Faith D'Aluisio, one of the authors of the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets surrounded by camels at the Birqash Camel Market outside Cairo, Egypt. Contrary to popular belief, camels’ humps don’t store water; they are a reservoir of fatty tissue that minimizes the need for heat-trapping insulation in the rest of their bodies; the dromedary, or Arabian camel, has a single hump, while Asian camels have two. Camels are well suited for desert climes: their long legs and huge, two-toed feet with leathery pads enable them to walk easily in sand, and their eyelids, nostrils, and thick coat protect them from heat and blowing sand. These characteristics, along with their ability to eat thorny vegetation and derive sufficient moisture from tough green herbage, allow camels to survive in very inhospitable terrain.