13 male and female participants register for third edition of expedition 

DUBAI, 16th January 2017:  A group of riders will embark on a journey in the desert of the UAE for the third edition of the ‘Camel Trek’ organized and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) from 21st to 27th January.

A total of 13 men and women have registered to for the week-long expedition which will depart from Nakhra area in Dubai on Saturday 21st January at 7am and return to Global Village after their one week journey.

They were selected after showing interest in going back in a journey through time after having registered through the website of HHC and qualified for the ‘Camel Trek’ following an intense training program.

Mohammed Ali Obaid Bin Huraiz, Manager of CEO’s Office at HHC, explained that training was mandatory because safety of the participants was important since they were expected to cover a distance of almost 40 kilometers a day.

'It requires a high level of fitness and prior training to join the trip.  Participants have to get used to riding a camel, ways to deal with them and learn more about travelling on camel backs in a convoy as well as getting tips about the nature of life in the desert.  For this purpose, we held training sessions for the riders in one of the farms with the help of experts in the field. The safety of the participants is paramount,” he explained.

The selected group of riders for the ‘Camel Trek’ have to undergo health checks to ensure they are fit to undertake this arduous journey.

“The aim of the ‘Camel Trek’ is to create a similar atmosphere to the one in the past when Bedouins used to navigate and travel in the desert. It is not only about sustaining an iconic symbol of the desert environment. The younger generation are encouraged to undertake this trek to experience riding a camel and be prompted to preserve it. This in turn increases self-confidence and team work in addition to learning how to navigate in the desert without using modern technology,” he added.

Mohammed Ali Obaid Bin Huraiz said HHC were proud to once again organize this ‘Camel Trek’ which will test the endurance of human capacity and spread awareness on how Emiratis navigated in the past using the ‘ship of the desert’.

“We welcome all the participants who took the initiative to register for a rare experience of life in the desert. HHC will provide the necessary support and the camels in order to facilitate the journey to all participants,” he added.