On the Siat Ranch

On the Siat Ranch We have only been in the bush for 12 days now, yet it seems long ago that we had some modern comforts.  And so, we welcomed with anticipation our friend's invitation to visit the Siat Gabon Ranch. On the way, we came across some new bridge construction.  It is straight forward to build a 7-ton truck bridge when you have dozens of half-meter logs lying around. Besides the hospitality, this had to be the highlight of our visit to the ranch.  A note of culture here: it is necessary to iron your clothes after being line dried to kill any unwanted botfly larva. None of it was in English but we still all watched with rapt captivation. I am sure he would have let me pet him if I had gone into the corral. At first we though this was the BBQ for lunch. Then we saw it was for branding the cows.  As bad as it looks, the dehorning was worse. Siat is in the process of bringing the ranch up to 20,000 head.  This special Ndama crossbreed is more resistant to the tsetse fly but a bit smaller in frame. While walking back to the house, I was talking with the ranch hands and they invited me to visit their village.  Tomorrow morning, I will go see how the local Africans have adapted to being cowboys. Robert J Kent Jr- robjkentjr@gmail.com Water Resource Policy Adviser www.robrasa.com Voice Mail: +1 (631) 458-1119 Skype ID: rob-rasa LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo Contact  |  Support Us  |  Home  |  Books              all content ©2006-2008 click to REMOVE your email Robert & Rasa's rubbernecking