The End of the Road
Guelmime, Morocco 2000
Herds of camels burdened with goods or tourists are a common sight in the south of Morocco. Berber nomads use them to carry the heavy black wool tents when they move to new grazing lands. And every Berber who lives near the dunes of the Erg Chebbi aspires to have a string of camels to transport tourists for a night in the dunes.
In the end, though, camels are a delicacy. If the village butcher slaughters a camel, the villagers are at his shop early anticipating a camel meat tagine for that evening’s meal. That’s where this poor fellow in the photo is headed. He seems to know it and he is bawling in protest.
I once watched a Tony Bourdain show where he went to Saudi Arabia, I think. Anyway, his hostess ordered a camel for dinner. The cooked camel was presented whole. The carcass was in the same position as the camel in the photo above, on his knees with his huge fatty hump intact. It seemed rather ghoulish, but the guests began stripping hanks of meat without compunction.