Four cows appeared like a mirage, sizzling in the squiggly heat waves off the never-ending road. Our hot, monotonous drive across Egypt had dulled my mind. Beige and blue miles of litter-strewn nothingness and finally—I’m hallucinating? Had Egypt Air not lost our luggage and required hours of driving back and forth, I’d never have seen the cows.

Four cows squashed sideways in the bed of a pickup, bouncing down the highway, foaming at the mouth from… anxiety? thirst? delirium? Our driver told us they’d be driven 300 kilometers. He didn’t say they’d arrive alive.