By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Nadin Abbott and Miriam Raftery

August 5, 2012 (Ramona) – What loves eating watermelon, has feet like snowshoes, and can guzzle up to 40 gallons of water at a time? 

These are among the surprising facts about camels that I learned during the Watermelon Days Festival at the Oasis Camel Dairy on a sweltering midsummer day in Ramona. The climate here is ideally suited for these “ships of the desert”, which delighted audiences at this unique East County attraction.