if you zoom into this picture you will see some gazelles
i can’t recall what this is about
someone was trying to find his way i guess
deep erosion gulley. should be addressed
somwhere in the background is a steep hill we are about to climb
the pic speaks for itself
Ngong Hills. I should go hike here someday
somewhere in the background i think there are windmills
your host
your host again
no. the windmills are here
grazing cows while biking
healthy cows
back to road
Fantastic views! I really enjoy scenery photos. Love cows….they always seem so peaceful to me.
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Cows and sheep. All very peaceful
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Yes, & we see ”beefalo” at times here too.
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Nice!
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Thanks
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The pics of the wind turbines could very well have been taken not that far from where I live. The only significant “oddity” is the trees in the foreground in the 2nd and 3rd pics. They’re not trees that would be found in these parts.
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So If I can photshop out those trees I can convince my friends I had gone to visit my friend in NZ 🙂
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Photoshop in a few iconic NZ trees such as a pohutukawa or tī kōuka/cabbage tree or one of our many species of tree ferns and you’d have a perfect NZ scene.
Just make sure there’s no clay roads visible though. Our unsealed roads are covered in crushed stones that can chew up a cycle tyre in very quick order 🙂
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I will keep that in mind.
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The cows are cool. I was doing a ride once and had to stop because they were doing a real old school cattle drive. With horses and everything!
I understand the arguments for veganism, but I must confess I still eat beef. 😦 Not in huge amounts, but…
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I don’t think I have seen any big ranches here where they drive their cows on horseback.
John and Ark should not see this. Beef steak is really good.
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I’m content to believe humans are omnivorous and moderate amounts of animal protein is necessary for good health. Although I eat less red meat than in the past, I make up for it in the amount of fish I consume, especially tuna and salmon.
It’s not cattle, but sheep, sometimes in the thousands that can block NZ roads. It’s still a relatively common occurance here off the major highways. It can be quite entertaining to watch tourists trying to make their way through a flock of sheep when both sheep and tourist are heading in the same direction.
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GOOD GRIEF!!! That’s a LOT of sheep! Was this a special time of the year or some other occasion that so many of them got together? They really took over the road, didn’t they?
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It’s a fairly common ocurance any time a large number of sheep need to be moved a relatively short distance. Perhaps more frequent around shearing time. The logistics of moving several thousand sheep by truck would be a nightmare, not to mention the cost.
One man and his team of dogs can manage that number of sheep, although it usually requires a little more manpower to manage the motorists, especially when they are tourists.
Actually, the mob of sheep in the video are not very tightly packed. There are usually a few dogs at the head of the mob to keep it compact and to prevent it from stretching out. There didn’t appear to be any dogs undertaking that role on the video clip. I’ve seen mobs so densely packed that the dogs have to resort to running across the sheep’s backs to get from one side of the mob to the other.
Sheep outnumber humans six to one in this country, and while that might seem high, its nothing on the twenty to one ratio that existed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While a typical dairy farm might have 200 – 400 head of cattle, a sheep farm can consist of tens of thousands of sheep.
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That’s many sheep
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Fish is more expensive here by the kg compared to beef. And that’s many sheep on the road. The other thing I noticed is that such a sweet incline for biking.
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Chicken is by far the cheapest form of protein here. Beef, lamb, pork and fish are all similarly priced. However, fish looses less weight during cooking so after cooking it is definitely cheaper per kg than the others except for chicken. Besides, we often eat fish raw, Japanese style, so it’s even more economical.
Although NZ is fairly mountainous, sealed roads mostly have easy inclines. but according to visitors from developed nations, our roads are very narrow and twist and turn a lot.
BTW, when COVID is over, and our borders reopen, you should consider trying out some of our many cycling trails that cover most parts of the country.
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Those trails are beautiful.
Long range chicken here is expensive per compared to beef. The cheapest meats is beef, pork and mutton.
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Long range?? Do you mean free range? I won’t buy caged chicken. Even though free range is more expensive, it’s still cheaper by far than other meat, besides, caged chickens are being phased out due to animal welfare requirements. So in a few years, cheap battery raised chicken will be unavailable here.
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Sorry. Free range
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I eat meat. I am not sure, though, that meat SHOULD be cheap or every meal.
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Cheap, maybe nope. But in places where there is malnutrition meat shouldn’t be too expensive
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There is a merino wool clothing company big in the yuppie shopping areas of the Bay Area. They play up the New Zealand connection. Of course, the clothes are MADE in China and the company is owned by a megacorporate clothing company. But there is all kinds of virtue signaling about ecological stewardship and so on. 🙂
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It’s a way to make the buyers feel good i guess
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Hey. Just like holding a sign in lily white Half Moon Bay, CA and being honked at makes one feel good! THAT will certainly change 200 years of policing and culture. 🙂
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There’s nothing ecological about sheep farming. Indigenous forest was clear felled or burnt to create pasture suitable for sheep. So what kind of stewardship are they referring to? While we like to promote the clean green image to tourists, it can’t be logically applied to sheep farming, or most other forms of farming either for that matter.
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Some say “The Grand Error” was the invention of intensive agriculture. On so many grounds, including social injustice, ecological damage, etc. Not sure the hunting and gathering days were as fun as they say, but humanity survived for tens of thousands of years as small bands of hunters/gatherers and it is an interesting argument. Although I always say they should volunteer first, because 90% would have to go away. 🙂
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Quite well put. Most of agriculture in my hood is small holder farms. And I think if productivity hadn’t gone down, they are much preferable that intensive agriculture
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My Friday bicycle ride involved both….beautiful, cute hippy/organic/community supported agriculture farms AND literally miles of mind numbing perfectly regular perfectly organized almond megafarms. Because some people think almond milk is better than the cow stuff. And China. I bet many of the megafarms are owned by hedge funds who earn a profit from exports.
Subsistence farming is a tough life, though. Have to admit I quail at the thought of being a small farmer. Too lazy and too afraid of “rural living”.
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On the contrary, subsistence farming is not so tough with good productivity. You can grow your maize, have a kitchen garden and keep two milk cows.
My bike rides generally take me either to tea plantations or just open country. I will see if this weekend’s ride through the rift valley will allow for photography
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