In UAE desert, camels compete for crowns in beauty pageant

Liwa, Dec. 26 (BNA): Deep in the desert of the United Arab Emirates, the moment that camel keepers have been waiting for has arrived.

Families transport their beauty across the wind-sculpted sand. The servers poured small cups of Arabic coffee. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the judges lodged in desert areas.

One question loomed: Which beauty was the most beautiful?

Although the omicron has spread all over the world, hordes of breeders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia traveled to the southwestern desert of the United Arab Emirates this week with 40,000 of the most beautiful camels at the Al Dhafra Festival.

The five-man jury of the annual competition insists that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Aesthetics of camels are evaluated according to the exact classes that have been identified for generations. The authorities said only camels participated because the males fought so much.

As hundreds of black camels roam the dusty pastures and swaying necks and humps, one of the organizers, Muhammad al-Mahari, identified the platonic ideal.

Necks should be long and slender, cheeks broad and hooves large, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Lips should droop. They should walk long with a graceful posture.

“It’s not very different from humans,” said al-Mahari, his robe gleaming white amid clouds of dust.

High standards have led many breeders to seek an advantage, using banned Botox injections to inflate camel lips, muscle relaxants to smooth the face and silicone wax injections to widen the hump.

Festival spokesman Abdel-Hadi Saleh declined to say how many participants were excluded due to plastic surgery this week. All camels undergo rigorous medical examinations to detect artificial touches and hormones before entering the Al Dhafra Festival.

Since Emirati investigators began using X-ray and sonar systems a few years ago, Saleh said the number of cheaters has decreased.

“We catch up with them easily, and they know it’s not worth the cost of their reputation,” he said.

There is a lot at stake. Al Dhafra Festival presents the top ten winners in each category with prizes ranging from $1,300 to $13,600. In the main Saudi contest the most beautiful brings 66 million dollars. Camels trade in deals worth millions of dirhams.

But breeders insist that it’s not just about money.

“It is a kind of our heritage and customs that (the rulers of the Emirates) revived,” said Saleh Al-Menhali, a 27-year-old beauty owner from Abu Dhabi. He wore sunglasses over his traditional hood and Balenciaga sneakers under his kandoora or Emirati blazer.

Gone are the days when camels were an integral part of everyday life in the federation of seven sheikhdoms, a lost chapter as oil wealth and global business transformed Dubai and Abu Dhabi into hubs studded with skyscrapers with marble malls, luxury hotels and bustling nightclubs. Foreigners outnumber the locals nearly nine to one in the country.

However, experts say Emiratis are increasingly looking for meaning in echoes of the past – the Bedouin traditions that prevailed before the UAE became a state 50 years ago.

“Young Emiratis with identity issues are returning to their heritage to find a sense of belonging,” said Rima Al Sabban, a sociologist at Zayed University in Dubai. “Society and its modernity developed very quickly, which led to a crisis at home.”

Camel racing in the old world racetracks of the Emirates, still serving milk, meat and a historic stop for citizens. Festivals across the country celebrate the importance of beauty. The Al Dhafra region also features falconry, camel dancing and camel milking.

“People in Dubai may not think of it, but the young people here are very interested in camels,” said Mahmoud Sabbouh, a festival coordinator from the Liwa Oasis on the northern edge of the Empty Quarter desert. Since 2008, watch the fairgrounds transform from a remote desert outpost into a splendor that attracts beauty lovers from all over the world.

In a sign of the competition’s growing popularity, dozens of young Emiratis who call themselves “beauty influencers” posed and took pictures with the camels on Wednesday, broadcasting the live broadcast to thousands of followers on Instagram.

Digital likes have proven important this year, as the coronavirus pandemic slashes tourism at the festival and dampens the mood. Police verified that visitors had received the vaccine and tested negative for the virus. Authorities bothered those present to modify face masks, threatening fines. There were few foreigners or other spectators roaming the site on Wednesday.

Each category in the Ten Day Queen competition is divided into two types of camels: the local, a tan breed that hails from the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and the Mujahidin, the darker breed from Saudi Arabia. Wednesday’s show focused on the 5-year-old black beauty Mujahin.

For hours, judges scrutinized every sentence, scribbling lists of the animal’s body parts for recording purposes. Breeders shouted to scare the camels so that they would look up and show off their long necks.

As the sun sets over the sand, the winning breeders were called to accept their sparkling prizes. And below in the earthen rings, the beauties were crowned with gold and silver-lined shawls.

“So far we are the first in this category…we have received more than 40 awards (in various camel competitions) this year alone,” said Mohammed Saleh bin Muqrin Al-Omari as he juggled four awards of the day, including two gold.

Then he jumped into his Toyota Land Cruiser. The victory parade of crowded SUVs and sinister camels faded behind the desert dunes.

MI