I photographed this Tuareg man of the noble Kel Rela tribe near the
Sahara’s well of In Abbangarit in Niger. Though he was holding a leather whip,
he rarely used it.
Tribesmen in Arabia and other parts of the Sahara saddle their camels over
or behind the humps, legs dangling on each sides, which leaves them little
control over the animals other than through whips.
The Tuareg saddle their camels in front of the humps. This allows them
to rest naked feet on their camels’ necks. To make camels kneel down they only
need to apply repeated downward pressure on the camels’ necks. To accelerate
the pace of camels into a gallop they only need to apply repeated forward pressure
to the camels’ necks. Such control helps the Tuareg to be the world’s best
camel riders.
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