Wüstenschiffe – Von Kamelen und Menschen (Le navi del deserto: storie di uomini e cammelli)
Georg Misch
AUSTRIA, 2012
50’
Camels are the legendary ships of the desert. These peculiar and fascinating animals are masters of the art of survival in the harshest climates on earth and can go for up to ten months without a drop of water. They share a 5000 year close and intertwined history with us; through their domestication as beasts of burden they laid the foundations for ancient long‐distance trade and became the backbone of the legendary salt and incense caravans. Today, camels are still the most important source of milk, meat, leather, wool and fuel in large parts of Africa, and because of this the Bedouins call the camel Al--‐Ata Allah, the gift of God.
SHIPS OF THE DESERT is on an epic journey across three continents, narrating fascinating camel stories along the way, looking at their biology and the secrets that make them resistant to harsh climates and disease. It tells the history of their domestication and how camels influenced the life and development of entire regions. We encounter Bedouins in the desert that still live in the traditional way with their camels and Saudi researchers that develop high‐tech medical cures from camel milk and urine. Along the routes of the old incense caravans and silk roads we discover the curious custom of camel wrestling in Turkey. We follow the efforts to save the world’s last wild camels in Mongolia, visit the world’s biggest camel market in India and witness the attempts to deal with millions of dromedaries that have turned into a pest in Australia.