“India 🇮🇳 Jaisalmer ~Thar Desert on Camel Safari’
This visit was our first time in India. We loved India alot and would return another time for more exploring.
India is huge, so who knows, we may go for a third trip in our future!
On this trip, we explored the Northern reaches and out of all our time spent in this big country, the far North and the far South were our favorite.
I really wanted to do a Camel Safari in the Thar Desert. This was not an easy trip and three days was plenty on a one-hump camel, but sleeping under the stars at night was the best.
Our guide and “Camel Whisperer,” Sam, was great. He went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable. He cooked for us and loaded and unloaded the camels. He made sure to keep us in water, so we wouldn’t get dehydrated.
It was so hot, we would start early in the morning and ride till early afternoon, at which point we would find the biggest tree available for shade and unload the camels and lay blankets and saddles down for us sleep on till around 5PM. Then, we loaded up again and ride till just before sunset, with enough light to make camp and for Sam to cook dinner. The heat was almost unbearable at times, so sleep was only possible for me, when the desert finally cooled. Believe it or not, it would actually get cold at night, with some wind. Daytime, not so much, as temps rose up, close to 120 degrees! Image sticking your head inside a heated oven abs try to breath. That’s how hot it was.
The Camel is an amazing creature to be able to work in this kind of heat! My camels name was “Pineapple.” She was cranky, so I called her “SourApple.” Daryls Camel was nicer, not that that means friendly. The third camel carried supplies and a lot of water.
The camel drinks both fresh and salt water. It can even drink water from the Dead Sea and nothing will happen to it. This is because the camel’s kidneys filter the water: they separate it from the salt and turn it into fresh water suitable for drinking. The camel also eats thorns and they do not harm its stomach or intestines because its saliva dissolves the thorns like acid.
The camel has two eyelids: one is thin and transparent, the other thick and fleshy. When a sandstorm starts in the desert, it closes its transparent eyelid to prevent sand from getting into its eyes. A camel can also change its body temperature: if it is cold its temperature increases, if it is hot in the hot desert its body temperature decreases.
The qualities that this beautiful little animal possesses are impressive.
We had a feral dog follow us the whole way. I made sure she had water and some of my meal, each time. On our last day, I watched her chase and grab a good sized lizard! She gulped it down without a bite! I guess she could survive in this arid desert, just fine!
Because we were only a party of two, and not a large group, we had the privilege to enter a few villages. Some people had never seen a white person before. Blue eyes, and light hair really had them in awe… especially the children. The village stop was only long enough for the Camels to drink, and us to shake some hands, and we were off again!
At camp, the camels would lay down and not move for at least an hour, each time. I thought for sure we “broke” them, but we were assured they would get up and feed; and they did. Also, after they were up, Sam would hobble them so they could move, but not too fast or far. One had a bell on its neck, and I can remember falling asleep to the jingle jingle, and awaking to the same. On our last morning, I woke up and did not hear the bell jingling. I told Daryl; “I think our Camels ran away!” Sure enough, when Sam went out to collect them, on that morning he came back empty-handed.
We found a corner of a shrub for shade and waited, while Sam “fixed” things. Not a lot of English on his part, but he had proved to be very reliable, so he took off and we waited. Under an hour and a half, Sam returned with three fresh Camels, and we were able to get back to our waiting driver, though a little late. Where did he come up with three more Camels? We were out in the middle of nowhere.
Nobody could tell us what happened to the Camels that ran away. I still wonder, but in the end, I do believe they were done with us and said, forget this business, it’s too hot! We didn’t break them, but they were super tired, I have no doubt.
I think fondly of this experience, quite often. I’m so glad we got to do this. I’m also very lucky to have a husband who follows me when I get a wild idea. He’s the best.
Enjoy the photos. The Desert can actually be a very pretty place!
Archive Blog Posts of Our Country Visits
About Us
About Us
Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More