Her mum was already up so EJ quickly changed into the safari clothes A1 had given her. She looked out over the savannah as the sun was rising and saw the brightly coloured hot air balloons that took tourists across the reserve for animal spotting. The bright stripes and colours of the large balloons were striking against the red and yellow streaks of the morning sunrise. She walked out and joined Rafiki and SJ, who were having breakfast with other members of SWR. Behind them were more tented huts. EJ took a piece of apple from a bowl and was about to eat when a white bird with a long, black curved beak jumped on the bench in front of her and grabbed it. ‘Hey, Isi,’ cried Rafiki. ‘Get your own! Excuse Isi’s manners. She thinks she runs the place. She’s a black-faced ibis.’ When the bird flew down from the bench to the ground, EJ saw it had only one leg. ‘What happened to her?’ she asked. ‘She probably stayed on the waterhole a little too long and a little too close to a crocodile,’ said Rafiki.
