The second day in Jordan we headed south from Petra to take a jeep ride a desert region called Wadi Rum, known for its fantastical sandstone formations.  Katherine and Carter each write about their favorite part of the experience - the camels. Katherine: As we were driving in the Jordanian dessert we came across ten camels. The camels were wearing colorful but worn rags stacked on top of each other.  Next to them were five or six men with what looked like plastic neon green canes. Which I suspected was the stick you hit the camel with to get it moving. Next to them were two tents, one of which was a souvenir shop, and the other had men serving tea. We stopped and walked over. I thought we were just going to look, but then our tour guide Ra’ed told Carter and me that we could pet them. I pet a big tan camel and its fur was all wet and matted. I turned around to ask its name and I saw Carter sitting on his camel’s back! Then, even more surprising, the camel got up and along with one of the men Carter and the camel were off. Ra’ed asked me if I wanted to ride one? I told him yes, but I don’t want the camel to stand or walk because I’m afraid of heights. He repeated my instructions in Arabic and I got on a baby camel. I instantly named my camel Brownie (real original right?) and settled into the saddle. Then suddenly the camel got up! I lurched forwards and would have fallen on my face but Ra’ed helped me. I held on until my knuckles turned white while the camel lurched backwards. I suddenly felt what it felt like to be eight feet tall. I was on top of the world! Brownie and I took a leisurely stroll. Then it was my parents’ turn. They had an equally good time and during the middle of my mom’s ride, the man even gave the riding string to me. I led my mom and her camel around until the ride was over. When they got off Carter and I begged to go on again, and my dad agreed, saying that camel riding doesn’t happen very often. This time I was prepared, as was Carter. Ra’ed led Brownie while a man led Carter’s. Eventually then man gave Carter the string and Ra’ed mimicked him. Carter and I were on our own. Ra’ed told me to make a slurping sound to get Brownie going, and to pull to get her to stop. After a while I patted Brownie and tugged on the rope. My ride was over for now, but not forever. I would ride again someday. Carter: WROAHHOAOO!!!!!!...... This is the “Any situation” phrase for a camel. It’s going to stand, it wants to say hello… WROAHHOAOO works for anything. Today we went in to the Wadi Rum desert, where we visited a temporary camp of some desert dwelling Jordanians. They had many camels, some were white, some were brown. Their fur was matted and wet, (it had just rained), but very soft. Our tour guides Ra’ed (Rod), and Majdy (Mahd-jee), went over to the camel drivers and began talking in Arabic. One of the drivers took us over to a camel and said, “You want to ride?” Katherine: ummm Mom:   … Dad: uhhh Me: YES!!! My first attempt to mount a camel caused me to hurt myself very un-gracefully. Just like with a horse, you’re supposed to swing one leg over the saddle and pull yourself up. One catch, there are no stirrups, so if you can’t raise your foot to eye level, you have un petit problem. After my failed attempt, Ra’ed let me use his knee as a step. Once on the camel I was given complex instructions on how to stay on the camel as it rose off the ground. “Hold on to the pommel and don’t let go!” Slurrrp, slurrrp, slurrrp, went my supervising camel driver, and my camel began its ascent. First, it raises its front, which causes its back to be at a 45 degree angle. If you’re still seated, you experience a gut wrenching feeling as it raises its back higher than the front, and you’re at 30 degrees! Then it unfolds the front fully and you are leveled out and 9 feet high. We rode around the camp. My Mom and my Dad did not want to ride a camel, BOO, I needed a plan, …, a camel driver asked us “You want to ride?” I had a plan, Mwuahahahahahaaa! I pushed my Mom forward and said, “She wants to!” The camel driver repeated his catch phrase “You want to ride?” and I nodded vigorously and pushed her forward. Then I said “We need a BIG camel,” because they saw her reluctance and wanted to put her on a baby camel. After seeing my Mom starting to ride a camel my Dad wanted to ride too. Up he went. Hurrah! My sister and I liked it sooo much, we rode a second time. Halfway through, the driver holding the rope and leading the camel handed the steering rope to me!!! I took hold of the rope, wrapped it around my hand, and rode my camel off in to the desert. Suddenly, a vast cloud appeared from the east…and an army of camel riders bearing wicked and gleaming swords came out of the dust! They hollered war shouts and bore down on me with frightening speed! But they were no match for Carter and his camel, Talc the Tall! Talc raced across Wadi Rum and soon the bandits were eating our sand, grit and dust! Suddenly, my creative writing stopped and I went back to the blog. It is true that I was given the reins and to my great pride, I was able to drive the camel easily. I drove my camel back to the camp where the man made some more slurping sounds and my camel folded in to the ground. I loved my camel. P.S.  Katherine and I would like to say thank you to Jon Lowrie at Travellers' Tales, who gave our friend Colin and us a writing lesson in London. He was a great teacher and his advice helped a lot.