Sheep Branding

The village Bedouin in this area graze their flocks of sheep on the fields after harvest, which adds some organic fertilizer to the soil and reduces the stubble. With perhaps a dozen families wandering around the tracks, it's not a bad idea to identify the sheep in some way. These have been marked with a dot of henna on the face or back.

Lending a Hand

Egypt's small farmers are being crushed by a lack of support. There are government subsidies on human medications to keep the prices affordable, but no subsidies are provided for veterinary medications that the farmers need for their livestock. These prices are rising steadily along with the prices of clothing, schools, books, and food that they need to buy with what little money they make from their crops, whose prices are rising much, much more slowly. Many farmers now are lucky to be able to pay for medications for their animals, but can't afford to pay any more to cover the cost of gas for the doctor's car or money for the doctor's time. Most vets can't afford to spend time without earning a salary so they are not going out to treat animals.

A few months ago the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends and Al Sorat Farm joined forces to provide free veterinary care to farmers between Shabramant and Abu Sir. Here the vets from ESAF and the grooms from Al Sorat are working on a donkey with an infection in his shoulder. They make weekly visits to different parts of of the farmland as it isn't easy for farmers to find time to take a sick or injured animal to either the clinic or the farm to have it checked. Much of the work consists of discussion with the owners about the proper care of their animals to help them keep them healthy.

Cooling Off

It's been hot lately and after trailing these stupid sheep around all day while they trim the foliage along the canals. So what's a guy to do? Let them eat their heads off, I'm going into the water.

Blending In

Beige and black sheep against the beige desert with the Step Pyramid in the distance. I spotted this flock in the desert just after Eid el Adha, so the sheep were probably very relieved to be ambling through the desert. A pair of grey baby donkeys chased each other through the sand alongside.

Back To Business

It's been an exciting few weeks here and doesn't necessarily look like it's going to get boring any time soon. Egypt is sort of working...just as it has always sort of worked. The people are amazingly adaptive and resilient. The government shutting down the mobile phone lines was a serious problem for all of us here. If you look closely, you will notice the shepherd on his mobile and his son texting as he drives the flock. You know you shouldn't text and drive.

Fat Tail Sheep

When I'm taking people out trail riding here in the Nile Valley, I usually have to answer a pretty funny question: "What's wrong with your sheep? What's that big thing hanging down behind?" The second question is often delivered in a tone of voice that indicates that the speaker isn't completely sure that they want to know. In fact, our sheep have these huge fat tails, quite ugly looking I think. But people here like them.