Holy Cow!

Thursday's shoot was amazing (just like Wednesday) but, we needed one more thing before we could leave Kajiado.  We needed to find a cow that we could photograph to complete this particular story.  We had a few options - but wanted to check with the owner of the lodge to see if he had any cows we could use.  Fitting in perfectly with the "everything falling into place" theme of the shoot, he did.  And, better yet, they were right in his back yard. 

So, Friday morning, we were up at the crack of dawn to 1) get that great light and 2) get the cows prior to their going out to pasture.  There were several cows to choose from but, we selected our "winner" pretty easily.  And, she was a pro (Mary Kate referred to her as Naomi but, because she was so sweet, she switched it to Christy Turlington or just Christy). Check her out!

Christy literally did everything we needed her to and after about an hour of shooting, we were done.  Because we weren't in a rush, we had some time to walk the grounds before having a delicious breakfast at the lodge.  On a clear day, you can see Mt. Kilimanjaro.  And now you can too!  We were told that the snow cap is typically much bigger but it's gotten smaller and smaller over time.

I also took some nice pictures of the grounds.  I think I mentioned before how great this place was.  I've included one below but you can see others on this travel site.  Each building had 3 bedrooms - each with their own bathrooms.  There was also a common area with a small kitchen (which we didn't need because they cooked our meals and they were delicious!).

After we finished breakfast and got the car packed up, it was time to head back into town. Our shoot location for Saturday is actually right around the corner from our original hotel - the Fairview Kenya.  So, we headed back there and back to the land of traffic and technology and wifi.  We settled in for a nice lunch poolside and then Mary Kate and I got some more work done before calling it a day.

Friday night, we enjoyed a meat-filled meal at a restaurant in town called Carnivore which was recommended by a few people who knew I was coming to Nairobi.

Think Fogo de Chao - Nairobi style. It was a bit of a tourist trap but, it was fun and we got our fill of protein.  Here's a pic of Derek enjoying Ox Testicle.  You'll have to talk to him about a description of what it tasted like.  I stuck to the more common place proteins.

After sharing some desserts and coffee, we headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep in preparation for an early call time on Saturday morning.

Just a couple notes from the day:

• The owner of the lodge (I really wish I could remember his name) referred to Nairobi as "The Grey Forest".  He couldn't be more dead on with that.  
• In Kenya (and I would assume all of Africa?) Diet Coke is Coke Light.