Grand Theft Safari by Precious McKenzie, Becka Moore

Chapter One
    HELLO AFRICA
    â€œWho’s coming to Africa with me? Tomas? Marisol?” Mom asked excitedly. She was selected to research the lesser flamingo in Kenya. As a bird biologist, Mom has had the chance to travel all over the world but never to Africa. This was a chance of a lifetime for her.
    Tomas, my twin brother, jumped up and down, waving his hands in the air. “I’m in, I’m in!” he shouted. Tomas loves animals and he’s dreamed about going on safari for most of his life.
    â€œOh, you’re not leaving me behind,” I said. Visiting Africa and watching lions and zebras in the wild was something I wasn’t going to miss, either.
    â€œFantastic! We’ll all go. Alberto,” Mom said as she glanced at Dad, “I’ll go book the flights.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “You kids need to calm down. Before we go, you’ll both have to go to the doctor.”

    I looked at Tomas nervously. I wasn’t a fan of doctor’s offices. “Why?” I asked.
    â€œYou’ll need all your vaccinations updated and we’ll need to see about anti-malaria protection,” Dad said. “Marisol, it’s no big deal.”
    I shrugged it off. “Sure, no big deal,” I repeated, trying to convince myself it was true.
    The next few weeks were a flurry of activity. We had doctor’s appointments for our vaccinations. It wasn’t so bad. Mom took us shopping for outdoor gear and new hiking boots. Dad mapped out our homeschool work and loaded books onto our tablets. Just because we were going to Africa didn’t mean our studies stopped.
    With our bags packed, we headed to the airport. It would take us a full day to get to Nairobi, Kenya. From our airport in Chicago, we’d fly to Atlanta, then cross the Atlantic Ocean to the Netherlands, and from the Netherlands, we would fly south to Africa.
    As we boarded the airplane, Mom said, “I hope they don’t lose our suitcases.”
    Dad joked, “Oh well, you’ll just have to shop some more in Nairobi.”
    Mom rolled her eyes at Dad. “Very funny, sweetheart. You know I don’t like to shop,” Mom said.
    â€œReally?” Dad laughed as he pointed at all of us decked out in our new hiking boots and khaki pants. We looked like tacky tourists decked out in our safari costumes.
    â€œThat was enough shopping for a lifetime,” Mom laughed. “It will take me a year to pay off the credit card bill for all these outfits.” I couldn’t tell if she was joking or serious. I knew going on safari was expensive, an unreachable dream vacation for many people around the world. We were very fortunate. Since this trip was part of Mom’s job, some of our expenses were paid for by the university.
    â€œYou don’t have to remind me,” Dad said. “When we get back to the States, I’ll need to find a second job to pay for this trip. I could be a historian by day and a waiter by night.”
    The full day wasted on planes was the most boring time of my life. I read a few books, took afew naps, and ate all of the snacks in my carry-on bag. Tomas did exactly the same thing. The planes didn’t even have any decent movies for us to watch, just old kids’ movies that we’d seen years ago.
    When we landed in Nairobi the next day, we were sweaty and tired. It had been a very long trip.
    Mom pulled out her map. “Let’s find our hotel. I think we could all use hot showers and a nap in a real bed.” Mom flagged down a taxi and gave the driver instructions to our hotel.
    Nairobi is a modern city, with shopping malls, hotels, and apartment buildings. Our hotel had stone lions by the front doors and mahogany floors and leather chairs in the lobby.
    â€œThis is nice,” Dad said as we walked inside.
    After we checked in, we took the elevator to the fifth floor. Our room had dark wood panels on the walls, crisp white blankets, and African