This camel was a resident of the Timnah Park near Yotvatah in the Negev Desert.  I fed it part of a thorn bush to gain its friendship.  The thorns were visible in its mouth.  The camel was able to go without water for up to 10 days and carried a passenger up to 50 miles a day.  Col. Thomas E. Lawrence of Arabia (British) traveled from Aquaba/Eilat to Suez on the back of an expensive camel crossing 150 miles of Sinai desert in three days during WWI.  The camel was not found in Europe or northern Asia as its young are susceptible to the cold.

Jesus had rebuked some of his listeners as "blind guides" who "strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel" (Matthew 23:23-25).  

This context is difficult to discern.  

The text seems to admonish those who strained a gnat from their water only to find themselves gluttonously eating too much camel meat.

One who ate too much camel meat might also "swallow like a camel" and drink quite alot of water.  Excessive thirst was a symptom of diabetes that accompanied some forms of obesity.  Severe cases of diabetes led to blindness.

Jesus taught a parable translated as, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."  The ancient Greek word for camel was kamelos.  The ancient Greek word for rope was kamilos.  Some people would rather like to substitute the word rope in this parable such as, "It is easier to thread a rope through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."  The apostles asked, "Then, who can be saved?".  Jesus answered, "With God all things are possible." 

Another camel site:  http://dqhall59.com/camel.htm