The Cow

One day, as we were driving back to base camp after our work in the field was done; we came across a herd of cattle in the road. Mind you, “road” is rather misleading: we were on a trail in the dirt. Also, the cattle, as well as every other animal in Kenya, were basically just bones with skin hanging off them. They are “recovering” from a 2-year draught.

So, anyway, we come across this herd of cattle in the road. Our Land Rover was moving at perhaps 25 mph at the time, but as he saw the cows the driver, Hassan, slowed down. The cows didn’t move, so Hassan slowed down some more. Eventually it was fairly obvious that the cows were not going to move, so Hassan had to basically stand on the brakes. He didn’t stop in time, however, and ended up hitting one of them. In reality, it was more like he bumped one. But he did hit the cow. And the cow went down.

Now, I’m sitting in the passenger’s side - which over there means I’m on the left side of the vehicle. This also means I have the best view of us hitting the cow, and I start to freak out. “You hit the cow!!! You hit the cow, and the cow went down!!! You hit the cow, and the cow went down, and it’s not getting back up!!!” I kept shrieking this over and over again – I couldn’t help myself. But it’s true; the cow was not getting back up again.

So, Idi (our guard, a local man) got out of the vehicle to assess the situation. I think part of what was freaking me out was that I was absolutely positive that he was going to shoot the cow, right there in front of me. Thankfully, he didn’t. What he did was actually pick up the cow and set it back on its feet again. He then held it for a minute while the cow got its balance back, and then helped it across the road to the other side where the rest of the herd was.

These animals are so weak from the draught, they can barely stand up. It was so … so… I don’t know what to call it. And I’m still sitting there, shrieking “You hit the cow!!!! You hit the cow and the cow went down!!!” over and over again…