TBG always sees camels on the way to work and is telling me about them – I couldn’t understand why, till he casually mentioned “oh, well, there’s a camel dairy just off the road”. What?? Why have we not been there yet?? So, here we go!
Driving up to the entrance of the facility. I wanted to take photos of the actual road we were on, but there was a group of men sitting alongside the road in the shade, eating and drinking. It’s not acceptable to take someone’s photo here unless you ask first, so I didn’t get that shot.
Yup, It’s Camelicious! Told you. The official name of this dairy is The Emirates Industry for Camel Milk & Products (EICMP). Now, just for fun, go right ahead and start singing in your head the song “Fergalicious” by Fergie….. “So delicious (It’s hot, hot) So delicious (I put them boys on rock, rock) So delicious (They want a taste of what I got) I’m Fergalicious (T-t-tasty, tasty)” OK, anyway, now that that’s stuck in your brain read on!
From this facility, over 3000 camels produce the nutritious milk which the on-site factory processes into multiple products- milk, flavored milk, chocolates and “camelchinos” – frothy coffee beverages.
This camel dairy farm is owned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, and is one of only two in the UAE and is the largest in the world. The herds are still under development, with western-style herd tracking, breeding and artificial insemination methods underway, but the Camelicious milk has been on supermarket shelves in the UAE for years. The UK has just issued the approval for Camelicious milk to be exported there and will be on UK supermarket shelves shortly. Now, as I understand it, wild camel milk has a very “distinct” flavor as the animals graze on desert brush, and this taste is generally considered undesirable for the masses. Camelicious camels are “camels of a different kind” though. They are fed imported alfalfa hay from New Zealand as well as carrots and dates. This combination sweetens the milk and makes it more consistent and palatable.
One thing I’ve learned about this facility is that they have a genuine concern for these tempermental critters. They don’t want them turned into “humped milking machines”. See, camels do not like to have their schedule disrupted, they normally need their calves present to produce milk, and they’re used to walking many miles daily. In order to keep the herds happy and milky, the facility has made adjustments – scheduling is precise, a walking track has been added and the camels spend daily time with their calves. Happy camels, Camelicious milk!
I asked TBG why this camel had a red rope between his front feet and he said it was a hobble of sorts. I asked why all the rest of the camels didn’t have one, and he said “That one must be the leader. Camels are social critters, they’ll follow one lead camel anywhere, but they like to stay huddled together. Their body temperatures are lower than the outside temps, so huddling feels cooler to them.”
This is the “cattle guard” things that I’m used to seeing in the US over roadways at fenceline – though those are made of pipes, and much closer together. These must be heavier, and further apart for the camels’ bigger feet.
Oh, and ever wonder how they transport camels from place to place?? LOL… here ya go!!
All I wanna know now is did ya try it? I think we need pictures 🙂
LOL…. I will certainly try it, it’s actually supposed to be really good for those of us who experience difficulty with lactose…… so glad you’re still following along!
Very interesting. I enjoyed this Debbie. I have really enjoyed the Blog.Makes me feel you are still close instead miles away. Jeanie
Awwww, thank you Jeanie – it sorta makes me feel a bit closer to “home” too. I did forget to mention that all the photos of these camels were when they were *right next to* the road…. not behind a fence or way far off with a zoom lens. Plus, if they were actually in the road, you have to honk at them and wait till they move. Odd. Glad you’re still enjoying it.
so Debbie, how did it taste? make us some soap 🙂
margaret
Haven’t been brave enough to taste it yet…. but I will! And there are a ton of gals here making camels milk soap – and soapmaking supplies here are in woefully short supply!
I want to see a picture of you milking a camel. Should be interesting.
um….. er….. .ah….. well, that isn’t likely to happen. You see, those camels like their routine, and I cannot imagine me managing to milk one, and keeping them in their routine! Anyhow, the dairy uses regular cattle-milking machines, so they’ve pretty well got that covered. 😉
So, all these pics of camels… were they all boy camels? I didn’t see any… um… Milking parts. Don’t know if I’d be willing to try it either!
Ok… far behind on your posts… must… catch… up!
Hmmmm…. I dunno if they were all boy camels. But that makes sense. I think they keep all the milkers inside the dairy fencing – at least that would make sense to me…..lol.
If you like camel milk soap check this out , so many to choose from!
http://www.facebook.com/camelmilksoaps
Thanks for the link, Nina – in my opinion, it’s *GOT* to be a better use of the milk than drinking!
Girl I need me some Camel milk soap. Is there any chance you could send me a bar. Not sure how that would work. Margaret
*Margaret Mazikowski4 Maz Moo~Shine Dairy256*859*1807Live, Love and Laugh Hard *
Margaret, I would be happy to….. it’ll take me a bit, but I’ll do it!
Thank you so much Debbie. I would really like some. Thank you!