I recently visited Transkei, a small country in the Eastern Province of South Africa. There I found more cows on the beach than people. It was surreal relaxing on the beach, surrounded by cows.
The Nguni cattle belong to the AmaMpondo tribe of Pondoland, where wealth and prestige are measured by the amount of cows in the kraal. The metaphorical interaction between the tribe’s natural surroundings and the beauty of Nguni cows led to the formation of over 300 illustrative words to describe the hides.
Names are associated with animals, birds, plants and other natural wonders. A creamy, dun coloured hide is called “sour milk” and “the stones of the Ngoye forest” is the name given to a brown or red Nguni with large spots defined by a faint white edging.
The cows are housed in a pen at night and released at dawn. They first graze on the grassy slopes and then go down to the beach where they hang out all day long. They leisurely return home in the late afternoon to be milked.
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