Shepherds are awesome people. I have met quite a few of them by now and I continue to be amazed. Their lives are tough: they live outdoors throughout the summer season, come rain or shine; they walk many kilometres each day, make cheese, carry sick sheep, and have to fend off bears. Only yesterday I met a shepherd who recounted that last Sunday, two bears killed four of their sheep. And last night we heard gunshots coming from the stâna next to our lodgings – to scare away another bear. Apparently in autumn bears come down into the village to eat apples and plums – to do so they tear down an entire apple tree and then start eating. Enough about bears – here is a short impression of a shepherd in the Retezat Mountains, and a small collection of pictures of various shepherds I’ve met.
Sounds of Romania: the good shepherd
9th September 2017
