Wanassa is parked for Al Wathbah; the new ride is Range Rover

The Al Wathbah race festival runs until March 19, 2014. Wam

Wanassa is out of the Al Wathbah races, but no fear, I have a substitute.

Yesterday I met a camel who goes by the name of Range, as in Range Rover.

“Why Range Rover?” I asked his owner, Abdulla Salem. “Did he win a lot of cars?”

“Only pickups,” he said. “But when you ride him, it’s just the same as riding in a Range Rover.”

Abdulla knows what he’s talking about. He’s a retired chauffeur, with farms in Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Oman.

Range, a 10-year-old-male, is also retired. One of his sisters will race at Al Wathbah in the six-year-old category next week. She might not win first place but you don’t have to be No 1 to win cash and honour. Given the high level of competition at Wathbah, any top-10 rank is an achievement.

I figure anyone who has the good sense to name their camel Range Rover knows the desert and knows their camels.

When I drove into Abdulla’s farm, children were clambering over the docile dromedary.

The youngest, age four, was scarcely taller than camel’s knees, but commanded Range with authority and poise, scaling onto the back of the hump, whip in hand, for his brothers to parade him around the small farm. The boys went from one camel to another.

“No fear,” said Abdulla. “No fear.”