Where Camels Take to the Sea

By Shanna BakeronDec. 26, 2020in Environment and Ecology
In the Indian state of Gujarat, a special breed of camel moves between land and sea. Photo by Shanna Baker

In Gujarat, India, a special breed of camel is not constrained by land—but cannot escape the many forces of change.

From the deck of a wooden fishing boat adorned with saffron, orange, and green, I squint at the point where heat waves merge with the tidal channel and blur the horizon like a greasy handprint on glass. Through the glare, four strange, dark shapes break the water’s surface—two heads, two humps.

In my mental archives, the camel has long been housed in a box stacked neatly on a shelf and left unexamined. The camel is a desert animal. The end. Its ability to stroll across a blazing arid landscape with a teetering load strapped to its back and not a single drop of water crossing its frothy lips for days is so legendary that the camel is widely known as the ship of the desert. But here, along the coastal fringes of Gujarat, India, the ships of the desert actually take to the sea.

Please read the entire story here – in Hakai Magazine

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