On the river the other day I had a conversation with a goat herder. He was a kind of wild-looking guy but he was friendly. He was walking along with his flock of goats, dogs working around him, in the direction of the water I had been fishing. Ours was less of a conversation than an exchange of shouts because we were on opposite sides of the river.
Initially we exchanged greetings and he asked how I had done. I think I had at that point caught four barbel. Then I asked him how many goats he had and he told me he had about 400. That sounded like a good answer to me. Chances are there are new goats being born all the time, and old ones popping their clogs so the number probably fluctuates around that figure. Still, that´s a lot of goats whichever way you look at it.
Then we got to talking about the state of the river. He told me that, well upstream, the town of Álora discharges sewage more or less untreated into the river. He had denounced the town hall or whoever but nothing had come of it. The water quality is not what it should be.
I have a soft spot for goats and think highly of the goat herders who spend their days leading their flocks around in search of pasture. Nobody is going to get rich doing this but those who do seem to have a deep affinity, not only with their flock, but with the open country they traverse and with a way of life which has changed little over centuries.
I was particularly impressed that he this herder had made a point of stating his objection to the the discharged effluent from Álora. He told me that he didn´t feel it is going to make a hell of a lot of difference. He might kick up dust out here but he won´t kick up a storm. Who listens to a man herding goats along the banks of a remote river?
I do.
When I arrived at the river the goat were just chilling.
As I walked upstream the goats and herders were approaching on the opposite bank. There were two herders. The one I spoke to is on the left of the picture – the figure on the right.
Goats seem to get a real kick out of standing on things.
fishydreams 