A Camel Named Clyde

           While in Egypt, I rode a camel around the pyramids, a big deal for tourists. The camel smelled, the saddle creaked, my Arab-robed leader held onto the reins and shuffled along. He knew right where he was going: to the waiting photographer, who snapped my picture between these two big empty humps and I’m about to cry because I don’t want to spend 15 guineehs for a photo, although I don’t mind tipping the fellow who led me around a few piasters. Everybody expects bakshees (identified in tourist brochures as tip or bribe, take your pick).

            I read an interview with Omar Sharif about him and Peter O’Toole filming Lawrence of Arabia. They had to race across the desert riding camels. To fortify themselves for the ordeal (they weren’t using stunt men) they braced their courage with plenty to drink the night before. Tied onto the camels, the pair clippity-clopped across the desert in a fair way, until the camels spotted a small pond or lake and then the animals took off as if shot from a rocket. Both Sharif and O’Toole were tied onto the animals, so they couldn’t get off. The saddles slipped and the actors toppled sideways, their heads nearly raking the sand. They were shook up. The director was delighted. He had a perfect shot.

            Inspired by the camel, the desert, the date palms, when I returned I wrote, A Camel Named Clyde, a story brilliantly illustrated by my niece, Catalina Booth Wilkinson, and recently put together for publication by my friend, par excellence, Pattie Steib. It’s very short, ten pages at most about a little girl riding a camel that runs out of water. She sits all slumped and in the dumps, about to cry, cause Clyde ran dry. The story has a happy ending. She hangs on and is rescued. I wanted my kids to learn that lesson. Don’t give up, keep the faith, something or somebody will save you.

            One Christmas Lee Collins gave me a carved camel that I treasure. She embroidered his name, “Clyde” on the saddle blanket.

If you’d like to see camels up close and personal ride to Global Wildlife in Folsom. Check them out at http://globalwildlife.com/. There’s a gang of them roaming around in the preserve. Worth the trip. 

AND HERE IS THE TRUTH ABOUT CAMELS

• Arabian camels only have one hump, not two.
• They don’t store water in their humps. The humps are reservoirs of fatty tissue that insulates the rest of their body and allows them to survive in extremely hot regions.
• They have two rows of thick eyelashes to protect their eyes from desert dust.
• They are able to close their nostrils and lips to keep out the dust.

            

Clyde from Lee Collins.

A Camel Named Clyde!