How the mighty have fallen ...

... well, at least how the overweight and out of shape fell, this morning.

Our team was all excited about journeying out into the country to for camel riding, courtesy of a Toureg family. The Toureg are a nomadic people who graze their livestock north of Madaoua for about eight months of the year. During the winter, they migrate south to the fields just outside of Madaoua, where local farmers pay the nomads to set up temporary residence on their fields, to provide instant fertilizer for four months.

This morning our host's Toureg friends saddled a pair of camels for us to ride. When others in the group hesitated to step forward to ride, the team's former "cowboy" offered to go first. Jettisoning his sandles, and climbing up on the saddle, with the camel sitting on the ground, he braced himself for the camel to rise.

In a couple of moments, the recent Calgarian suddenly found himself landing on his back on the ground with a sickening thud. As his teammates shuddered at the thought that this dude had really hurt himself, he rose up suddenly to try again. However, the saddle that was designed for Nigeriens much slimmer and lighter than he, had cracked under his weight (part of the reason he was thrown off when the camel thrust its weight forward).

This unexpected excitement aside, eight other team members successfully mounted and rode the dromedaries. It was thrilling for them to ride and for the rest of us to watch their faces. We are grateful to our Toureg friends for allowing us this experience and for their friendliness in letting us see a little bit of their culture.