video by Elissa Rashkin

Don't see the video? You may need to install the free QuickTime Player

Transhumantsa: Ancient Lifestyle of Carpathian Herders

I thought Calin asked if we wanted to go to the mountains to see "wildlife," but it wasn't until we were almost there that I realized we were going to see "woodlife," herders living an ancient nomadic lifestylye.

In the summer, they live high in the mountains, tending herds of sheep, cattle and pigs. They live in rough huts, drank spring water, cook over a fire and make cheese. In the winter, the men drive the herds a couple of hundred miles to the Danube Valley in search of winter grazing. The women and children winter in Baia de Fier, and that's how Calin's mom, the high school principal, knows them.