As the world has evolved, society has gained technology that has helped make the world an easier and better place to live. That new technology has given us so much: cell phones, televisions, computers and, most importantly, the car. I cannot even imagine a time when people had to ride animals to the market or wherever they had to go. Fred Flinstone must have had it bad. But the reason I am so against animals as transportation is because of my only, and possibly last experience, riding a camel while in Israel.
My story begins when I decided to voyage to Israel, the best trip of my life. I knew about the trip for years because, being Jewish I am offered a almost free trip to Israel through the organization Birthright. It is Birthrights' goal to have all young Jewish adults experience the Holy Land that their ancestors experienced. Being Jewish I saw this free trip as an opportunity of a life time, so I signed up and packed my bags for the 10 day journey.
After a 14 hour flight and the fear of falling out of the sky thanks to turbulence, we made it safe and sound in Israel. The country is beautiful and unlike everyone thinks, it is more than just a desert. For the first few days we stayed in Kibbutzim and traveled around the whole country. We floated in the Dead Sea, lathering ourselves in mud, and visited ancient temples that displayed magnificent culture and artifacts. Looking ahead in our daily activities, I learned we get to ride a camel. I was so excited and could not wait.
Finally, the day came when I could fulfill my desire and ride the beast of a camel. My bus ventured out to the Negev Desert, all 50 or so of us ecstatic. Our tour guide told us to partner up - the camel had two spots for sitting. My friend next to me, and I, decided to ride together and name our camel. I came up with the name Terrific Terry and I knew it was perfect. But alas, Terrific Terry was not as terrific as I hoped...
I walked off the bus, sunglasses tight on my face and excitement rushing through me. As we got off the bus we were all given instructions about riding. The instructor told us that the tour guides, who help guide the camels, will be walking along side us to help. Additionally, our partners and us have to get on the camels simultaneously or they may freak out. That was definitely true.
I listened with open ears and after a few minutes of instructions, departed to the camels. Being last to receive a camel, my partner and I got one of the front camels. Camels are much bigger than people know. They are as big as a horse and let out a growl that sounds like a lion is burping; it's quite intimidating. They also pee on themselves to cool off, don't mess with anything that pees on itself. The scariest part is the mount. Camels stand up on their hind legs then their front legs, so as you ascend it feels like you are on a descending roller coaster that is stuck.
This is when Terrific Terry started to become Horrible Harry...
My partner and I got on our camel, but Terry didn't seem to stand it, literally. While trying to stand, Terry collapsed on his side bringing my friend and me with him. I was hesitant to get back on but our tour guides assured us it was fine. So we tried again. Sure enough Terry decides to collapse AGAIN on his side, growl-burping as he does so. At this point I'm terrified of the beast. Clearly I've done something to piss it off. "I don't want to anymore," I say scared and distant. Luckily for me, however another camel in front of Terry was available. So I mustered up the courage and got on the other camel...mistake number two.
I should have never gotten on that second camel, because the moment I did I could tell Terry hated me. I should have taken his a actions of throwing me off twice, as a warning that I need to stay away. When I was mounted on the second camel, I held on to that saddle as if it was the only thing keeping me alive. I was scared out of my mind. The camel that just tried to kill me twice was literally right behind me, and I could feel him breathing on my back.
As we kept going Terry kept getting his nose closer and closer to my back. So naturally I turned into a gymnast doing the worlds most intense back-bend and arched my back until it looked like a rainbow. As I did that, I could here him start to growl-burp again and I nearly s**t myself I was so scared. After the goosebumps died, and his growl ceased, I calmed down, but I was till on edge.
Of course my real life nightmare was not even close to over. Terry's new tactic was to come up to the right of me and get as close as possible to my face and just stay there. I used my peripherals to look to my right because I knew if I turned my head he'd attack me like I was a pile of grass. He then opened up his mouth again and not only did he roar, he bit at me. It was in this moment I knew I was going to die. What have I done with my life? This is how people will remember me. Cole, the boy who died riding a camel... what a way to go out.
Terry kept biting at me and getting closer and closer until he was almost rested on me. My back was in a fixed arch now and I was moving as far to my left as possible without falling off.
After 10 minutes of his incessant death jabs and none of the tour guides really doing anything about this hungry beast, he moved back behind me. I knew it wasn't over. I didn't let my hopes up. I had three decisions- one, stay on and pray to God that I was going to live, two, turn around and start growling and beating the crap out of Terry to show him who's boss or three, jump off and run away. Well, I unfortunately had to choose option one. Definitely should have chosen option three...
Terry knew that his intense gargle of a growl wasn't going to get me off anytime soon, so instead he plotted with the camel behind him to begin randomly charging for no reason. He growled like he was communicating a mass attack on the Jewish boy in front of him, and he began charging in front of my camel. These camels are all tied together, so if one charges, they all charge. Terry came straight by me and jabbed at me again with his monstrous teeth, causing me to probably pee. Then Terry's actions sparked the interest of my camel and another to charge as well. As if this ride wasn't bumpy enough. It felt like a ride at Disney Land that was too realistic.
So now there are three camels charging literally nowhere, trying to kill me and my partner (probably just me). Growls and my heartbeat are the only things I can hear at this point and I am 20 percent more positive I am actually going to die. All three camels started growling and I swear my fingers are still imprinted in that saddle after holding on so tight. They kept picking up speed and Terry and the other camel were now on both sides of my camel, lunging their heads at my face, and doing the same to my partner.
The guides seemed so nonchalant with it all as they helped stop the camels form attacking and charging. Option number three seemed like my best decision because instead of taking Terry away, the guides just let him stay behind me. Thanks a lot guys, give the killer a warning, that'll teach him. Might as well just put grass on me and light it on fire, that way he gets a cooked meal too!
We finally made it back to the beginning of the ride after literally 30 minutes. But that 30 minutes felt like an hour at least. I was so excited to get on the ground that the moment the camel stopped I jumped off and ran away as fast as I could. I haven't been that terrified since I was in fifth grade learning about puberty. But I'd rather learn about what happens when guys get excited than Horrible Henry and his camel entourage.
The best thing I figured out from that experience is that, that has never happened to anyone since the camp started camel rides. Of course it hasn't! I already get s**t daily for no reason, now add the, 'only person to have ever been attacked and thrown off a camel twice' to the resume of crap; that'll tie it together nicely! I honestly do wonder what it was about me. Maybe I put on the only deodorant that turns camels insane that morning and the creators of Degree One forgot to put on the label, "don't ride camels after use, they will turn into douchebags". Either way, Terry did not like me and I certainly did not like him or his death squad.
Clearly my camel riding experience did not go as planned. I assumed I would have a once in a life time camel ride in Israel to feel immersed once more in the culture, while getting an Instagram picture pretending I'm a camel riding pro. However, that did not go as planned, instead I almost became a snack for those used-to-be herbivores. However, even though I became terrified of camels that day, being in the Negev Desert and getting to experience the camels, the culture and the people of that area, was amazing. If you are ever in Israel, I highly suggest riding a camel; just don't bring me...or you may die.
