I'm driving my car listening to the radio host ramble on. Something he says catches my attention. He announces that the first person to answer this question right wins a cruise around the world. We're even allowed to bring one friend. Here's the question. A cowboy rides into town on Friday, he says five days and leaves on Friday. How is it possible? That's an easy one. The horse's name is Friday. Have you ever won a cruise? I just did. Wow! I have to go pack.
I just finished packing, so I'm going to call my friend to see if she's ready to go. Of course, I'm bringing my best friend Morgan. Morgan is ready to go. We get in the car and drive to the airport. We have to go from California to Maine. What a long ride. After we get to Maine we head off for the cruise ship. Finally, we get to the dock and see the huge ship that is going to take us around the world. Once we board the ship we hear our names being called. We go over to the ship tenant and he gives us our room key. Morgan and I can't wait to get going.
The cruise ship is so elegant and fancy. When we put our luggage in our room, we go on our own self-tour of the ship. We go past the main dining hall. We decide to go get juice from the juice bar. Wow! They have a lot of flavors. I choose a peach and mango blend. Morgan chooses pina colada. They are delicious. Next we go to the gift shop to buy souvenirs. We both make sure we bring extra money so we can buy souvenirs from all of our stops. We had fun self-touring the ship.
Our first stop is Paris, France. Morgan and I can't wait to go shopping there. First we go to the Eiffel Tower. The tower is huge. We have to crane our necks as much as we could to see the top. I insist we go to the top where the gift shop is. That little activity took two and a half hours. When we get to the Eiffel Tower gift shop, we both get an Eiffel Tower mini model. Next we go shopping. There were so many stores to go to. Morgan buys a black beret. I buy a really cute shirt. After we finish shopping, we look at the clock, and what do you know, our day is up. We head back to the ship. Paris was going to miss us! I could just tell. We really enjoyed Paris, and wished we didn't have to go.
"All aboard," the captain bellows from the deck. Morgan and I watch the Eiffel Tower fade away in the distance. At 7:00 P.M. we go to the dining hall and have dinner. We have juicy steak, creamy potatoes, and green beans. As soon as we finish dinner we head up to bed. We have to be up at 8:00 A. M. so we can have as much time in Africa as possible. Some people choose to go to town and look at the village, meet some natives, and see how they live. We would have, except for the fact that Morgan said," I really want to go on an all day safari, don't you?" I thought that was a great idea. We say goodnight and just like that, we're asleep. What a great day.
When we wake up, we are so excited to get going. As soon as we get off the ship, we are surrounded by African natives. They take us to their village. That, of course, is where the safari starts. We hop in the back of an olive colored jeep. The man behind the wheel tells us his name is Baakir which means, eldest. He hands each of us a pair of binoculars.
He asks us if we are ready to go, and we answer with a very excited yes. When he drives far away from the village he says to watch to the right side of the jeep by the water hole. We should see some zebras drinking peacefully. We both snap a picture. Baakir says, "They have a lot of stripes. Here's a question for you, are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" " Hmm, you puzzled me, I say, "what's the answer?" "white with black stripes," Baakir says. "If you look closely at the belly of a zebra, their bellies are white," he says knowingly. " That makes sense," Morgan say.
After he starts driving again, Baakir points out a huge lion, two lionesses, and three cubs under a tree. Again we snap a picture. We drive on for awhile seeing some sort of deer that Baakir says are called antelopes. " Oh, look," I say, "next to the tree there's some giraffes eating. Wow! They are really tall!" I exclaim. He says that in a minute to look to the left for a huge pond because there are always animals there.
By the big pond we see flamingos, wildebeasts, hippopotami, and some elephants. Suddenly one of the elephants gets mad and starts chasing after us. Morgan and I instantly start to scream, but Baakir stays as calm as classical music. He says," Stay calm or the elephant will just get even more mad." We listen to him because it's probably happened to him before. The elephant finally gives up and stumbles away. When the tour is over he takes us back to the village, where we walk to the ship. Wow! We didn't realize that the safari took the whole day. We thank Baakir and say goodbye. What an exciting day.
When we get up the next morning, we smell fresh smells coming from the dining hall. Eagerly we get dressed and head straight there. We find ourselves a seat and immediately a waiter comes to us. Yum!! They are serving the guests pancakes, sausage, and eggs with a side of bacon, hash browns, and toast. When the platters arrived we were engulfed in a godly aroma. We waste no time getting started on our feasts. Suddenly captain's voice booms over the intercom, " We will be approaching Australia in half an hour!" We are so excited.
We decide to play a round of mini-golf while we are waiting. Morgan goes first. Hole in one! The first hole was so easy. The next hole we both get par. Not bad. We keep going. As we approach the last hole the captain's voice comes once more and informs us that we have ten minutes. We hurry to the last hole. Oh my god. I take one look at the last hole and stare in disbelief. How will I ever get that in the hole in the three supposed shots. When I take my turn it takes five trys. I guess that's not to bad. We add up the score and Morgan wins by two points. That was really fun.
Time to go. I can't wait to go swimming with the dolphins. We get off the ship and meet the smaller boat at the docks. We get our skintight wetsuits on and board the boat. We get started immediately. The small ship stops about a mile out from shore. "Now when you get in the water let the dolphins come to you," the woman says. "Let me show you." She jumped in the water and sprang back up drenched in water.
