Camel Racing Storms Back in Sinai After 6 Months of Virus Hiatus

Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
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Camel Racing Storms Back in Sinai After 6 Months of Virus Hiatus

Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP

Spread out at the foot of a vast plateau in the Sinai desert, hundreds of excited Bedouins gathered to race their camels after a six-month break due to coronavirus.

Shrouded in a vast sand cloud kicked up by the hump-backed beasts, more than 500 camels were loudly cheered on by their owners dressed in traditional jalabiyas and headdresses.

Camel racing is a popular traditional event in many Arab countries, and in Egypt, Bedouins of the South Sinai desert have kept up the tradition.

But race events have been suspended since March following the Covid-19 outbreak, and orders only came down at the beginning of the month that they could resume last weekend, AFP reported.

The camels ran around a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) track in the Tih plateau, completing it in a matter of minutes, as they were followed by spectators and owners riding in SUVs to get a close-up glimpse of the action.

The competition "is a training for the international race, which should take place in October in Sharm el-Sheikh," Saleh al-Muzaini, head of the Nuweiba camel club, told AFP.

One group of camels after another, placed in different categories according to age and whether they were male or female, made their debut on the dirt track lined by sand embankments on each side.

On their backs sat mechanical jockeys wearing racing jerseys and brandishing whips, which are lighter than human riders.

In a different race, young boys mount the camels to complete a 10-kilometre course.

Among the audience was 32-year-old Mostapha Abu al-Fadl, a geologist at an oil company in Cairo, who came especially to watch.

"When I heard they were organizing the race again, I told my friends how crazy, how wonderful it is... We had to come and see," he said.

To the Bedouins, the race is a way of keeping a traditional heritage alive.

"There was camel racing in the past, but we revived it" in recent years, Sheikh Hassan, of the Alegat tribe, which organises the event, told AFP.

"Camels will not disappear for us. We can use them for centuries. If the camel goes away, the Bedouins will also go away."

Camel races -- held every two or three months -- often attract large audiences of tourists, visitors and Bedouins to the middle of the Sinai desert.

Sheikh Hassan, however, says the sparsely populated peninsula with its breezy and dry weather had been only mildly affected by the pandemic, and there were no coronavirus measures noticeably in place for the racing.

Suspending the races caused heavy losses for the camel owners, who still had to pay for their animals' training, food and health checkups.

Over the six months alone, the owners lost some 10 and 15 million Egyptian pounds (between $625,000 and $940,000), according to Sheikh Hassan.

For owner Soleiman Hamad, Saturday's race ended on a high note as his animal came first in its category.

There is no prize money, but the winners carry off a prestigious trophy which also helps boost their animal's value.

For Hamad and others, camel racing represents a source of additional income, provided they also have the means to train, feed and care for the animal.

"It's costly, but it's our passion," he told AFP.

Each camel costs up to 2,000 Egyptian pounds monthly to feed.

A well-trained camel can sell for up to two million Egyptian pounds, says Sheikh Hassan.



Director Steve McQueen Shows War through Child’s Eyes in New Film ‘Blitz’

 This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
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Director Steve McQueen Shows War through Child’s Eyes in New Film ‘Blitz’

 This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in a scene from "Blitz." (Apple TV+ via AP)

Oscar winner Steve McQueen had long wanted to make a movie about the Blitz - Germany's wartime aerial bombing of British cities - but it was seeing a photo of a Black boy waiting to be evacuated that inspired him to explore the theme through a child's eyes.

His film "Blitz" is based on thorough research and true events, the British director of "12 Years a Slave" and "Hunger" told Reuters in an interview.

While researching another project, he came across the photo of the boy at a train station - one of hundreds of thousands of British children to be evacuated from towns and cities during World War Two.

The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Rita, a Londoner who sends her son George, played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan, to the countryside for safety during the war. But George is determined to return home despite the dangers ahead.

Many of the characters and events George encounters are based on extensive research and documented by author Joshua Levine, who joined the project as a historical adviser, said McQueen.

"I thought, 'you've got to get it right'," McQueen said.

"In fact, the research sort of just propelled me and inspired me to the story and George's odyssey through London at that time. It was exciting because you found all these characters, all these facts, which most people unfortunately didn't know, and you want to sort of illuminate them on screen."

The Blitz - from the German word Blitzkrieg, or "lightning war" - lasted from Sept. 1940 until May 1941. For Britons it conjures up images of Londoners huddling in underground shelters and rallying to battle blazes and rescue people from the rubble.

McQueen said he had discovered a diverse, "quite cosmopolitan" London through his research.

"There was a large Chinese community and there was a Black presence. There was all kinds of presence here in London. I wasn't trying to push some kind of narrative. It was just what one found within the sort of everyday of London," he said.

Like George, 11-year-old Heffernan embarked on a transformative journey with the movie.

"It was a big adventure being on my first film, seeing how films are made and going out on different locations," said Heffernan, who was nine at the time of shooting.

The movie also proved new territory for four-time Oscar-nominee Ronan, who spent months working with a vocal coach to prepare for scenes which see her singing live.

"It's the kind of thing I've always been terrified to do in front of everyone, but I've always wanted to do it," Ronan, 30, told Reuters.

"It was incredible to see how strong you can become at something that you're just not a professional at after a few months. It gave me a lot of confidence."

"Blitz" is out in select cinemas on Nov. 1 and will stream on Apple TV+ from Nov. 22.