Zebu are a hump-backed cow which are sacred in Madagascar in many tribes. They are used as beasts of burden, as you can see here, again, out my back door. This is the RN7, the main road through the South of Mada. As well as the semi-trailers, crazy taxi-brousse drivers, the chickens and the pedestrians, I am constantly faced with these possibly ferocious bull creatures. I haven't looked too hard to be honest, but I assume the bulls are the strongest, so I haven't yet been up to pat one - apart from a calf - photo to come, but dodgy internet connection is impeding the upload!
I also see them a lot out riding. I ride twice a week at Rodeo Grill with my guide, Eddie, taking me through the most beautiful landscapes of rice paddies, eucalypt plantations, rural villages of mud brick houses and thatched roofs, children staring at the odd sight of a horse, people asking Eddie how much I pay him for this luxury...it's about 6 pounds fifty for an hour's ride, the equivalent of about 2 months private school education in Ambatolampy. Yesterday we passed a particularly large, muscular bull tethered by it's horns to graze and I noticed with the length of the rope available to him, he could have reached us. He seemed interested in my horse and proceeded to move quickly to greet us, luckily my horse (Lady Fountain, a 20 year old ex-racehorse) is quite responsive and I kicked her into a fast trot to dodge the beast. We could have been mince meat man. The zebu carts cause constant diversion of our trail, especially on Thursday, which is market day, when the farmers travel for hours to sell their wares in the bustling market in Ambatolampy. Eddie and I attempt conversations in my crappy French and few Malagasy words, and his stunted (but ever improving with my assistance!) English. Our catch cry after a long gallop is "Tsara be!" "Very good!". We have many discussions about mud and rain, which affects where and how fast we ride.
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