Our holiday was planned to cover a lot of the Northern Territory and we wanted to include a camel ride as an eco-friendly way of seeing the landscape near Alice Springs which would suit all the family.
The kids were keen on doing an adventurous yet child-friendly activity in Alice Springs. Pyndan Camel Tracks is the only company I found that offers camel tours in Alice Springs.
I booked a camel ride with Pyndan Camel Tracks for our family online well in advance of our trip. Their bookings calendar shows live availability so it was easy to book and we planned to have our ride soon after we got to Alice Springs.
We knew if we cancelled the tour within 48 hours of our booked date we would not receive a refund and I purchased travel insurance just in case.
We also knew the company would fully refund the booking if they needed to cancel for reasons outside their control, such as if a camel was ill and a spare camel wasn’t available.
The night we arrived in Alice Springs brought heavy rain that continued in the morning and looked set in. We were disappointed, but not surprised, when Pyndan Camel Tracks contacted me to advise our tour was cancelled due to the unusually wet weather which made the track slippery and unsafe.
Happily, we were able to use our 100% refund to book the one hour sunset camel ride for the family before we headed home at the end of the school holidays. We took advantage of the company’s complementary pick-up and drop-off service as our rental car was packed ready to head to the airport in the morning.
The sunset ride turned out to be a perfect way to end our holiday. As our camel string meandered through the White Gums Station I watched in awe as the MacDonnell Ranges got all glowy as the sky turned sunset-pink. I felt a sense of peace and tranquillity and a readiness to return to the bustling reality.
My son, seated in front of me, said Dad when I’m grown up, I’m going on a big camel safari. I checked later and found that, while Pyndan Camel Tracks does not offer long treks, maybe we could plan a long camel safari through Camel Treks Australia for when the kids are older.
In the meantime, I was happy of the opportunity for making memories on the sunset ride.