A day at the races....camel that is

We spent the afternoon at the Camel Racing Club.  This was a first for us.   Perhaps only a half hours drive from our apartment, the club is set in the middle of nowhere....a flat dusty trail in the middle of the desert.  At first we thought our directions were incorrect until we saw several  owners riding their racing specimens to the event.  We followed soon arriving at a large club house, completely glassed in for viewing comfort as this is still winter in Kuwait after all.  Leaving the comfy leather couches of the viewing area, I headed outside where the action was taking place.

 It has been only a few years since camel jockeys were banned.  There was once the practice of trafficking very young boys from poorer nations who were sold into slavery to serve as camel jockeys across the oil rich Gulf states where the sport is a popular pastime.   Now the camels are fitted with radio controlled robots, which look like small jockeys.  The camels are on one track and in the parallel track the owners speed along in their SUV's,  in command of the radio controls which cause a small whip to whack either side of the camels back.   The race course was either 8 kilometers, as I heard someone say, or 4 as was written on one of the signs.   Although unable to actually see the beginning of the race, the end is unmistakeable as the racing camels accompanied by the owners in the radio controlled vehicles, come tearing through the desert creating their own sand storm.

After the buzz of the finish, a lap is done to ensure there are no stragglers before starting the next race......

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...and the camels herded for the next event.

Finally at the end of the racing day, the owners gather their champions.