Nizwa: Camel Market

Another early morning start in Nizwa as we headed to the camel market. I don’t think it had ever occurred to me how people bringing their camels to be traded might transport them, but a lot just put them in the back of a pickup truck. As we drove along the highway, we passed many such vehicles with their live cargo.

I had mixed emotions in this place. Camels are beautiful animals, and those that are not traded for camel racing – yes it’s a thing – will end up being sold for slaughter.

It’s a side of the food chain that we usually conveniently ignore, and indeed I had eaten camel meat in Oman on several occasions and found it delicious, but looking at these camels I couldn’t help but wonder if any knew what fate might await them as they stood with their front feet tied together.

Once into the trading area, they were paraded around while various bids were made. It was a hectic scene!

Of course, once bought, there is the problem of getting them home. If you have ever wondered how to get a camel into the back of a pickup truck without a crane, the video below will show you how its done, although I must warn you, I didn’t find it an easy watch…

The market also does a trade in goats and one of the funny sights on the edge of the market was seeing the silhouettes of the goats projected onto the gauze by the early morning sun.

But even in the midst of the melee, there is always time to have a cup of karak chai!