Camel Craziness

I have a bit of a soft spot for camels at the moment, which is just as well since I set off on a camel safari in the Australian Outback next week. In meantime this unexpectedly saucy little press release arrived in my Inbox yesterday, advising me of Abu Dhabi’s beauty pageant for camels. I kid you not. More than 10,000 camels from across the Gulf will be competing for millions of dollars in prize money. Camels from throughout the United Arab Emirates will strut their stuff before a panel of expert judges to decide which owners should win the US$9.5 million dollars and the 100 cars up for grabs. It’s all part of a camel festival aimed at celebrating the region’s cultural heritage. And for any of you who think this is a late April Fools’ joke , just enter ‘camel beauty pageant’ into the Google search engine and prepare to be amazed.