The Camel's Eye View

Riding a camel was not the only touristy thing that I did while I was in Morocco--I bought a rug, I had my head wrapped into a turban, I bought a fez and balloon pants, and I seriously considered changing all the light fixtures in my house into the wonderful brass lamp coverings that I saw everywhere-- but a camel ride is the obvious choice for the most touristy thing that I did.
Pictured here are the two camels my son and I rode, and he atop his camel. 

Here are my retrospective thoughts on the experience.  First and foremost, it is a shock when the camel stands up.  I was completely unprepared for the sudden altitude change.  One minute I am easily climbing onto the camel's back and seemingly instantaneously to that I am 12 feet off the ground and holding onto the saddle with a death grip.  Once I reassured myself that I was indeed atop the camel, I hung on for dear life and the rest of the ride was pretty enjoyable.  For about 15 minutes.  After that I became seriously concerned that if my life depended on me riding a camel to safety that I might fail at the task.  That is a very wide hump.  The muscles on my inner thighs were not conditioned for a long stroll in the savannah on camel back.  The good news is that I was once again on terra firma in about 60 minutes, and after the shock of going up, I was better prepared for the speed with which the camel descended to the earth and managed to disembark the ride with a modicum of grace.  I know it is the ultimate desert cliche but in the end, I would recommend a camel ride.