Stanley especially loves Giraffes and Zebras

Stanley is a gentle person and he likes to make friends. It is not always easy to make friends with cheetahs, lions, elephants and rhinos because they are sometimes irritable. So Stanley was very happy when he made friends with some zebras and giraffes! They are almost always in a good mood!

Did you hear what the Safari guide said? Giraffes have the same number of neck bones (vertebrae) as humans: only 7! Those bones must be very big.

Stanley learned from the guide that a group of giraffes is called a "journey."

Stanley also learned that a group of zebras together is called a "dazzle!"

One zebra Stanley met he really, really liked! This zebra had a red mane and red ears. This really made the zebra stand out (and most zebras like to blend in, that's what the stripes are for). Another thing that made the zebra stand out was the fact the zebra came right up to Stanley and wanted to be friends right away!

The zebra really liked the fact the Stanley was an adventurer and explorer. Stanley was very friendly. And, Stanley was also wearing black and white!

Stanley and the zebra began going everywhere together. Here they are at the local watering hole:

Here they are picking out melons:

The woman selling melons wanted zebra to stay with her, but Stanley and the zebra explained they were the very best of friends and could not be separated. She was happy that they were such good friends and gave them a melon for a good price!

But... soon it would be time for Stanley to go back to Jamaica Plain... and since the zebra is just as friendly and adventurous as Stanley, he thought maybe it would be nice to visit the place Stanley was from... the zebra heard there were great places to eat breakfast in JP! Will the zebra go?

Stanley Around Town

Stanley loves running around Botswana's capital city: Gaborone. He loves to eat new foods at new places and make new friends!

Wearing a Queen Latifah t-shirt is a real conversation starter!

Here is Stanley with his papaya smoothie and his friend Oscar.

Here is Stanley with his friend Thabo, whose job it is to decorate ostrich eggs, yes, ostrich eggs! Those eggs are big (eating one ostrich egg is the same as eating about 22 chicken eggs)!

Here is the American Ambassador to Botswana, Kate Canavan, with her arm around Stanley!

Here is Stanley making friends with a group of girls at the supermarket, of all places!

This ice cream vendor peddles by once a day, honking the horn on his handlebar (can you see it?) to let people know ice cream is fast approaching! Stanley loves the lemon-lime popsicle the most!

Here is Stanley wearing his Nelson Mandela t-shirt and playing hide-and-seek in the traditional baskets.

Stanley at the intersection of Zebra and Elephant!

Now Stanley pretending to ride a zebra, but really it's a sculpture of a zebra just the right size for him!

Seems Stanley really likes smoothies! This one is made of lychee fruits. It's called a Chilla! And Stanley is chillin' with his penguin t-shirt. Those penguins live very near Botswana in South Africa.

And then there's the local barbershop where Stanley likes to get his haircut because he always wants to look neat and professional (even when he is not in his suit) so he can make a good first impression when he meets his new friends.

Stanley and the Lion!

On his Safari, Stanley saw a lion!

The guide said the lion had just eaten and that's why he was lying down, keeping very still. The only thing he moved was his tail...

But then the lion suddenly stood up!

And he started roaring! Play the video below to hear him:

Piet, the Safari guide, said the lion was probably talking to other lions nearby. Piet knew a lot about the animals and he worked all day teaching people about them. Stanley even thought about becoming a Safari guide himself one day!

Sneak Peek at Safari Week!

One weekend, Stanley went on Safari!

Here is Stanley with one of his Safari guides in a Safari truck:


One of the many animals he saw was the White Rhino! Push play below to see a short video of them having a snack of grass:

Stanley also saw elephants...

And cheetahs...

Happy Valentine's Day!

London to Johannesburg to Gaborone

Stanley arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 13th of February after flying all night. Even though he didn't sleep well on the plane, he felt wide awake because of all the new things he was seeing!

Johannesburg has an enormous airport! Many places in Africa are most easily reached by first flying into Johannesburg and then catching another flight to the final destination. That makes this airport the entry and exit port for a lot of people visiting the continent. That also means that there are a lot of people waiting a long time for their next flight. These facts make this airport a good place for lots of souvenir shops: here is Stanley interacting with one of the displays of traditional drums and dolls!


See him down by the drum on the left?

At the Johannesburg airport they also have a very tall digital clock counting down the days to the next World Cup soccer tournament. The World Cup will be played in different towns in South Africa June in July of the year 2010. The day he landed there were 849 days to go until kick off!

Everyone in South Africa is very excited about it. Stanley started to get excited about it too! He liked soccer a lot and was a fan of the New England Revolution soccer team back home.

After several hours Stanley's flight to Gaborone, Botswana was called. This plane was much smaller than the one that had brought him! He had arrived in a plane with four jet engines and now he was getting on a plane with two propellers.

And he had flown all night to get here, but now just one hour to go!

During that hour-long flight he enjoyed the view from his window. This smaller plane flew closer to the ground and he could get a good look at the scenery.

They took off over Johannesburg which is a very big and modern city. They crossed over the northern border with Botswana. He saw the reservoir where the water for the country is stored...

... he saw the roads and farmlands and houses... and finally they landed in the capital: Gaborone! He had arrived at his destination!

London, England

On the morning of February 12th, Stanley woke up as the plane was landing in London, England.

He had heard a lot about the history of England, very closely linked to that of "New England," of course, where Stanley was born.

He had also read a lot of stories that take place in England. Ones he particularly liked were:

• "A Bear Called Paddington" and the series that follows...
• "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and the series that follows...
• "Treasure Island"
• "The Wind in the Willows"
• "Alice in Wonderland"

As much as he wanted to explore the city of London to see Paddington Station, to see train platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station, to shop at Harrod's for scones and to ride the famous double-decker buses...

...he had to wait at the airport for his next flight to Johannesburg, South Africa!

In the meantime, he ate fish and chips and drank tea with milk at the airport. He also had fun looking at planes and people from all over the world, coming together at Heathrow Airport.

That gigantic, heavy plane was going to take him all the way to the southernmost part of Africa? Was Pilot Jeff really sure these big things could fly?

The Beginning of Several Very Long Plane Rides

Stanley really loved his time in the beautiful Bay Area and now it was time for his next adventure!

On the morning of Monday, February 11th, he left Marin County, crossing back over the Golden Gate Bridge. He went to the San Francisco International Airport where he got on a plane back to Boston.

On the flight, Stanley sat next to Jeff, who is a professional pilot. Jeff was not flying the plane but was catching a ride back to Boston for an important birthday party. Jeff told Stanley everything he wanted to know about how planes fly and how much he likes his job. Stanley enjoyed the trip very much and even considered learning how to fly planes himself one day!

After waiting a couple of hours in Boston, Stanley got on his next flight that same night to London, England! He got to watch Bee Movie during the flight which he really liked!

From the movie, he learned that unlike planes: "according to the law of aerodynamics a bumble bee cannot fly. Its body is too heavy in proportion to its wings. The bumble bee does not know that it is not supposed to be able to fly, and so it goes ahead and flies anyway."

San Francisco Bay Area

Stanley arrived in San Francisco at night and the lights were beautiful! He crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County where he would be staying.

The next day, Thursday February 7th, he rested.

On Friday the 8th, he took the Golden Gate Transit Bus back across the bridge into the City of San Francisco.

He got off the bus on Van Ness Avenue. He walked in the thick fog (brrrr.... not much warmer than Jamaica Plain!) to the shore of the San Francisco Bay. There he found Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.

Ghirardelli is the famous chocolate maker. They have a Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in Ghiradelli Square. There he ate a Hot Fudge Sundae for energy and drank a mug of hot chocolate to warm him up! The he started walking again.

He continued walking along the shore, all the way down under the Bay Bridge (the bridge goes to the East Bay: places like Berkeley and Oakland) until he got to the new baseball stadium. This is where the San Francisco Giants play! Too bad it was February and there was no game to see or balls to catch coming over the wall!

After a long day and a lot of walking, Stanley was tired! He took the Ferry from Terminal at the end of Market Street back to Marin County.

The Ferry passes Alcatraz Island, Sausalito and Tiburon landing in Larkspur.

After a delicious dinner of Mexican food, he slept very well!

Stanley Leaves Jamaica Plain

On Wednesday, February 6th 2008, Lisa's Flat Stanley left the beautiful town of Jamaica Plain. He was a little sad to leave his friends. He was also a little sad because Jamaica Plain is a very nice place to live.

It has a lot of trees and a beautiful pond. It has a park to play baseball and a tot-lot with countless toys for kids. The people who live there are very kind and neighborly.


But, since it was very cold this February in Jamaica Plain, he was also sort of glad to get going.

And he was excited about his trip that would take him to Africa! He started by taking the 39 bus to the T's Green Line. Then he took the Green Line to the Blue Line. Then he took the Blue Line to Logan Airport. There, he got on a flight to San Francisco, California, where he landed at night.