Tenerife camel park

[Thrifty]

I understand that the thing to do at the camel park is to take a one hour ride on a camel. I once rode an elephant in Nepal and had to borrow a pillow to sit on when I rode out because of the damage to my sitting apparatus. I don't get seasick and a little discomfort won't discourage me, because camels are my friends (I look a look a little like a camel and think somewhat like them.) But an hour seems like a long time. Has anyone done it who can advise me as to the medical implications? Thanks.

[Leejnd4]

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Are you asking if you could be injured in some way from doing the camel ride? If that's your question, I'll give it a shot.

 

First, I have to say that I haven't been on the camel ride in Tenerife, but I did go on a camel ride on Lanzarote (another one of the Canary Islands). I'm sure they are very similar.

 

You don't have to worry about injury to your...ahem..."sitting apparatus". Take a look at this picture of the set-up on the camels at the Tenerife Camel Park:

 

 

That's very similar to the ones on the camels at Lanzarote, except ours were facing forward. In both cases, you are not actually sitting directly ON the camel, you are sitting in chairs that are hanging on either side the side of the camel. The padding is rather minimal, but it does exist, so you should be fine.

 

The park cautions against those who get seasick from taking these rides, and having done one I can see why - they do sway and rock a LOT! We actually nicknamed our camel Elvis, because he had some serious hip-swivel action going on for the whole ride. But if you don't have a problem with motion sickness, then you'll be fine. (I actually DO get seasick on our own sailboat, but I was fine on Elvis - although we did some whooping when he did his most drastic Elvis-like moves.)

 

Our ride on the camel was about an hour, which was perfect for our tour because they took us into the volcanic park, which was fascinating. I don't know exactly where the Tenerife camel ride takes you, but presumably it's into some area that's worth seeing.

 

Hope this helps!

[Thrifty]

I wasn't concerned about an injury as such, but I lost a lot of skin riding that elephant, it took a while to grow back, and I was very tender in the meantime. Your report was exactly what I needed; I'm looking forward to my ride. (I sat on a wrestling camel in Turkey while it stood up, back legs first, almost pitching me off, and I rode one a short distance in China, but I've never ridden one a considerable distance.) Thank you very much!

[Leejnd4]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that you actually lost skin riding an elephant! I was in Bali, Indonesia a few months ago and I did an elephant ride, but like the camels in Lanzarote, I sat in a chair set on top of the elephant. No skin loss for me.

 

My goodness, what a pair we are, huh? Camels on islands off North Africa, elephants in Nepal and Bali - What are your plans for your next exotic animal ride? Ostriches in the Outback? I'm thinking I might try riding a crocodile in Costa Rica... :D