By Troupe McLeod

Written: December 2003

 Before I went to Africa in 2002, my Mom dropped off a package at my Dad’s front door.  My Mom and Dad have been divorced since I was one year old.  When we were about to go some where, we found the package on the porch.  In the bag there were M&Ms, Skittles, and a stuffed animal named Spotty because he has spots like a cheetah. 

 When we left to go to the airport, I asked, “How many planes will we take to Africa?”   My Dad said, “Three.”   Then I asked, “What three places are we going to?”  My Dad answered, “New York, Europe, then Africa.”   Then it was time to go to New York.  Once we got in the plane I was glad I had my game boy advance because we had to wait a while.  When I was finished playing we were taking off.  I’m glad my ears weren’t popping!  I asked, “Will we see the statue of Liberty?”  My Dad said, “No.” 

My Daddy  said, “We are going to another airport,”  after we landed in NY.  I thought that was pretty boring, but it would be a little interesting flying over the ocean at five hundred miles an hour.  Once we got to the airport we had to wait a little while, so got out my game boy advance and played with Spotty.  After a little bit of playing we got on the airplane and when we took off it was cool.  When we got in the air it was hard to sleep but spotty was a good pillow.  When we woke up we were still in the air.  Spotty was having a chat with the people behind us.  He was saying things like, “Where are you from?  What is your name?  My name is Spotty.”  When he was finished we had landed.  The intercom said, “Welcome to Zurich!”   Then we got off the plane.

Once we got into the Zurich airport I bet you know what I was thinking.  “Has any body said anything about food lately?”  After we ate at McDonalds we rented a car.  It took us a while to find out we were using kilometers and not miles an hour.  Oh, and one more thing – the car we rented had a CD player!  In the afternoon we explored Zurich, Switzerland.  We saw a house on the water.  We went to a lake and we took a walk and took pictures.  Then we got back in the car and listened to the radio.  The funny thing was that they played American music, not European music.  My Dad said, “They do that because they like our music.”  I asked, “Where are we going next?”  My Dad said, “We are going to the airport.”  Again I thought that was boring, but after this trip my Dad and I would be seeing Roxie, our friend who lives in Africa. 

Once we got to the airport we got onto a Swiss Air airplane.   We got in the air, once again, and I played game boy advance with Spotty.  After about two hours I was done, so Spotty and I slept some more.  When I woke up Spotty was doing his talking again. 

 We landed in Africa and I was happy because I saw Roxie.  I said, “Hi” and my Dad said “Hi.”  Then I introduced Spotty.  “Roxie, do you want to meet Spotty?”  Roxie said, “Sure.”  Next, we went to the baggage claim and got our suit cases.  We went to Roxie’s car, or SUV, I should say.  I excitedly said, “I like the truck!”  Roxie said, “I like it too.”  If you want to know what country we were in, we were in Nairobi, Kenya.   

It took about thirty minutes to get to Roxie’s house.  When we got there, we explored the two story house.  After one long trip we ate and Daddy fell asleep in no time.  Roxie also had a golden retriever named Rascal.  I said, “I would like to throw a stick for him and I would like to take him for walks.”  One time we went to a playground in front of her house.  While we were there some of Roxie’s friends came over with a chameleon and it crawled on me.  It had sticky feet.  I said I liked it.  After that we went back to the house and we ate macaroni and cheese for lunch.  Spotty ate with me.  Then we all went upstairs and watched Born Free and Spotty really liked it because it was about a lion  and Spotty is a cousin to a lion.

Then we went on an airplane and we went to the Maasai Mara which is a game park where animals live. Before we landed we had to chase a “twiga” off the runway.  (A “twiga” is a giraffe.)   While we were there we saw cheetahs, a leopard eating meat in a tree, and lions eating a dead hippo.  My favorite was the cheetah because my favorite animal is the cheetah.        

While I was in the Massai Mara, we met this guy named David.  He was a Massai man.  He played a game with me called Omweso.  We played with some other children and he  made us a bow and arrows.  My bow and arrow got lost but he made me another one.  While we were in Massai Mara, we slept in really cool tents and were there two nights before we left on a plane back to Nairobi.

After we landed in Nairobi, we took a train to Mombasa.  Here is were we meet Roxie’s friend, Sue.  I introduced Spotty to Sue and introduced Sue to Spotty.  After that we went to a hotel and dropped off our stuff with Spotty.  Then we went to a water park, but Spotty had to stay at the hotel because he can’t get wet.  Once we got to the water park, Sue gave me some goggles to use.  Then I went on the water slide.

When we were finished swimming we went to the Indian Ocean.  I built a sand castle while my Dad and Roxie were wind surfing.  I said, “I will try and go in the water.”  But it felt like ice water!  The next day we all went to go sailing on a catamaran. 

After that we went back to Nairobi and drove to Moshi, Tanzania.  The only place went to here was Mt. Kilimanjaro.    

 After that we went back to Kenya and went to a safari club.  While we were there we went to a petting Zoo.  I got to ride a huge turtle, and I got to feed an ostrich.  Then we went to the back of the petting zoo and petted some zebroids.   A zebroid is a mix with a horse and a zebra.  Then we went to a maze made of tall bushes and we were in there about an hour. 

 When we got back to Roxie’s house we went to sleep and the next morning I had a yummy breakfast and it was scrambled eggs.  Then Roxie took us to the airport and Daddy and I said good-by to Roxie.

      We went on the air plane and flew back to Switzerland and then we went to a hotel and we slept there.  Once we got in our hotel I played game boy advance with Spotty.  If you want to know the games I was playing, they are Sapphire version of Poke’mon and Metroy Fusion.   When I was done I went to sleep with Spotty.

The next morning we went to the air port again.  We  flew back at last.  Then we drove home to our house in Fort Worth.  When we got home we went to bed again we took a pill so we could go to sleep in the day and Spotty the main character of this story had a great trip.