~Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine's~

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EGYPT, CARAVAN OF CAMELS ON MT. SINAI

~ THE ENERGIES	~ CAIRO	~ MEMPHIS, SAQQARA AND GIZA
~ ABU SIMBEL, ASWAN AND THE NILE		~ PHILAE, KOM OMBO AND EDFU
~ VALLEY OF THE KINGS, LUXOR AND KARNAK		~ ABYDOS AND DENDERA
~ MOUNT SINAI AND SAINT CATHERINE'S		~ BLACK, WHITE AND CRYSTAL DESERTS

~ MOUNT SINAI AND SAINT CATHERINE'S MONASTERY~

Our rather overweight and tall guide shared with us that he was extremely afraid of camels.  We gave him permission to wait at the base of the Mount as we ascended it, but he refused as he felt responsible for our safety.  Our camels were carefully tended by Bedouin handlers, and they lay down on the ground and accepted us upon their backs.

I was placed upon what was clearly the largest and strongest beast of the three.  This surprised me since our guide was clearly much heavier than I. My saddle was made of hard wood and was extremely deep, though quite narrow and tight for my body.  It allowed me to feel quite secure as my camel raised himself to his feet with a jolting motion that could easily have thrown me to the ground.  We began our ascent up the steep and extremely rocky path, and I found myself greatly appreciating the sure footed creature that carried me with apparent ease up Mount Sinai.

The scenery was breathtaking in its stark beauty.  I was filled with bliss as we climbed the mountain; thrilled to be part of this unlikely caravan being expertly guided up Mount Sinai by Bedouin camel handlers.  Our majestic and colorfully decorated desert animals provided a wonderful vantage to view and absorb the energy of Sinai and the surrounding peaks.  It was one of those moments when I nearly needed to pinch myself to be sure that I was not dreaming.  My bubble of bliss burst a bit when it suddenly seemed that my camel was about to explode!

An ominous rumble began in his midsection.  It felt like a roiling mass of bubbles beginning to build between my legs.  A sound unlike any other sound in the universe began to bellow from the beast, though I could not initially ascertain its origin.  Then I saw a huge pocket of flesh began to protrude from his cheek as if it were expanding like a balloon.  The sound crescendoed and burst forth from the pocket in his cheek, an unearthly sound it was.  It truly trumpeted as it and bubbled up from deep within his innards in a projection that was explosive.  The bubble of flesh momentarily deflated and then began to expand again rapidly.

I glanced around in horror, gripping my saddle with all of my might, and saw that my camel's handler showed no obvious signs of alarm.  No one was interested in explaining to me that my camel was the dominant male of the group and his resonant soundings were a fairly normal part of his biology.  I only gained this knowledge back in Cairo a few days later.  I had to continue my ride wondering if the beast might have been deathly ill, or otherwise somehow unfit to continue up the slopes that were getting increasingly steep and treacherous.

The camel handlers stopped our mounts and indicated that two of our animals were to lie down again.  I was not sure what was happening, but I began to attribute it to my camel's obvious distress calls.  The true purpose of the dismount was to switch mounts as we approached the steepest part of our ascent.

My camel was actually allowed to remain standing as Daniel and our guide dismounted and stepped aside as the Bedouins switched saddles.  After they climbed upon their new mounts, Daniel's camel quickly rose to its feet.  Our guide's rather scrawny camel struggled to stand under his weight and seemed unable to arise.  When it finally did barely manage to stand up, it wavered and could not find a balance point. Its spindly legs sprawled rather helplessly.