VN June 2021

Vetnews | June 2021 49 Something very different this month. I was phoned by a person I lectured in 1978 at the University of Natal. He had recently become involved with a land concession in Gabon and wondered if I would like to help himwith a beef herd on the ranch. The answer was obvious. In this day and age travel is not all that easy and especially to Gabon, a very far off East African country. There were other concerns in so far as the situation pertaining toCOVID - what if they chartered the flight and I couldnot gobecause I was positive? So off for a COVID test on the Friday before the scheduled flight on Sunday. The test was negative. Sunday saw us at Lanseria airport for another COVID test – the results are only valid for 72 hours and the test I had done on the Fridaywould have expiredwhen we were in the air on Monday. Our results came through late Sunday afternoon and at 6 amwe took off in a charted plane for Gabon; a good 7-hours flying time away. Four hours later we landed for a fuel top up in Northern Angola and then at about 3.30 Gabon time we landed in Libreville, the Gabon capital. A local hotel was to be our abode for about 36 hours as we had to be tested again to fly to the ranch; a good hour’s flight south of the capital.The results were only available on Wednesday; 30 hours later. All negative so we took off for the ranch. The landing strip was well prepared and although bumpy we arrived at our destination unharmed. This ranch is 75 kilometers long and about 36 kilometers wide. It has vast areas of grasslands and thick tropical forests that are inhabited by forest elephants, gorillas and plenty of chimps! Another interesting thing were the vast flocks of African grey parrots that inhabited many palm trees on the farm. Huge rivers slowly traversed the ranch. Work started!There are about 5000 head of N’Dama cattle on the property.These cattle, which originated in northern Africa and are believed to have been bred over the past 4000 years, are very Jersey cow like but are considered a beef breed. The adult cows weigh nomore than 280 kilos and give birth to calves that weigh 15 kgs and wean at 100 kilos at the most – tough little things that are extremely fertile, many of the cows giving 10 to 12 calves in their lifespans. These cattle are farmed because they are tolerant to nagana, a major problem if other breeds are imported. Grazing is also a problem because the grasses rapidly reach a height over 2 meters and rapidly become lignified and ungrazable, so burning strategies are critical and that is not so easy when the area is over 100,000 hectares. There are plenty of challenges, especially when the pasture scientists estimate the carrying capacity of the ranch to be around 20000 breeding cows. Other interesting facts were that the country has only 2,2 million people, the majority of which are urbanised in Libreville and two other small towns. Most of the food is imported and our milk had come all the way from Croatia. Meat comes mainly from France and from the Cameroons and the meat price is unaffordable, at about R1000 per kilo. The supermarkets are immaculate and well stocked with everything one needs but you have to pay very high prices of everything. Prawns cost about R75 each!!!! Thefishcounteratalocalsupermarket. But before one gets over-excited - below is a picture of one of the national roads. Kevin, my host checking if the bridge was passable. But then this was one of the beautiful sunsets. To get home we were again tested for COVID and then had to wait for the results. Fortunately, none of us were infected and were allowed to leave a very enchanting and challenging country. We will be back at regular intervals to face the challenges. v Life plus 21 without parole Mike Lowry Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "life plus 21" years. In this column, he shares his experiences and opinions . Regulars I Life plus 21 N’Damaheifers. These cattle are Trypanasomiasis tolerant.