Exultant

Having resigned myself to not seeing the camels, I took myself by surprise by asking Patrick to take me up to see them! I was much more reconciled to this new style of life and David and Xanthe didn't come home to boast about what they'd seen - although they saw some amazing animals when they were out together.

On the way, I thought my plan had been de-railed since we met Tori, the Livestock Manager, who said that the camels would be moving. However he added that the men were still in the middle of milking them so of course I could go for a visit.

While others were dismantling the boma, and putting the mens' triangular-shaped huts on the flat-bed trailer, William and Mohamed were finishing off the milking. 

Although they have invented milking machines for camels in Saudi Arabia, milking here is much more natural - and the way that I hope it will one day be for dairy cows in the UK - the calves stay with their mothers and share her milk with the company. 

My two came over straight away and I get the impression they get a lot of fuss even when I'm not around. 

Although I am not sure who needs the affection the most.

As their suitcases were being packed, the camels were milling around and there seemed to be an extra air of excitement and anticipation.

I had spotted a ranger with a gun and so assumed that the camels' migration was being accompanied. In that case could I walk with them?

Permission granted, I didn't discover until later that the ranger hadn't come with us - tourists are not meant to go for walks without a someone with a gun just in case we meet an angry lion.

In fact I had one of the best days of my life, meandering along with only half a sense of purpose, just part of the herd. 

I was as unhurried and unworried as the herd who are obviously totally at home with each other and this massive environment, and I felt at home chatting away in Swahili to Sharif, who walked beside me the entire way. 

Despite being in musht, the male camel was very calm and wandered along with his eighty-odd ladies and their calves.

Things only livened up a bit as we came down the hill towards the dam and the cottage where there plenty of water and new grazing for the girls. I was able to walk away without a tear, smiling from ear to ear, knowing that Shilingi and Tulip are in their element.