Dec 6, 2019
Our Ark That Never Was, But Could Have Been
How hard can it be, I remember thinking. The handler helped my wife to get up on the camel. By holding it down, so she could sit before the beast rose to its feet. Her feet, if I remember correctly. It looked easy enough, getting into the saddle, so I thought I did not need to wait. We had just taken our first break from the day on camelback through Wadi Rum. The desert ships had taken us already for quite a stunning tour, and they had deserved a little rest. And we something to drink.
I was not an experienced horseback rider, as my wife is. Nor did I notice that the biggest contribution of the handler was to hold the camel down. So, eager to show my coolness, I tried to get back in the saddle myself. As my leg was halfway over, the camel started to rise to his feet. The sudden movement made me fall off. Backwards. To the ground, which in that spot consisted of a thin layer of sand on hard rock. It hurt. Badly. The rest of the day, wobbling on the back of the camel. I tried to enjoy it, but that was not an easy task. While I was trying to find a way to minimize the pain of each step of the camel, my wife was on hers behind me. Happy. Singing all the way. Sweet songs for ‘her’ camel. If we would have had the opportunity and the space, we would have brought the camel home with us.
That trip to Jordan, there were many more candidates for bringing home. The donkeys with wounds from the saddle straps in Petra. Various cats and dogs. Too many to mention. Or remember. Let’s just say we wished we had the space for a shelter for all sweet or mistreated or overworked or homeless animals we encountered on our travels.
We came very close once, to actually adopting a stray dog. There were a couple in the town near our holiday home. Or actually, more like a couple of packs, consisting of all sorts of dogs big and small. One of my first holiday purchases was a bag of dog treats, so I could give them something. I picked the most nutritious I could find. Quickly, they knew how to find me, these dogs. Within minutes I had made some friends. One of them seemed extra smart. A young one, not a year old, who really knew how to get me to give her one dog treat more. And then another one. She was the only dog that welcomed me back into town the next day. As if she had been waiting for me. Then, we didn’t see her for a day or two.
It turned out, she had found our way to the almost deserted holiday home area where we happened to be staying. I don’t believe she had followed me. She had actually found another house, where a lady stayed that took care of her. And we helped. The dog stayed also a bit with us, we took her for walks, fed her, and also took her to the vet. Payed for vaccinations and health checks. We were prepared to and preparing for taking her with us. The biggest downside was that we lived in the EU and were holidaying in Turkey. She would have had to be in quarantine for four months. And have a certificate of good health, which we did take care of. But still, we did not want to put her through that quarantine. Fortunately, the lady found her a good home in Turkey. So that story had a happy end.
Of course I know, that I have a view of pets that was instilled by the culture I grew up in, and that other cultures may have different views or different opportunities. But I do love animals, and I hate to see them in distress. Whether it’s the cats of Palatine Hill scraping for food, the stray dogs of the Turkish coast, or donkeys being forced to carry overweight tourists in sites such as Petra.
Our dog died more than two years ago, four weeks before his thirteenth birthday. Now, slowly, I can think of bringing another dog into the house. We would love to have a rescued one, from one of these places that have an abundance of stray dogs. Generally, the organisations that organize their rescue and placement, don’t place them in families with young children. Like ours. So, we postpone a bit. Maybe until on one trip, an animal finds us. As they always do.
