After the calm comes the storm
Day: 18
Sunrise:
07:02
Sunset:
17:18
As the crow flies:
10
Daily kilometers:
12
Wire sling camp – 29.05.2000
The morning starts quite relaxed. I have just dismantled the tents and packed everything away when Jo and Tanja lead the camels to the loading area. Suddenly, horses appear in the clearing. They stop, snorting, look fearfully in the direction of the camels and shortly afterwards decide to make a mad dash for it. Istan is now also overcome with fear and breaks forward in a panic. Jo and Tanja try to calm him down but he doesn’t listen, on the contrary, he slams his body into the four other dogs running in front of him who now also react in panic and want to break out. Jo leads Sebastian and has great difficulty holding his nose and lead line. Sebastian and Kadesh, who is tied to him, run to the left in front of a tree, while Hardie, who is tied to Kadesh, breaks out to the right with Jafar and Istan following him. The situation, which initially looked harmless, quickly became dangerous. I’m too far away to intervene and help Jo and Tanja. The neck rope tightens around the tree and Hardie roars like he’s being slaughtered. Apparently the rope is choking his neck, because in the meantime he runs to the front left, while Sebastian and Kadesch run to the front right. Jo is in a threatening situation because she simply wants to walk over Sebastian. Actually, she should let go of the guide lines, but then Hardie’s life would be at risk. He is now increasingly strangled by the rope. Jo reacts extraordinarily, leads Sebastian back in a sharp left turn, thereby taking away his speed and is able to master it so that she now runs around the tree from behind. Instantly, the rope around Hardie’s neck loosens, as all the camels are now on the right side of the tree. “We have to tie Istan off!” I shout excitedly, because he’s still acting like a madman. Jo hands Sebastian over to me to untie Istan’s neck line. Sebastian now does everything he can to ignore me and I have to use all my strength to hold the nose and lead line. Suddenly, Kadesh also comes forward. I desperately try to control the two large animals and during this struggle I feel a sharp pain in my lower back.
A little later, Jo and Tanja have separated all the camels from each other and tied each one to a tree. I lead Sebastian to the loading bay and drop him off. I look around to make sure that everything is all right with Tanja. Just at that moment Sebastian jumps up again and my finger, which he once dislocated, gets caught in the halter. Another sharp pain runs through me and takes my breath away for a moment. I let Sebastian down again and when Jo comes and helps me to put the leg ropes on him I have a hell of a pain in my back and my finger joint. “Well done,” I praise Jo and Tanja for their extraordinary efforts.
Without thinking about my pain, we now start loading. I find it difficult to pull on the belly straps, but I can’t let myself down now. Finally all the camels are loaded except for Istan. Unfortunately, he’s causing trouble again. He literally throws himself onto his side to see if the horse monsters jump into his back. We talk to him but it’s no use. Jo explains that if he lies down on his side again, I should hold him down by the saddle so that he can’t get up again. “A camel is most vulnerable in this position. If you hold him down like this, I will hit him lightly on his stomach with the flat of my hand. It will teach him a lesson and we can assume that he won’t repeat this game again.” In fact, he throws himself back on his side just a few minutes later. I rush to him and hold him by his saddle on his side in the vulnerable position, his back aching. Jo immediately comes and pats him on the stomach. Istan has no chance of getting up, rolls his eyes and snorts. Moments later, I let go of him again and he stands up.
Having seen on past expeditions, especially in Pakistan, how brutally the camel men there beat their animals to break their character, I am delighted with Jo’s painless and sensitive method. Of course Istan didn’t like being kept on the side, but it didn’t hurt him either. On the contrary, it is absolutely life-threatening for us if it lays to one side during loading. It could easily crush one of us to death under its weight.
DAY THE TWINING
Despite the difficulties, we are ready to set off at 11:30 and leave the clearing. A strong wind is blowing against us today, making the march more difficult. An hour later, Jafar simply tries to push off while running. This punishes Hardie’s neck rope to the utmost. He roars like a lion again, but cannot stop because he is bound to Kadesh. Jafar is dragged a few meters forward and also gets back to his feet with a loud roar. The whole thing happens so quickly that Jo has no chance of stopping the train in time. As we walk on, we realize that the inexperienced Jafar has pulled his front foot due to his stupid action, because he is limping a little. I would love to tear my hair out. Sebastian’s knee has just healed to some extent and now this. We take a look at Jafar and come to the conclusion that it’s just a minor strain. Once again we have to cross a river. We are horrified to discover that there are dead sheep scattered around in a chaotic pattern. The air is enriched with the smell of decay. The camels are instantly nervous and want to keep going. There are slashed carcasses everywhere I look. Most of them lie under the railroad bridge through which the river runs. What has happened here? At least a handful of the animals are lying in the water. We discover that one of the freight trains has crashed into a herd of sheep, causing a major disaster. During my investigations, I notice that the rails on the entire bridge are full of entrails. We leave the place of horror in a hurry.
At 4.30 p.m. we cross another river. We reach the other bank without any problems. Jo then slowly leads the animals along the river. I follow her and suddenly notice Kadesch striding over an old rusty barbed wire fence lying flat on the ground. “Stop! Stop!” I shout. Jo reacts immediately, but by the time the camels have all stopped, Istan is caught in a wire snare sticking out of the grass. He tries to free himself from her with wild kicks, but without the slightest success. I quickly unpack my Leatherman and cut one wire after the other, of course not without constantly talking to Istan with words of reassurance. Relieved, I praise him when he stops lashing out. I cautiously approach his hind foot, around which a large wire loop hangs. I’m aware that a single blow from him can hurt me badly, but what should I do? I carefully bend down and separate the last connection with the pliers until his foot is free. “Okay!” I shout and Jo leads the train on. Just a few hundred meters further on we discover a campsite and set up camp 7.
My mood is at rock bottom. Plagued by various pains, I set up our tents in slow motion. Everything happens as if in a trance. I pray to God that my back pain will subside. My shoulder, the runny wolf, my finger and other parts of my body scream with every movement. The rest days are long forgotten and the doubt has returned.
