to imagine guy sitting in an oasis being fanned and eating figs. That should make you smile! Tim