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The Citizen, 1986-09-24, Page 18The International Scene THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1986. PAGE 19. Car trouble? Like to trade in for a camel? BY RAYMOND CANON You are having a lot of problems with your second car lately and anywhere there are a lot of them parked in other driveways on your block so there is no exclusiveness involved in owning your Belchfire 8. However, the question is what to get in its place so that you can be sure that there are not a flock of similar ones in the vicinity. May I suggest a camel! If you | have never thought of this, don’t worry since very few people outside the camel business realize that there exists a market for camels. There are nobrochures, no salesmen to phone you up and you will assuredly be the only person on your block, atleastTnitially ,lo have a bona fide camel standing in your driveway. Mind you, it will take a little trouble to get to the camel market but I just know that you are not the sort of person to let a little thing like that stand in your way. The place to go, and it is by far and away the best place, is the Souk el Gamaal which is located in Cairo, Egypt and it is really not that hard to find. It is across the Nile from what passes for modern Cairo, and it is not far from the Canadian Embassy nor from many of the high rise hotels. Just drive over the July 26 bridge, over the railway tracks and, right close to a little nearby airport you will find the Souk el Gamaal. It is little changed from the days when Cairo was the model for the stories which have come down to us as the Arabian Nights. I can assure you that I got the same feeling at the Souk as I did when I was wandering around in the old part of Baghdad; I expected Aladdin or somebody of his kind to come leaping out at any moment and, given that almost everything that surrounds us in Canada is so modern, it was nice to get away into the past for a while. Now that I have your attention and you are all gung ho to buy at least one camel, may I suggest that the best time to go shopping at the Souk is on a Friday which is the traditional holy day for Moslems. On that day the market is somewhatlarger inthat you can also pick up a goat or a donkey to go along with the camel. The goat can be used to keep your grass cut while the donkey will carry loads that the camel would turn its nose up at. Any self-respecting camel owner will also want a blanket, which you can get in a separate section of the market. But down to business. Some­ body once described a camel as * ‘a horseputtogetherby acommit- tee.” There may be a certain amount of truth in that, especially when you have had a look at over 2,000 of them standing patiently beside their owners, waiting to be sold to a trusting Canadian or somebody else. Frankly you are not likely to see so many camels in one place ever again in your life - there are literally all kinds - baby camels, she-camels and the tough ornery old males. A nice house pet they are not but if you want a combination watch dog and system of transportation;" they are just what you need. Most of the camels you will look at do not come from Egypt but from one of Egypt’s neighbours, the Sudan, which is to the south. For this reason the camels have already walked over a 1000 km. even before they went on display. However, to help things along a bit, the camels are frequently carted by truck from Aswan, which Advertising can save shopping time. CANADIAN. ADVERTISING FOUNDATION is on the Nile Kiver about 150 kilometers north of the Sudanese border. They wouldn’t want to look too tired for the prospective buyers. If you think that mules can be ornery, you haven’t seen anything until you watch camel drivers try to load the beasts onto a truck. They run away, as if they knew what was coming, they howl, kick and go SUB WITH OUR QUALITY HEATING SERVICES LET CO-OP TURN YOUR HOME INTO A CASTLE.. Dependability ■ Radio Dispatch Truck - Automatic Delivery - Licensed, Insured Burner Service -John Pennington- 887-9233 - Cliff Mann- 528-3913 BELGRAVE CO-OP 523-4454 357-2711 AUBURN CO-OP 526-7262 through just about any giration thatthey think will help them to avoid the truck ride. Don’t forget thatcamels are big animals and trying to push one is not the easiest of jobs; everybody, both men and camels, are noticeably exhausted when it is all over. Anyway, let’s get down to the business of buying one. I presume that you have your Ph.D. in Value For Your Heating Dollar ■ Competitive Pricing - Equal Monthly Billing - 200 Litres FREE IF WE LET YOU RUN OUT 24 HOUR SERVICE 357-2526 CALL OUR DRIVER SALESMAN WAYNE JEROME AND BE “A KING IN YOUR OWN CASTLE" -TODAY- haggling and can therefore take on any camel owner whose animal catchesyourfancy. Itis a rather drawn-out affair and, if you want to get the best animal for what you want to pay, it is going to take a couple of hours or even the better part of the morning. A good camel will run you in the neighbourhood of $1,000 to $1,200 and you had better have American dollars with you since the Canadian version is not that well known in those parts of the world and not likely to be accepted. Well, now, you have your camel; it will look great teathered to your house in your driveway. Just think how surprised people will be when they ask you what sort of car you drive and you tell them. “Camel, Mark V’’.