Wild Camel Ride In Cairo, Egypt, 1984

Once I'd survived my summer in Europe, my parents decided to take me on a more adventurous journey. So when I was 10, we took a five-week trip to Israel and Egypt. When we arrived in Cairo, I wasn't doing so well. I'd spent a considerable amount of time at the pool while we were in staying in Tel Aviv -- and my parents hadn't made me use sunblock (to be fair, people were less concerned about using sunscreen in the '80s). I ended up getting sun sick and was so out of it that I fell asleep in the cab from the airport to the hotel. I mean, we were passing by ornate mosques and other buildings unlike anything I'd ever seen, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. Once we reached the very nice hotel, my parents put me to bed and I watched the 1984 Olympics in Arabic. Meanwhile, my dad went to take a walk so he could photograph the famous pyramids, which were nearby. He returned home a few hours later with this crazy story: on his way to the pyramids, he was stopped by a man who asked if he wanted to take a camel ride. My dad said, "Why not?" since he'd never ridden one before and got on the camel. The guy then offered to take his picture and my dad agreed, though he did have it in the back of his mind that the guy could just run off with his camera. Still, he reasoned that the camel was as valuable to the man as his camera was to him so he was willing to take the risk. Before my dad could protest, the man whacked the camel with a stick -- and then the camel took off, running down the streets of Cairo. My dad hung on for dear life and could hear the click, click, click as the man rapidly took photos from behind. As all of this was happening, my dad thought, "Oh, well, if I get killed, at least it will be an interesting death." Soon, the man shouted a command and the camel came to a halt. My dad was fine -- and ended up with some great shots of his wild ride. I don't know if it was the heat or if the camel ride had rattled my father's brain, but he and the man talked and my dad promised to introduce him to my mother and me when I was feeling better. The man said that he's always working in the same spot. The next day I was feeling loads better so we walked to the pyramids that evening. Along the way, we passed my dad's new "friend," and he was surprised that my dad had actually brought us to meet him. He offered to give my mom and me a camel ride. We agreed, but my dad made him promise that this would be a gentle ride with no running. The man promised and true to his word, held on to the camel's reigns so he could lead us on the trek without incident. A few minutes later, we were riding through the Sahara, past the pyramids, as the sun set. It was surreal and I could hardly believe that this was happening to me. I felt as if I were in an Indiana Jones movie! We soon went past that area, though, and kept going. And going. And GOING. By now, it was getting dark and the desert was getting pretty empty. And yet this man kept leading us. We were wondering what was going on, if he was kidnapping us or just completely insane. Finally, we pleaded with him to let us off of this thing. It took some begging -- and threatening from my dad -- but he eventually led us back past the pyramids and to that spot that was near our hotel. I'm still not sure what his motivation was, but I really don't think he was trying to scam us or hurt us or anything like that. I just think that he was enthusiastic about his work and wanted us to have a memorable experience in Egypt. He certainly did provide that for us!