Ride 'em camels!!!

When I woke yesterday, I did not think that by the afternoon, L and I would be perched on the two biggest camels at the farm, riding them all on our ownsies through the deer park. Nor did I think we'd finish the long day a little drunk after several bottles of wine at J's house for a belated bday celebration for W. But, as so often happens here, it turned into a wonderfully random day enjoyed by all :)

Having started the day extra early (urgh) to make the English class G wanted us to come along to, and having had a shitty sleep from a certain someone's alarm clock going off constantly from 3:20am for some reason... I was in no mood to be ticked off. G unfortunately decided today was the day to trick me into thinking she'd accidentally tucked into the cake we laboured over yesterday for J and W, and I stormed off in a gust of frustration, putting that extra bit of force into each pile of horse poo I shovelled... Only at breakfast did we check the cake to see it untouched - G said, "I was joking haha!" Not funny.

Things got a little better after that, jumping into the car to head to M's house for the English get-together. We had pastries, tea and cake (already things were looking up) then some sparkling wine. Boom. M's house was gorgeous and her two dogs were so cute. I miss dogs.

Afterwards, we went to E's house for another tantalising tour of the tastebuds, this time her homemade spag bowl, and of course the inevitable dessert (she whipped out the profiteroles again, knowing how much we loved them last time... choc sauce poured over, whipped cream... just divine) and more sparkling wine. G had joined us again by this point, and swiftly took us back to the farm after it all.

I was hoping we were going to ride a camel today because she'd moved the special stairs out the day before, but I didn't want to expect too much. It was only when she asked us to get in just 1 horse from the paddock that I knew we weren't riding horses today... And we could not stop the smiles stretching to the corners of our faces.

I warned L that it would probably be just a leading expedition, with G up front, but nevertheless we were excited just to be going out into the forest on the camels. I guessed at Halif (the safest one) and Sky (old and reliable) being our steeds for the day - slightly off target with Sky, instead G asks me to put a halter on Mustafa, the biggest one and also the one I'd recently had an alpha battle with (former stallion, y'see). I crossed my fingers hoping I'd be on him.

I got my wish, and soon enuf we were slung over the camels, reins in one hand, whip in the other, and looking down to the ground about 2m below. Strangely, I was not one ounce scared - probably just too excited - and just wanted to get moving!! We went through the deer park, led at first, then got the go-ahead to go solo - and we went wild, hollering, whipping, kicking... in the end, G had to tell us to be quiet! haha... good times.

I have to say, although it's comfy being nestled in between the humps on what is more like a woolly mammoth than anything else, it does get tiresome digging your heels into a giant teddy bear that really does not want to move. Sometimes I forgot I was on a camel at all, and at one point G asked if I was suicidal because I was just about to wander down the path unaided by her, that the camels usually run down. I didn't know!

Still on our high, we ended the ride and thought that was it for the day but no, we saddled up some more horses, I jumped on my fave, Creo (which I now know means "I believe" in Spanish - cute), and we went out again into the forest. Horses are so easy to ride after camels!!

Mucking out the stables afterwards, I was called by J who asked when she would come over to pick us up. Having kinda forgotten about our arrangements, I stuttered and said, uh 7pm (45 mins away). I waited a little to tell L then casually said, "J is coming in half an hour". "Half an hour??!" she said arm-deep in camel poo balls. haha... I'm so cruel.

J came, G asked to meet her, I felt like I was introducing my new boyfriend to my parents, then we left giggling like school girls for the next village. G had warned us on our way out "don't get drunk" (yes mum), but we laughed it off... a few hours and bottles of wine and beer later, and I guess she was more right than we knew. Haha... mid-week piss-ups rock.