A Camel Hump

On a recent road trip in Nigeria, (blogged here) I mentioned seeing so many camels. But the unasked question is: Why were there so many camels this time? Do you want to know what I think?  Then read on...

When our grandson saw these pictures, he exclaimed "so camels ARE real".  Yes they are real and are a great transportation option in desert conditions.
As I consider why we saw so many camels, I remembered that we traveled in January, which is in  harmattan season (John's favorite season of the year). If you're not familiar with harmattan, the short answer is it is cooler, very dry and quite dusty. (More harmattan info here)

harmattan sky

It's my guess that a cross country camel trip would be much more comfortable during harmattan than rainy season or hot season. 

And if you are fascinated with camels and want to learn more (much more), here's a site with lots and lots of camel facts including these which make the camel ideal for a ride across the savannah:

Some special features of camels include:

• They have long feet that help them in walking easily on the sand.
• Their long eyelashes protect their eyes even in sand-storms.
• They can close and open their nostrils which helps them to prevent sand from entering their nose.
• Their humps are reservoirs of fats which help them to survive for a long time without food.
• Their body temperature changes within the range of 34 to 41.7 degree centigrade, which prevents them from sweating too much and helps conserve water in hot climates.