Camels and Cows and Horses, Oh My!

When we got to our house the first night in Manama, we were greeted by about six cats, and the amount of animals we have seen since then keeps on growing.

So, there seems to be a pack of neighborhood cats that live in our complex. There are about four black kitties, a white and black calico and an orange tiger kitty that seems to hang around our place, even though we don't give them food. They seem to be pretty used to all of the people and cars. This morning one of the kitties just laid in the road taking a rest in front of our house. She seemed to feel I could get my car around her, which I could, and did not bother to bat an eye as I drove past.

Along with our everyday visits from the kitties, we have also been seeing a bunch of different animals as we drive around. I have seen people walking their goats and donkeys along the side of the road. I have seen some sheep and bunnies too. We went to the outdoor market the other day and saw some chickens and ducks. Unfortunately for them, I don't think they had that much longer to live since we saw them outside of a poultry butcher stand.

Bahrain is known for its horse racing and riding and a lot of the well to do Bahrainis have horses. Last week I saw three Arabian horses being walked along the road in one of the developments near our house.

Last week I saw a cow and, this morning during rush hour, I saw a camel in the back of a pick-up truck. The truck has these rails around the bed that are about five feet high so that the animal cannot fall out. In case you were wondering, the camel was definitely smarter then the cow. The camel was sitting down in the back of it's truck, so that when the traffic stopped and started it didn't go flying around. The cow stood up for the whole time we saw her. I felt bad for it because every time the truck started or stopped the cow almost fell over.

So, there you have it - the animals you can see when driving the roads of Bahrain.