Ever wondered how to live in the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia? Well, one way is to build your home right in the middle and raise camels, sheep, and goat while you're at it. Recently, we visited a farm owned by our friend, Mr. Marwan Al-Subaie and his family, and learned a lot about these animals.
We first went to the sheep and goat enclosures. I noticed that the goat and sheep here are far bigger than those in the Philippines, my homeland. Also, they have more fur in them. On the average, a live sheep or goat would cost from SR800 to SR1500 each. The meat is used for special Arabic and Indian dishes. I'm just surprised that specifically in this farm, they don't sell their fur and just give it away. All in all, I estimated a total of 350 sheeps and goats combined. Roughly, this amounts to SR400,000.
Next, we head further off in the middle of the desert to the camels. As we went there, I was astonished on the number of camels there. I asked our host how many camels they have? He told me, around 400 browns, and 100 whites and blacks. He also explained that black and white camels cost more than the browns. Most black and white camels are used as pets for royal families. Depending on the physical characteristics of the camel, it cost from SR300,000 to SR1,000,000 when used as a pet. On the other hand, when used for their meat, the price will range from SR3,000 to SR6000 for each camel. Just imagine, this whole flock would cost millions of Riyals! Now I know why they say that you can live a hearty life here in Saudi Arabia just by owning camels. And as another treat, we tried fresh camel's milk. It was actually good! Its a bit sweet, frothy, and refreshing. Just right to quench our thirst here in the middle of the desert.
Moving on, since we are getting tired and a bit hungry, we headed for their dates farm, a few minutes away from the desert. Wherein as I was told that there are more or less around 1,500 dates trees there as well as some cattle and rabbits roaming in the area. When we arrived, we settled down to have tea with the family. Then without wasting time, we had a feast. We ate the traditional chicken kabsa meal with curry rice, vegetable salad, and humus. And don't forget the desert... We had blueberry cakes, strawberry cream puffs, and vanila ice cream.
It was a really great experience here in the farm. My colleagues, Mr. Jonathan Collado, Edwin Javier, Joel Fernandez, and Joey Gabison had lots of fun. It's a perfect way to end the day. But the generosity of Mr. Marwan Al-Subaie just isn't over yet... He had us packed 4 boxes of fresh dates and around 4 kilos of rabbit meat to take home.
The next day we cooked the rabbit meat by lunch time. We had grilled rabbit and rabbit caldereta. Surprisingly, rabbit tastes really good! It taste similarly to chicken... only better! After eating, we wondered, when shall we visit the farm again? Well one thing's for sure... it will be soon...
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