Daraw has one of the largest camel markets in Egypt. Most of the camels come in caravans from Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan along the Darb Al Arba’een (Forty Days Rd) to just north of Abu Simbel before being trucked to Daraw. It is a picturesque sight and fascinating to see the trading; sometimes there are as many as 2000 camels.
Camels are sold here every day of the week, but the main days are Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. Here they spend two days in quarantine before being sold by their Sudanese owners. Most go on to the camel market in Birqash, about 35km northwest of Cairo, where they are either sold to Egyptian farmers, exported to neighbouring countries or slaughtered for meat. This is no place for the squeamish.