Why I want to take you on a Re-Wilding Camel Adventure

Since the age of 4, I have walked alongside camels....They are the other siblings on my father’s side. Towering over me, kicking up the dust in the golden light of sunset. Staying calm enough for one to lean its gigantic neck down and nuzzle my ear, and smell the breath coming from my nose, something animals can receive billions of cells of

information from in one sniff.

Rollo and his grandpa

The camels are coming in from their days grazing, keen for the safety of the boma. As i watch, they teach me about their strength in numbers, the rhythms of family, mothers, calves, aunts and cousins, always together, protecting, watching, in tune with each other. Decades and generations are always together to teach and learn. As a human im jealous of this, the bonds they share. The knowledge of the safety in a pack. For we have lost this in my world; the nuclear family has won this paradigm. The animalistic side of humanity has been pounded, made unsafe and to rely upon others… uncool, too dependent.

I sit there next to my father and his friends discussing which camel needs what medication and who is next to mate with which female to keep the genetic pool strong. They all know who is weak, strong, what they need to not just survive but thrive, something as humans we seem to have lost touch with amongst friends and family. our conversations go from gossip to news. Getting to the deeper things is taboo.

Thinking of my own family, cousins, aunts, grandmothers, who we've left far behind in England. Who would teach me these things as i grew up. giving me healthy boundaries to push and learn from... But as a small family i cant help to wonder... who will be my guides? The thoughts that stay with me… looking back to me as a 4 year old who has just been moved from her cosy life in a beautiful home in Northumberland to the arid, dry deserts of Northern Kenya. A life of excitement and wildness.

Owning a small research herd of 15 which grew to about 170 camels over the past 30 years has been a big part of our life. My father Dr Piers Simpkin, is one of the top in his field of camel health and research. Allowing us to venture into the wilderness and be with them for most of our time out of school as children

The Experience

As humans, when we arrive in the wilderness, it takes time for our bodies to adjust, to unplug and understand where we are, the threats and dangers that lurk around us. From wild animals to snakes and sometimes people. Something perhaps our nervous system hasn’t had to do for a few generations, this clever and animalistic bodily function is now being put to work! We learn from those around us, much like i learnt from my time in the boma, sitting nestled between the safety of the herders around fires at night, or walking beside the camels past lions and other game on a walk. They sense and feel danger more than us, their energetic fields widened in this environment. For this is their home. However, they also watch and learn how to act from us. If I were to run, flee, panic, they would too.

Our days with the camels would usually start with camel milk tea, freshly brewed on the fire, milk from the udder into the pot. Or a Weetabix for me and my baby brother with lashings of sugar to mask the unfamiliar flavour that then became a norm. Checking up on injuries (both camel and human), babies and pregnant mothers, followed by opening up their boma and excitedly walking with them out for a day of grazing. Or on many occasions - Packing them up with our kit for a few nights in the bush together. As we set of and walk alongside camels, we start to feel their individual presence, their abilities to feel safe, communicate, and trust in each other, and a Man called Piers (my dad) and a man called Prame (his colleague) who love them unconditionally. Ensuring their family stays together and that other humans around them are kind and respectful.

When you're walking with the camels, your body starts to calm, your nervous system starts to become more attuned to what the camels and others around you are doing, their movements and sounds, clicking, calling, singing, making themselves present to other beings who may not be expecting us. Making ourselves known. We are one. A new type of herd and community.

You find a side of yourself you may not have seen for a while. A wild and very real you. Who may be in a survival phase for a short time while the part of your brain that processes emotions and your reactors, called the Amygdala, is getting accustomed to the experience. New sounds, movements and fears are coming up. But once it soothes, there is nothing else here to distract you, your focus is on the total present moment, moving as a human on 2 legs, walking alongside animals that have been done for over 4000 years. This is the person I want you to rediscover. This is YOU. And i want you to spend more time with that side of yourself.

When you get there you start recieving clarity, guidance and what actually matters in your life.

I am running 2 more group trips this year. Each trip is 4 days long, fly camping in the remote areas of Northern Kenya with our team of herders and partners.

If your interested in joining me or learning more about these RE-wilding trips, please get in touch.

L x