Lions and Bats and Cows, Oh My!

So, if you imagine the types of animals we could be coming into contact while in Kenya, you're probably conjuring up images of giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants, etc. How fun.

Well, think again. While it was great to see those animals in the Maasai Mara, our everyday experiences are involving much less exotic types, and this week has been an especially rough one with us and our furry friends.

The Bat

Tim attempting to open a window to get the
renegade bat out of our apartment.

The first incident occurred Sunday night while we were enjoying a nice comfort food dinner of homemade nachos and fresh pineapple. All of the sudden, Megan spotted a bat swooping into our apartment, even with the screens on all the windows. We both immediately dropped to the floor (Megan under the table) and weren't exactly sure what to do. Through our shock and fear of this swooping, spastic animal, Tim managed to army craw to the window and open the screens - hoping he would magically fly himself out of our apartment. We waited and watched the bat dart back and forth, back and forth. No luck with the strategy of the open window. All of the sudden there was stillness though. The bat seemed to disappear out of thin air, but we knew this was too good to be true. Although still feeling uneasy, we went back to our dinner.

Just as we finished, the bat decided to reappear and start the whole escapade all over again.  At this point, it became comical and we were googling "how to get rid of bats" under the table. We weren't finding anything too promising and continued to hope that it would find its way out. All of the sudden, the miracle occurred and the bat was out! We at first couldn't believe it as he was perched on the outside window sill staring in at the mayhem he'd just created. In a quick dash, Megan went to seal the screen close and hope that our little visitor would not return.

The Cow
The next animal incident is perhaps the funniest, yet most potentially dangerous thing that has happened to Megan since in Kenya. When we first arrived at the DCM, we were tickled to see that there was a cow that roamed the compound and the school apparently used for milk (although no sign of utters to us). We had always thought highly of the "cute little cow" in all our prior interactions with her, thinking "only in Kenya will we have a random cow roaming around our workplace."

Well, no more "cute little cow" after what occurred on Tuesday. While working at the office, Megan stepped out to use the bathroom, since the bathroom door is accessed outside of the office space. As she walked to the room, she noticed the cow was tied up in the tree closest to the building. An uncommon sight, but quaint nonetheless. The cow paid no attention to Megan while she made her way to the bathroom - too busy with her life's calling of chomping on grass.

Megan enjoying a nice, juicy beef hamburger after her
"cow ramming incident" at the DCM compound.

As Megan exited the bathroom, the cow had moved closer to the building. Not worrying too much, as she'd been in close proximity to the cow many times before, she walked along the side of the building to get back into the office. Just as she passed the cow, all of the sudden the cow apparently paid attention to her and decided to ram putting her horns straight through Megan skirt. With a "Yelp!" of pure shock and horror, Megan ran away and the cow went back to grazing like nothing had transpired. Upon feeling a sharp tinge of pain and then looking down at her skirt, she realized the dang cow had put a huge rip in it and made it through to skin level. Of course, luck would have it that this all occurred right in front of the open front door to the office and about 7 on-looking coworkers with a view of Megan's backside now!  Thoroughly embarrassed and in pain, Megan managed to hold her skirt and assure the coworkers everything was okay - just a ripped skirt, scratch, and sense of shock/horror at what they had just witnessed. Having learned to steer clear of the cow, we left early for home that day to rest off the battle wounds and hurt pride. At least our lunch of hamburgers helped sooth over our bovine anger for the day.