(12 Jan 2015) LEADIN:
Two of the biggest Bedouin tribes from South Sinai have been battling it out in an annual camel race.
And it's a 10-year-old jockey who is first across the finish line this time around.
STORYLINE:
Gearing up for a race deep rooted in tribal traditions.
Twenty-six young jockeys are here to battle it out on camel back - drawn from South Sinai tribes the Mzeina and the Tarabin.
Community elders say the event has been held in the Wadi Zalaga area for 200 years.
And the organisers say it's donations that make it happen.
''We have been organising this race for 30 years. And of course we have Sheikh Mubarak Abu Himid and Hicham Gabr and Eid Abu Soliman (donors). Every year they are with us, they keep supporting us and we are really grateful to them," says Sheikh Saleh Mohamed Eid, a race organiser.
"They paid 11,000 Egyptian pounds (1,500 US dollars) plus we collected from Mzeina and Tarabin 20,000 Egyptian Pounds (2,800 US dollars) plus donations and we are grateful to everybody for their donations and support. And long live this Bedouin tradition - the camel race!''
Around three-hundred spectators have gathered for this year's race.
The boys mount their steeds and the animals are assigned a number.
They line up - and they're off!
It's a 30 kilometre course and the camels are followed every step of the way by a fleet of vehicles.
The owners urge their animals on.
The Bedouin may drive 4x4 jeeps these days, but camels are the traditional wealth symbol and still infer social status.
A race-winning camel can fetch up to 180,000 Egyptian pounds (25-thousand US dollars) in Egypt and even more in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
And it's 10-year-old Abdulla from the Mzeina tribe who is first across the finish line.
The camel's owner Salem Moussa poses for photographs.
"This festival takes place every year between the Tarabin tribe and the Mzeina tribe. It is an honourable competition between the two tribes, and thank God, the Mzeina tribe won first place," he says.
The crowd gathers for the prize giving ceremony.
Abdulla celebrates the victory by holding his trophy aloft.
He also receives his share of the 38,000 Egyptian pound (5,300 US dollar) winnings.
Egypt's tourist numbers have dropped radically since the revolution of 2011.
But today's race has attracted some visitors, an important source of income for the South Sinai Bedouin.
Katie and Anya from Poland explain why they've come to watch.
''Because it's a huge experience. Amazing!'' says Anya.
Katie adds: ''Definitely an exciting thing. And you know not just an ordinary holiday, we wanted to do something exciting, something different than just lying by the pool."
The event brings back memories for Mzeina tribesman Moanis.
''About 15 years ago my dad's camel won this race. The name of the camel was Sheilan. That was also in Wadi Zalaga. Zalaga is like a dream for us. We prepare for it all year and we spread the word,'' he says.
''In South Sinai we are seven tribes but this race is between two tribes: Mzeina and Tarabin. We carry this race on from generation to generation. It's like a football derby, like Real Madrid and Barcelona. We have to keep coming because it makes us happy, it's like a dream for us,'' adds Moanis.

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