THINKING OF THE FAMILY

Just what makes a good family destination? Karyn uses her Monkey Mia experience as an example

WORDS BY KARYN FANOUS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSEPH FANOUS, KARYN FANOUS AND SHARK BAY CAMEL SAFARIS

Whether you travel as a family, or often have your grandkids on the road with you, you know how important it is to keep them entertained. This can be hard at times, as they often like going at a different pace to you, and they’re interested in attractions and experience that may not tickle your fancy.

The key to keeping them entertained is finding the right location. The next few pages, we’ll be using our adventure to Monkey Mia as an example of what to look for in a holiday destination both kids and the oldies will love.

The World Heritage Area of Shark Bay includes the amazing Monkey Mia Special Conservation Park Reserve. The reserve is named after the agile Oriental workers on the pearl farms from days gone by, many of whom had monkeys as pets, with ‘Mia’ meaning ‘home’ in the local Aboriginal language.

DELIGHTFUL DOLPHINS

Almost daily for over forty years, Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins have come freely to interact with humans at Dolphin Beach. Each day, Department of Environment and Conservation rangers choose a small number of lucky visitors to hand-feed the dolphins up to three times during the morning.

The feeding is done in a controlled manner with visitors not permitted to enter the water unless invited by the rangers, and swimming is prohibited in the dolphin feeding area of the beach. Only small amounts of fish are offered to ensure the dolphins continue to hunt for their own food in the sea. They are treated with the upmost respect and care by the rangers.

Each dolphin has been given a name and has unique markings on its dorsal fin, enabling it to be identified, and each has a unique character. It is an exhilarating experience to stand within metres of the gentle and beautiful wild dolphins. During our encounters, they swam slowly and inquisitively back and forth along the shoreline. At times they glided past on their sides so they could inspect the row of excited onlookers with one eye out of the water.

What is particularly impressive about encounters with the dolphins at Monkey Mia is that the wellbeing of the dolphins is paramount. Visitors are educated about the dolphins and how important it is to minimise our impact on their natural behaviours while admiring them and appreciating the wonder of being so close to these graceful creatures. It was an absolute thrill for us to observe up close, meet and feed the dolphins of Monkey Mia.

Being up close to emus, pelicans and green sea turtles was also a delight during our stay at Monkey Mia, but another highlight was meeting Henk and the camels.

CUDDLY CAMELS

Silky soft, clean and placid are the words I’d choose to describe Henk Van Eek’s family of camels. They don’t spit, bite or smell, and they’re not cranky. This is not how camels are ordinarily described, but then Henk is no ordinary cameleer. Henk is a Camel Whisperer. He treats the camels with kindness and respect, and never uses force. A halter and lead rope is used instead of nose pegs, and the camels are guided with mental imagery and telepathy.

We met Henk where the camels are available for rides along the foreshore of stunning Shark Bay at Monkey Mia. They are surprisingly charming animals with thick curly wool, lovely long eyelashes, and soft leathery lips shaped in a gentle smile. I asked Henk if he shampoos and blow-dries the camels as they are so clean and fluffy. He tells me that they are never washed but are brushed regularly. He also feeds them well, with good quality feed, saying “Of course you are what you eat. So good food and a healthy amount of food keeps you clean and cuddly!”

Graceful and placid, the camels are happy to have us come close to them. They are obviously very content, and look impressive in their colourful saddles and halters decorated with bright tassels and pom-poms.

Henk grew up in Holland on a farm with crops, horses, dairy cows and camels. His grandfather was a vet and horse whisperer, so it was a logical progression for Henk to also become an animal whisperer. Henk’s grandfather told him that “everyone can communicate with animals, it’s just a judgement you have about yourself.”

“It’s very difficult to explain animal whispering,” says Henk. “It depends on the positive interaction between the human and the animal and the human’s ability to positively guide an animal through life without any form of force, leaving as much of the original behaviour of the animal preserved and respected as possible.” He uses mental imagery to give instructions to his camels by visualising what he wants to communicate to the camels.

Henk believes in equality for animals, and says that you can see what kind of person a human is by how he treats animals. “The first rule in my life is: never do to an animal what you don’t want to happen to yourself. Never yell, hit or be abusive to animals. Whatever you do with animals, their welfare, safety and happiness comes first. If it’s no fun for the animal, just don’t do it.”

Henk first came to Shark Bay in 2003 for three months to avoid the winter in the southwest of Western Australia. He never left, enjoying the lifestyle and weather with average temperatures ranging from 25 to 35 degrees Celsius.

Henk’s family of camels are the single hump kind, Camelus Dromedarius. The hump can store over 30 kilograms of fat, which can be broken down into water and energy when required. This gives camels their famed ability to go without water for extended periods. As they seldom sweat, even in extreme heat, they are able to conserve fluids very effectively.

These ‘Ships of the Desert’ have particular attributes that help them withstand harsh desert environments. Their large, tough footpads allow them to travel across difficult terrain, and to keep out sand they have thick, long eyelashes and eyebrows along with nostrils that can close.

Henk cares for the camels as though they are part of his family. He calls each by name and goes for daily bush walks with his camel friends for a couple of hours, as this would be part of their normal behaviour. Only those camels waiting at the gate in the morning ‘go to work’ that day. Henk has a purpose-built platform from which to board and alight from the camels. I presumed this is as much about not making the camels crouch down as it is about making it easier for us humans. The welfare of the camels is Henk’s priority.

It was a thrill to ride his friendly and beautifully soft camels along the white sandy shore of the azure Shark Bay. You get the feeling that part of Henk’s purpose behind the camel rides is to explain to as many people as possible the importance of treating animals kindly and to show how this positively affects their behaviour. At one point we stopped while the camels gently kissed Henk in exchange for pieces of carrot! At the end of our spectacular ride, we took much pleasure in patting and cuddling our new friends.

At Monkey Mia we learned that wild animals will interact willingly with us, providing us with amazing and memorable experiences, as long as we treat them with kindness and respect – just as we would like to be treated ourselves.