Mefloquine Dreams: Wild Camel Day

After last weekend, I am convinced that Wild Camel Day should become an international holiday/event. There are few places that you can participate in such activities; I'm thankful to have been around for this one. A group of us from the IU-Kenya program took off to Rumuruti, Kenya for the weekend festivities. We had a little glitch in the plans when one of the cars broke down four hours from our destination. There isn't really roadside assistance or tow-trucks here so getting help can sometimes be problematic. While waiting for someone to come get us, our white faces attracted children from the surrounding area. Many of them were fascinated when they discovered their faces in the side view mirrors on the cars as many had never before seen their reflection. After several hours, the car was attached to another and taken to Nakuru for repair. After hiring a matatu to make up for the broken vehicle, the rest of the crew joined us for the camel adventures.

Stuck on the side of the road. What seems to be the problem guys?

A few of our admirers, one with a machete...nice.

Thankfully, we finally made it to our campsite and enjoyed a nice dinner over the campfire. A few highlights from camping include: two leaky tents in the rainy season led most of us to get close in one tent; a green mamba snake in the community shower kept many of us dirty for the weekend (isn't that the way camping's supposed to be anyway); and one of our nights, we had some unexpected guests, aka elephants. Good times!

Wild Camel Day began with a half-marathon and fun 10 km run that ended at the fields where the festivities were held. Upon arrival to the fields, you could sign up for any of the events: Camel Polo, Camel Races, a Triathalon Relay (Run, Bike, and Camel Race), and the Greasy Kuku race (catch a greasy chicken) to name a few. We tried to get someone into each of the events for the day. Myself and three others joined in for the camel polo fun. I had never played polo, let alone played while riding a camel, but what the hey, always a first for everything. We were first to play so I didn't have the luxury of seeing how this was supposed to go, but I quickly got saddled up on my camel, named Mambo, and was given a quick lesson on riding and hitting the ball. Needless to say, it didn't look pretty. The game was an incredible amount of fun even with my inability to get Mambo to go where I wanted, let alone hit the ball. We lost 2-0, but had a great time trying.