Ride a Camel

“Once it was my turn in line to ride the camel, my hesitation was in full force. Just watching the motion of the camel standing up kind of freaked me out. When my turn was up, I instantly wanted to run the other way. [...] Once comfortably seated atop the camel, it’s time for the camel to stand up so you can get on your way. Here’s where things get especially interesting. The tour guide will prompt you to hold on carefully, leaning back to fight against the motion of the camel as it stands up. Since camels use their hind legs to stand up, leaning backwards as it does this helps avoid being thrown off the camel. The whole process sounds scary, but it takes under 10 seconds. My fears completely vanished after I was on the camel and started the ride. The experience was thrilling, even though we moved slowly across the desert sand.”

“In the morning we woke up at 5 a.m. and climbed to the top of the dunes in darkness. As the sun came up, it kissed the tops of the tallest dunes, creating a wave of orange, pink, and brown. The sun and the full moon sat in the sky together in opposition of each other, and I sat with my mouth open in awe, taking it all in. As we hopped on our friendly camels for one last ride back to town, I took a million mental photographs (and some real ones, too) knowing I'd just experienced something extraordinary.”

“We hopped on and each snapped some pictures with the iconic Petra Treasury. Inside the Treasury is just a simple box room, where the colors of the sandstone are absolutely breath-taking! After my photos were done, the camel kneels down for you to hop off and it was a funny sensation having to be rocked back and forth to get to the ground.”