This time Lewis the Lion was leaving from JFK Airport in New York. When he had checked his luggage in, he went for a traditional American breakfast: an egg and cheese sandwich with a coffee! Very filling but delicious!
As Lewis had not had the time to visit as much of New York as he would have liked, he had a look at the many gift shops and imagined that he’d seen some of the places instead, e.g. The Statue of Liberty.
He now had three flights ahead of him to get to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, all with the same Latin American airline – Taca International. That meant that most of the information was given in both Spanish and English. Lewis was going to have fun deciphering the Spanish on the safety instruction card, that’s for sure!
Before long, Lewis had arrived in San Salvador in El Salvador in Central America for his flight transfer to Lima in Peru. He knew it must be a hot country as he was nearing the Equator and he could see the sun shining and palm trees. It was much greener than he had imagined, as you can see from some of the photos taken out the aeroplane window.
At San Salvador airport, Lewis made a new friend: Mia, who was nearly 4 years old, along with her mum, Maria. They had travelled from Washington D.C. in America and were also heading to Lima so they could visit their family. Mia was a really clever girl as she could speak both Spanish and English.
However, more importantly, she was a very kind girl as she made sure that Lewis the Lion could look out of the window for the whole journey from San Salvador to Lima.
As the aeroplane climbed and climbed above El Salvador, Lewis the Lion’s heart was filled with joy as he saw for the first time in his little life, the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the biggest ocean in the world. As he looked upon it from above, it looked deceptively motionless, like a frozen blue lake with the sun glaring off it.
For all the sunshine outside the aeroplane, inside the aeroplane itself it felt very cold as cool air was blown in through the air conditioning. Lewis was again grateful for his layer of fur!
Late in the evening, they arrived in Lima, in Peru. Lewis had crossed the Equator for the first time in his little life and was now in the Southern Hemisphere! How exciting! He had never been so far away from home in his life.
On his transfer now to his final flight of the day to Rio de Janeiro, Lewis experienced his first cultural experience of South America: that of queuing or lack of it! At first there was a very organised queue for passengers arriving but it soon changed to a free-for-all as people drew closer to the security checking points! It was survival of the fittest! Lewis and Helen eventually managed to get through the process and were on the last bus to ferry them to the aeroplane that would take them to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Again, a wave of excitement, filled Lewis the Lion’s chest as he breathed in the Peruvian air and climbed the steps at the front of the aeroplane. He would look forward to coming back to Peru and visiting it properly at another time.
For now, he would do his best to sleep on this flight to Rio de Janeiro…
