Camel Rights

I've lived in Africa for over 9 months now and I have not yet ridden a camel. I'm saving that for a trip to the desert that I'll be taking sometime next year. It's not like I haven't been given plenty of opportunity. On both trips to Essaouria, I ran into this pack of camels with people offering camel rides on the beach.

Here's another pic of the camels hanging out. They pretty much just hang out all day waiting for tourists to pop on for a short ride. They get this gorgeous view every day. What a life!

Unfortunately, this guy isn't living the good life. His legs are tied together so he can't get up and run away. Amanda, Katie and I were very saddened to see how poorly he was being cared for. Nobody else was really paying attention to him at all - I wish there was some Camel Rescue or Camel Old Folks Home that he could go to for a better life of Bingo and Bridge. At the very least, someone should be held accountable for the abuse of tying his legs together. That's unacceptable!