Camel

Hi again,
We have been away for five days, and busy before that, with work and company. However, I have taken photos during that time, so I will get busy with the back-blips.

This is a camel, which I saw today, in Addis. This is uncommon. I don't know what he was doing here - I think the first time I have seen a camel in the city. They are used as beasts of burden elsewhere, particularly in the northeast where their owners take them on long, hot, dry treks to salt beds. (The heat and dryness explain why they use camels and not donkeys, who I think have more agreeable personalities.) There, large blocks of salt are harvested, and brought back for sale to consumers.

It is the cheapest form of salt in some areas. Unfortunately, it isn't iodised, of course. As a result people, particularly the women, develop large goitres. They no doubt also suffer for much of their lives from the symptoms of hypothyroidism. And iodine deficency is particularly bad for developing fetuses. I think the words "cretin", and "cretinism" originally referred to babies and children whose mothers had suffered from iodine deficiency while pregnant... yes, Wikipedia attests to that, and has a lot more information to boot. Its map indicates that Ethiopia is among perhaps the 20 countries worst affected by iodine deficiencies. All of this not related to what a camel would be doing in Addis.