Synonymous with postcards and holiday snaps from Africa and Asia, camels can easily be mistaken for the exotic equivalent of the Brighton seaside donkey. This couldn't be further from the truth however as these mysterious and majestic animals have a long and lively history of travelling across windswept dunes as a primitive courier service.
Camel caravans – a long train of up to twenty camels – have been known to traverse the desert since the middle ages where tribesmen would weave their way across Western Africa across the Sahara Desert, sometimes ending their trails as far away as Europe. The salt trade in particular, gave traders increased incentive to journey hundreds of miles between mines and markets.
Camel caravans are lead by a guide – someone who is attune to the natural shifts and changes in the sands who is able to make their ways across great stretches of emptiness without getting lost.
Wind patterns, the stars and changes in the colour of the sand, all hint towards a caravan's exact location in the desert which is especially important when food and water is scarce.
Given the isolation associated with leading a caravan of salt and goods laden camels across the desert, many people believe that becoming a guide and working with these animals is a spiritual experience which can lead one to become a better person, communicate with the camels and even find God.
Today the threat of sand churning 4x4s means there is a very modern threat to the camel caravans who have made footprints in the sand for 1,000s of years. Since trucks can make the journey across the desert in a matter of days and GPS technology can locate an individual in seconds, the scared art of the camel caravan could be lost forever.
Will this ancient parcel delivery service be lost forever? Only time will tell.
Camels - The Desert's First Couriers