Camel Museum

Exhibo editorial

Before the oil, there was the camel. It carried trade between Oman and Mesopotamia, provided milk and meat in conditions where nothing else survived, and was raced for sport in ways that still continue — now with robot jockeys instead of children, which is its own story. Beit Al Rekab was built in the 1940s as the personal Camel-Riding House of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, constructed next to his residence in Al Shindagha when this stretch of the creek was the centre of everything in Dubai. The museum that occupies it now covers more than most visitors expect: camel anatomy, different species and their lineages, racing documentation, traditional methods of care, the uses of milk and wool and meat, and a virtual camel ride that puts you in the saddle over desert terrain. Free guided tours are available. The building itself is worth the visit — a single storey with a large courtyard, Eastern and Western architectural details, quiet in the middle of a neighbourhood that is otherwise full of noise from the nearby heritage district. One of the more overlooked museums in Dubai.