Free Range

A hen with her five chicks

I was met outside of the hospital one night by
this goat finding shelter from the rain behind
my bike

Here in Ghana all the animals are "free range."  The animals wonder free during the day to scavenge for food, it seems like mostly snaking on trash.  Goats, sheep, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, pigs, dogs, etc, can all be seen walking around town unattended.  At night the main street of Nalerigu is littered with sleeping goats (why they sleep in the middle of the road I have yet to figure out).  If you hit an animal while driving it is your responsibility to go find the owner and pay for the animal.  When a Ghanaian was asked why they let their animals roam free and aren’t they worried they would get lost, he answered, “Well don’t you know where your home is, you don’t get lost?”  Fair enough.

 

 

 

 

 

Donkey just hanging out

Goats on the move

Pigs keeping cool in a puddle

Heading to the river for a drink of water