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Riders at the Rock
In the golden light before sunset, tourists on camels work their way across a vast plateau with Uluru as their backdrop.
“Send us more camels!”
Last year when I was in Jordan, that was the exhortation of every second person I met, once they heard I was from Australia (see: Desert Rains and the Seven Pillars). Who knew we actually sell camels to the Middle East? I knew there were feral camels – at least 300,000 at last estimate – all across the outback, but I didn’t know we sold them back from whence they came!
Camels (Camelus dromedarius) aren’t native to Australia: they were introduced in the early 1800s by British explorers and settlers, and used as beasts of burden for the exploration and development of the arid interior.
The first major inland-Australian journey to use camels was the infamous Burke and Wills expedition of 1860. They aimed to cross the country from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north: roughly 3,250 kilometres (approximately 2,000 miles) of largely unknown terrain. At that time, much of Australia’s interior was unmapped by Europeans, who eschewed indigenous Aboriginal knowledge and still held hopes of a fertile inland sea. The ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition started out on 20 August 1860 with 19 men, 23 horses, 6 wagons, and 26 camels. In spite of numerous rescue parties, only one man – and none of the camels – survived the return trip back south to Melbourne.
That wasn’t the end of the camel’s story though. At least 15,000 camels are estimated to have come to Australia between 1870 and 1900 – mostly from India, but some from North Africa and Arabia. Private stud farms were set up in 1866 and a government camel stud was established in 1894.
It was recognised early on that the animals wouldn’t be much use without their handlers. At first, small groups of cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals; over time, the cameleers began their own businesses, importing animals and running the camel trains themselves. Commonly referred to as “Afghans” or “Ghans”, these mainly Muslim men were predominantly from British India, although some were from Afghanistan, as well as Egypt and Turkey.
Camels continued to be used for inland exploration and for haulage through the early 1900s. But, the introduction of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and the White Australia policy made life more difficult for the cameleers, and the advent of motorised transport put the camels out of work. Rather than shoot their beasts, some cameleers released them into the wild, where subsequent generations have thrived. Although marginally less destructive than other introduced animals in Australia, camels are a severe challenge to the natural environment: they drink huge amounts of water, eat more than 80% of the plant species available, and destroy native animal habitats. They also wreck pipes, fences, and other modern infrastructure and have damaged culturally sensitive heritage sites.
But, rounding them up to be sold back to places like Jordan isn’t so easy!
Even with the Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP) running from 2009 until 2013, the camel population – and the financial, social, and environmental costs resulting from it – continue to grow.
The Pitjantjatjara people of the Central Australian desert have learnt camel-handling skills, and muster some animals for their own use. There are some Australian commercial operations producing milk and/or meat, and the country is reputedly the biggest exporter of camels in the world. But, the costs associated with live-mustering and handling are high, so live-exports accounts for only a very small proportion of the camel population. While small numbers are sent to the Middle East for breeding and racing purposes, large numbers are culled regularly.
Some animals are lucky enough to make it into the hospitality industry, where operators like Uluru Camel Tours – who I rode into the sunset with – have plans around animal welfare, environmental management, and community sustainability.
Join me and my mount Wally on an evening ride into the Red Centre:
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Uluru Camel Farm
A short shuttle ride from the Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, the rustic Camel Farm welcomes us.
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Camel Farm
The Uluru operation is home to 60 camels, mostly male, caught in the wild and trained to be working animals.
Dromedaries at the Farm
All the camels here – like most of those in Australia – are one-humped dromedaries, which are suited to the hot desert. Two-humped bactrian camels are built for the cold climate of Central Asia.
Camels at the Ready
The camels needed for the evening’s Sunset Tour are ready and waiting in their harnesses and saddles. According to the website, farm owner and experienced cameleer Chris Hill makes all the saddles and harnesses in the saddlery on site.
Camel Portrait
To me, it always looks as though they are smiling – even though I know they are just chewing their cuds.
Camel Silhouettes
Riding three metres above the ground, we make our way across the red sands …
Red Sands
… climbing up the semi-arid dunes in search of a sunset.
Bella in the Sun
Our guide and camel handler talks to us about the animals and the local environment as we ride up the dunes.
The Rock
Every time I saw this magnificent monolith rising out of the desert plains, I felt a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. This UNESCO-listed living landscape is magic.
Camel Train
Behind us, another camel train threads through the spiky hummocks of spinifex grass and the spindly, fledgeling desert oak trees.
Sun-Flares over Kata Tjuta
The lowering sun is directly in our eyes as the camels cross in front of Kata Tjuta – the “Many Heads”.
Sun Flares over Bella and Kata Tjuta
Bella keeps us entertained as we ride straight into the setting sun.
Lowering Light on Uluru
As the sun continues to drop, the colours on the Uluru and the desert vegetation change constantly.
Riders in Evening Light
Although it rained the week before I arrived here, the region had previously suffered a lengthy drought. The dry vegetation takes on a golden glow in the afternoon light.
Sunset on the Clouds
From a vantage point at the top of a rise, we watch as the sun sets fire to the clouds over Kata Tjuta.
Kata Juta Skies
We are lucky: in this usually dry environment, clear skies are the norm – making for much less interesting sunsets!
Desert Oak
I fell in love with the desert oaks (allocasuarina decaisneana) even before I knew their story: these slow growing trees send down a tap-root that can be three times their height. The root can reach a depth of over 10 metres (33 ft), searching for any sub-surface water. Here at Yulara, the southern aquifer is generally between 17 and 26 metres, so these unique trees don’t have to work quite so hard.
In the Skies over Kata Tjuta
Flies are a constant in the outback – but that’s not a fly in the darkening sky: it is a helicopter on its own sunset tour.
Uluru Darkening
On one side of the plateau in front of us, Uluru falls into darkness; …
Kata Tjuta Sunset
… and the skies over The Olgas show their last colours.
These days, there are always questions around the ethics of the use of companion animals, but in the case of the feral camels of the outback, they should be pretty happy to be taken into service at Uluru!
For me, riding camel-back across the Red Centre was a wonderful way to take in the beauty of the changing light over the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
I hope that my camel Wally enjoyed it as well!
Until next time,
Happy travels!
Pictures: 24October2020
[…] I could into the short time I had in the area, so I booked myself into a range of activities (see: A Camel Ride into the Red Centre and The Field of Light). On my second morning, I got up pre-dawn to join the SEIT Kata Tjuta tour, […]
[…] resort, taking in a talk on bush tucker and other activities (Watch this space!), and went for a sunset camel ride. I watched the sunrise and walked into the Walpa Gorge in Kata Tjuta, and I planned to walked […]