Head 'em up, ride 'em in

The Arrival of the Cattle was certainly a big event here yesterday. The morning started with loud music ashore and then long speeches on a PA system up at the school so we went to have a look; it transpired that the Minister of Agriculture and assorted other politicians were here. The mass shipment of about 150 head of cattle had been enabled by the government to encourage small farmers on the island to work their land so, from what we understood, those who wanted to buy a cow paid 12,000VT (about £80, so still a small fortune for most people here), with government subsidy paying for the transport and organisation.

It was a well-organised operation. Lots of preparatory work had been done to build fences and a shedding yard and the ship from the neighbouring island of Espirito Santo arrived more or less on time. The whole village turned up to watch the show.

The landing strip from ashore

and from seaward

The shedding area

The boat approaches the beach

The animals seemed remarkably calm as they awaited their disembarkation

The first arrivals - the Minister of Agriculture (right) looks on 

Surfin' in!