0:10

Hello, and welcome back to Koala

0:12

Moon, a podcast of original

0:15

children's bedtime stories and meditations

0:18

designed to make bedtime a dream.

0:22

Before we get started on our safari

0:24

adventure, I want to wish a very happy

0:27

birthday to Sage from Ohio,

0:29

and I also want to welcome into

0:31

the Coco Club Sella from New

0:33

York City, August, Oliver

0:36

and Porter in Guam, Ivy

0:39

love from I Beitha Kobe

0:41

from Bridge End, and Andrew in Morgantown.

0:44

We're delighted to hear from so many of you.

0:46

I love all your names too, Coco,

0:49

and I think you'll agree that our stories are

0:51

just getting better and better, and that's

0:54

all thanks to your support. Tonight,

0:58

you're in for a

0:59

two course.

1:02

Tail wagging treat.

1:03

In fact, yes, we

1:05

are about to catch up with our best

1:08

bouncy doggie duo Hector and Sonny

1:10

as they head off on holiday, but

1:12

not to New York this time, all

1:15

the way to Africa, to

1:17

Kenya, to be precise. They

1:19

cannot wait to see all the animals

1:22

there, so their new friend mir

1:24

the Mirka takes them out straight away

1:27

on a moonlit safari. As

1:30

I was saying, this story is part

1:32

one of a two parter. To

1:35

listen to the rest of Hector and Sonny's

1:37

Kenyan adventures, go to Koala,

1:39

Shine and Hit follow the

1:42

new episode. Will be ready for you first thing

1:44

on Saturday morning, and apparently

1:47

our doggy duo get into all sorts

1:49

of sticky situations in

1:52

our story tonight. However, you'll

1:54

be happy to know that everything stays

1:57

calm and sleepy. So

2:00

let's get ready by lying back in bed

2:03

and relaxing your body as much as you

2:05

can. Close

2:07

your eyes if you wish, and your mouth

2:10

and breathe in through your nose, feeling

2:13

your chest fill up and

2:17

then let all the air out again.

2:23

Breathe in again.

2:26

And sighet out.

2:30

Keep breathing in and out whilst

2:32

gently moving around and

2:35

letting the different parts of your body relax

2:38

and melt into the mattress beneath

2:40

you. Lovely,

2:43

I think you're ready and it's time to

2:46

be reunited with our pals.

2:48

Let's begin. Hector and

2:50

Sunny's Moonlit Safari

2:53

by Luke Prendergast.

3:02

Several months had.

3:03

Passed since Hector the Golden Retriever

3:05

and Sonny the Spaniel had gone on holiday

3:08

to New York City. They

3:10

still dreamt about it now, packing

3:13

their bags, traveling with

3:15

Hector's dad to the airport, looking

3:18

out of the plane window at all

3:20

the puffy white marshmallow clouds,

3:24

and then of course, discovering

3:27

beneath the city the topsy

3:29

turvy dog's paradise of

3:31

chew York City, where

3:34

absolutely everything was

3:36

a chewy toy. Hector

3:39

and Sonny found themselves drooling

3:42

just.

3:42

Thinking about it. Yep,

3:45

it was heaven.

3:48

Their trip to New York City might have been

3:50

the only real holiday the dogs had ever

3:52

been on, but there was no doubt about

3:54

it. It was the best holiday

3:57

that had ever happened ever

4:00

up and now they

4:02

were ready for another adventure.

4:06

Whenever Hector's dad asked them playfully

4:09

if they fancied going on holiday again,

4:11

they would bark and yip and run

4:14

around the kitchen to let him

4:16

know that yes, they absolutely

4:18

did, But no plan ever

4:21

actually materialized. Then

4:24

one afternoon, Hector and

4:26

Sonny came in from the garden, where

4:29

they'd spent a good few hours chasing

4:31

their own tails in circles and getting

4:33

into knots, to discover

4:35

that Hector's dad had taken

4:37

the suitcases out of the big cupboard

4:40

where he stored them.

4:43

We're going on holiday again, he

4:45

told them, a big beaming smile

4:48

breaking out across his face. Your

4:51

owner's coming along too, Sonny. Our

4:54

old friend Sylvie's from Kenya

4:56

and she's invited us out to visit,

4:59

So we're going on safari.

5:03

Safari.

5:05

Hector and Sunny exchanged curious

5:07

looks. They'd never heard

5:09

that word before, safari,

5:13

and they didn't know what it meant, but

5:15

they sure were looking forward to finding out.

5:19

So they packed their bags, each making

5:21

sure to remember their sunglasses.

5:24

Hector's dad told them it would be hot

5:26

where they were going, their doggie

5:29

brushes and plenty of chew

5:31

toys just in case they found

5:33

a few minutes of time to spare

5:36

here and there. Then

5:38

they all got an early night, squeezing

5:41

their eyes tightly shut and

5:44

willing themselves to sleep. In

5:46

spite of all the excitement they were

5:48

feeling. That night,

5:51

their dreams were filled with airplanes

5:55

zigzagging across a tiny

5:57

earth. The

5:59

flight took almost ten hours,

6:02

so even though they left first thing

6:04

in the morning, before the dawn

6:06

sun had even broken over the horizon,

6:09

it was late afternoon when they landed

6:11

in Nairobi, the capital city

6:14

of Kenya. As

6:16

soon as Hector and Sonny stepped

6:18

down off the plane, they got hit

6:20

by a wall of heat.

6:23

The air seemed to vibrate

6:25

thickly with it. When

6:28

they picked up their suitcases from

6:30

the giant conveyor belt, Hector

6:33

loved, grabbing hold of the handles with his

6:35

teeth and dragging them off. They

6:37

jumped in a car. They

6:39

were heading. Hector's dad told

6:42

them for a town an hour

6:44

or so away called Naivasha, which

6:46

was where his friend Sylvie lived. We're

6:49

going to be driving through the Great

6:51

Rift Valley, Hector's

6:54

dad said from the front seat. Hector

6:57

and Sonny glanced at each other, the

7:01

Great Rift Valley?

7:03

What was that?

7:06

Soon enough they found out.

7:09

The car left the busy road and

7:11

began to climb up a big hill.

7:15

When they reached the crest of it, the

7:17

land on the other side fell away into

7:20

the hugest valley they could ever

7:22

have imagined. For miles

7:25

and miles and miles,

7:28

As far as the eye could see,

7:30

green savannah unrolled

7:33

beside them, punctuated

7:35

here and there by solitary mountains,

7:38

flat topped hills, clumps

7:41

of trees. They could

7:43

even see a storm in the distance.

7:46

A black mass of clouds with

7:48

ribbons of rain falling out from

7:50

beneath it, traveling on the

7:52

winds.

7:53

Through the valley.

7:56

The Great Rift Valley, Sonny's

7:58

mum told them, was created millions

8:01

of years ago when tectonic

8:03

plates deep beneath the Earth's

8:05

surface rumbled and drifted

8:07

apart. Back

8:10

then, the drift caused

8:12

earthquakes and volcanoes to

8:14

form, which became the mountains

8:16

they could still see, and also

8:19

caused a huge valley to be created.

8:23

The valley stretched all the.

8:24

Way from Egypt way up

8:27

north to Mozambique,

8:29

far in the south. Now

8:32

it had grown so lush with trees

8:35

and grasses that it was home

8:37

to many of the world's most wonderful

8:39

wildlife, which was

8:42

why she said they were

8:44

coming here to go on safari.

8:48

Occasionally, as they drove, Hector

8:51

and Sunny thought they could see little

8:53

shapes moving across the valley,

8:56

but they were far too far away to see

8:58

properly. Here

9:01

we are, Hector's dad announced.

9:03

As they pulled up to a house on the outskirts

9:06

of a town. The

9:08

sun was just setting. The

9:11

sky had dipped from blue

9:13

to lilac and was filled

9:16

with puffy, pink clouds. When

9:19

Hector and Sonny hopped out of the

9:21

car, they could hear the sounds of

9:24

insects buzzing in the big

9:26

leafy trees that sprung up

9:28

around the house. Just

9:31

then, a woman in blue jeans

9:34

and white t shirt stepped out

9:36

of the house. This must

9:39

be their friend, Sylvie.

9:42

She gave Sonny's mum and Hector's

9:44

dad a big hug, and

9:46

then from behind her stepped

9:49

a creature that neither Hector nor

9:51

Sunny had ever seen before.

9:54

She looked kind of like a weasel,

9:57

they supposed, or an otter,

10:00

except she walked on her two

10:03

back legs. Hullo,

10:07

she said, giving the dogs a wave. I'm

10:10

Mera the Merekat. I

10:13

live here with Sylvie. You

10:15

two must be Hector and Sonny.

10:19

Hector and Sonnie told Mira it was

10:21

good to meet her, and Mira

10:23

replied that it was nice to meet them

10:26

too. Their

10:28

owners had already climbed the steps

10:31

to the verandah that circled Sylvie's

10:33

house. The two of them

10:36

stepped inside and the door

10:38

hung open behind them, But

10:41

instead of following them inside,

10:43

Mira the Merekhat gave the

10:46

two dogs a big grin. I

10:50

know it's almost night time, she

10:52

said, But I was wondering

10:55

if, as it's your first evening

10:57

in Kenya, you two wanted

11:00

to join me on a little bit

11:02

of an adventure. Both

11:05

Hector and Sonny's ears pricked. Neither

11:08

of them could ever resist the suggestion

11:10

of an adventure. What

11:15

kind of adventure? Sonny

11:17

asked, Have you

11:20

ever heard of Lake Knivasha?

11:23

Mira asked Sonny,

11:25

shook her head and looked at Hector

11:27

inquisitively. He shook

11:30

his head too, No,

11:32

they said, what's that? Lake

11:36

Naivasha is what gives

11:38

its name to this town. It's

11:41

a huge lake, as big as

11:43

a sea, and it's not very

11:45

far away. We can take

11:48

a walk there. There are so

11:50

many wonderful things to see and

11:52

call animals to meet. So she

11:55

concluded with a little wink and a

11:57

twitch of her nose.

11:59

What do you say?

12:01

Hector and Sonny answered in a flash,

12:04

we say yes. Mira

12:07

clicked her fingers and time

12:09

froze for their owners. That

12:12

way, they wouldn't even notice that they were

12:14

gone. It seemed

12:16

Mira had a little bit of magic around

12:18

her. Sonny was

12:21

beginning to think she was Kenya's

12:23

version a Sydney the squirrel.

12:26

Mira beckoned the two dogs with her

12:28

little black paw.

12:31

This way, she said.

12:34

Hector and Sonny followed Mira through

12:36

some dense hedges until

12:39

they broke out into a big field

12:41

on the other side.

12:43

Here and there, across the meadow

12:46

grew clumps of huge trees,

12:49

their yellow trunks spent in jagged

12:52

angles so that it looked

12:54

like they were leaning over. Their

12:57

branches fanned out on top

13:00

into a flat canopy of leaves, so

13:02

that they looked like palms raised

13:05

flat to the sky. What

13:09

are those trees called, asked

13:11

Hector. We don't have any

13:14

trees anything like that at home.

13:18

Those are called acacia trees,

13:21

Mira said. They're all

13:23

over Kenya. But

13:25

I suppose that the trees back

13:27

at your home would look completely

13:30

strange to me. Hector

13:33

frowned and then nodded his head.

13:36

They'd never thought about it like that before.

13:40

They were walking towards one such

13:42

group of acacia trees when all

13:44

of a sudden, Sonny jumped

13:47

and grabbed hold of Hector. What's

13:50

the matter, Hector asked

13:52

her. Well, the

13:55

thing is, Sonny said,

13:57

her voice quivering a little countries

14:00

and can you move? Hector

14:04

wrinkled his nose. What

14:07

do you mean, why

14:09

are you asking a question like that, because,

14:14

Sonny said, pointing ahead of her.

14:17

That tree there, it seems to

14:19

be moving. Hector

14:22

looked and saw that.

14:24

Sonny was right. One

14:26

of the trees had dislodged itself

14:28

from the ground and appeared

14:31

to be walking in rolling gate

14:33

across to another tree

14:37

beside them. Mirror the merecat

14:39

descended into ripples of laughter.

14:43

No, no, no, no, she

14:45

said, that's not a tree,

14:49

that's a giraffe. But

14:52

you're right, she added, from

14:55

a distance, their long necks

14:57

and brown and yellow coat do

15:00

make them look a bit like acacia

15:03

trees. Sonny,

15:06

who had recovered herself, gave

15:08

a little smile. Had

15:10

some good camouflage.

15:13

She said, Can we go and

15:15

meet the giraffe?

15:18

We sure can, said

15:20

Mirah. Mirah

15:22

led them up to the giraffe, who was

15:24

now stretching his long neck to

15:27

pluck some leaves from the acacia

15:29

tree. Mira cleared

15:31

her throat and said, n

15:35

hey, there, twigger, from

15:38

way way up high.

15:41

The giraffe looked down at the noise.

15:44

He continued to chew the leaf

15:46

he'd plucked from the tree, his

15:49

jaw swinging back and

15:51

forth. Then he took

15:54

a big gulp. Hector

15:57

thought he could see the leaf travel

15:59

all all the way down

16:02

the giraffe's long neck, and

16:06

began to speak to them. Oh,

16:10

hello, Mirah, I

16:13

didn't see you the way

16:15

down there. I

16:18

guess my eyesight

16:21

isn't quite as good as

16:23

it used to be. Mira

16:26

pointed up at the sky. Or

16:30

it's just getting dark, she

16:32

said. Twigger

16:34

the giraffe blinked at the sky, then

16:38

nodded at her.

16:40

You're right, that

16:43

must be it. And

16:47

who are these two?

16:49

He asked, now blinking

16:52

at Hector and Sonny. These

16:55

are my new pals from England,

16:58

Mira explained and

17:01

Sonny. Hector

17:03

and Sonny introduced themselves to

17:05

Twiger and told him that they'd

17:07

never met a giraffe before on

17:10

all of their exciting travels.

17:13

Tweiger told them that he'd never met

17:15

dogs like them before either, jackals,

17:19

yes, and spotted hyenas,

17:21

but never any dogs with coats

17:24

such as gleaming and Golden as

17:26

theirs. This made

17:29

Hector and Sonny both feel

17:31

very chuffed. Indeed, then

17:34

Tweger looked up into the acacia

17:36

tree and.

17:38

Sighed, Oh,

17:41

I'm trying to.

17:43

Reach that leaf, he

17:46

said, but I

17:49

just can't get it, And

17:53

as though to demonstrate, the

17:56

extra tall giraffe went

17:58

up on the tips of his hoof hooves

18:01

and stretched his long neck as

18:03

long as it would go and stuck

18:05

his long, rough tongue

18:07

out as far as he could, but

18:10

still he could

18:12

not reach the leaf. Twigger

18:16

gave a big sigh. See,

18:21

Hector gave a little yip.

18:24

We can help.

18:24

We were that, he said, You

18:28

can, asked Twiger.

18:31

And then Hector explained how once

18:34

upon a time he and Sonny

18:36

had gone on an adventure to the Amazon

18:39

rainforest, where they'd met a

18:41

friendly jaguar called Claws,

18:43

and Claws had taught them how to

18:46

climb trees, which was

18:48

usually the kind of thing only cats and

18:50

not dogs could do. Look,

18:54

said Hector, and he extended

18:56

the claws of his foot, and

18:59

in a moment he'd climbed all the

19:01

way up the acacia tree, plucked

19:04

the succulent looking leaf from the branch

19:06

and dropped it into Twiger's open

19:08

mouth. Wow,

19:12

said Tweger, as Hector resumed his

19:14

place back on solid ground. Thank

19:18

you,

19:20

You're very welcome, Hector

19:22

said. Mirah

19:25

told Twiger that she was going to show Hector

19:27

and Sunny the lake before true darkness

19:30

fell, and so they waved

19:32

goodbye to the giraffe and went on

19:34

their way. The

19:36

sky had faded from lilac

19:39

to a deep dark blue,

19:42

and the cicaders were making their

19:44

chirruping sounds all around them.

19:48

They walked through the meadow where

19:50

herds of in parlor an antelope

19:53

with their beautiful curved horns,

19:55

folded their legs and laid

19:57

their heads down to rest for the night.

20:01

They passed a couple of zebras, who

20:03

swished their tails to say hello.

20:06

Then at last they

20:09

saw it. The lake mirror

20:13

was right. It was huge,

20:16

a broad, glittering disk

20:19

of water in which the

20:21

purple clouds were reflected

20:23

and wabbled back and forth

20:27

all along the water's edge. Small

20:30

trees bowed down as

20:33

if to drink from the surface, and

20:36

in the distance, far away,

20:38

on the other side of the lake, they

20:41

could see the dark silhouettes

20:43

of mountains. Welcome

20:47

to Lake Naivasha, Mira,

20:51

said Hector

20:53

and Sunny, who for a moment

20:56

were left speechless, finally

20:58

managed to find their and

21:01

told her it was one of the most beautiful

21:03

they had ever seen. Do

21:06

you fancy a dip, Mirror

21:09

asked them.

21:11

Well, they sure did.

21:14

Come on, then, mir said,

21:16

scurrying towards the water. Just

21:19

watch out for any hippos. Hippos,

21:24

Sonny repeated. Just

21:27

then a noise came from

21:29

the water. A huge

21:32

dark shape was rising

21:34

out of the surface. They

21:36

could see big nostrils, gray

21:39

skin, and two little

21:41

beady eyes. It

21:44

was a humongous hippopotamus.

21:47

The hippo gave a big snort, which

21:50

sprayed water up into the air,

21:53

and then yawned a big yawn,

21:56

showing them all its huge set

21:58

of teeth. Here up,

22:01

said Mirah, laughing. Hippos,

22:05

they can be pretty grumpy, she

22:08

explained, so it's best

22:10

not to get in their way.

22:12

Come this way.

22:15

Mira led them along the lakeside,

22:18

away from where the hippo was bathing

22:20

in the muddy shallows. Here's

22:22

good, she said, and

22:25

then she performed a graceful little

22:27

dive and slipped beneath the

22:29

surface of the silvery water. It

22:34

didn't take Hector and Sunny long to

22:36

follow after, and soon

22:39

enough they were all swimming and

22:41

splashing about in Lake Naivasha.

22:45

Mira showed them how she liked

22:47

to dive down and run her

22:49

fingers through the dense reeds

22:52

that grew at the bottom of the lake, and

22:54

Hector and Sonny taught her their

22:57

favorite swimming stroke, doggie

23:00

paddle. At

23:03

last, they simply lay

23:05

on their backs, floating on

23:07

the warm water, looking

23:10

up at the stars twinkling in the

23:12

sky. The

23:14

moon was out now, a

23:16

milky crescent moon that

23:18

looked like a smile, and

23:21

which spilled its light down onto

23:23

the water. So it seemed

23:26

that the lake had been transformed

23:29

into liquid silver. It

23:32

was so utterly tranquil,

23:35

with the strange sounds of unknown

23:38

birds twittering and cooing

23:40

unseen in the trees, and

23:43

the water lapping gently

23:45

against the shore, that Hector

23:48

and Sunny began to

23:50

feel very tired. Indeed,

23:55

come on, then, you two, Mira

23:58

said, as she heard the dogs

24:00

begin to yawn. Time

24:03

to get you back home and

24:05

to bed. They

24:08

clambered out of Late Naivasha,

24:11

shook the water off their coats,

24:13

and headed back the way they came.

24:17

It was almost completely dark now.

24:20

The acacia trees were shadowy shapes

24:23

that only appeared when you got near

24:25

them, And every now

24:28

and then they'd come across a sleeping

24:30

herd of animals, and they'd

24:32

have to creep around them very

24:35

carefully. Indeed, Finally

24:39

they reached the end of the meadow where

24:41

they could pass back through to Sylvie's

24:44

house. But just

24:46

as they were passing beneath an acacia

24:49

tree, they heard a low

24:51

growling voice.

24:54

Well, good evening

24:57

there. Hector,

25:00

Sonny and Mirah looked up into

25:02

the acacia tree and were a

25:04

little surprised to see a huge

25:06

cat lying on one of the branches,

25:09

with its long tail hanging down

25:12

and curling into a little point.

25:16

Well, hello, Lyra, Mira

25:19

said, I didn't see

25:21

there. Lyra

25:23

the leopard gave a twist of

25:25

her tail that

25:28

she said is rather

25:32

the intention. Leopards,

25:35

she told them, were shy and solitary

25:38

creatures. They preferred

25:40

to keep out of sight, hidden

25:42

in shadowy places and up

25:44

in the secret boughs of trees. But

25:49

you know, she added, it's

25:53

rather peaceful up here. Would

25:56

you like to come and see.

26:00

Hector, Sonny and Mirah

26:02

said that they would indeed, and

26:05

up they climbed to perch in

26:07

the branches next to Lyra

26:09

the Leopard. She

26:11

was right, it was very

26:14

peaceful up here, where they

26:16

could see the night time savannah

26:18

stretching out before them. Mira

26:22

told Lyra that she'd just taken

26:25

Hector and Sonny on their first

26:27

little safari before their

26:29

proper one the next day. Safari,

26:34

Sonny said, remembering the word

26:36

from when Hector's dad had used it back

26:38

home.

26:39

What does that mean, safari,

26:44

ah,

26:47

Lyra pairred.

26:49

Safari is a Swahili

26:52

word meaning journey.

26:56

So whenever you're moving

26:59

through the sava here going

27:02

on a journey through the landscape,

27:05

well you're going

27:08

on safari. Hector

27:12

and Sonny were both very pleased

27:14

to have learnt the meaning of this new

27:16

word. To thank Lyra

27:19

for teaching them, Hector poured

27:21

out a bag of dog treats, which

27:23

he had tucked beneath his collar just

27:25

in case he got peckish.

27:28

He passed the.

27:29

Bag around and all four

27:31

of them chewed merrily on the treats

27:34

as they watched the big pale

27:36

moon hang in the sky like

27:38

a lantern. My

27:42

my, Lyra paird

27:45

let me tell you, these

27:49

treats are some of the most

27:51

delicious things I have ever

27:54

tasted.

27:56

I don't think there's a big.

27:59

Cat in all of Kenya

28:02

who wouldn't like the taste of

28:04

these. Thank

28:06

you. Hector

28:09

said that she was very welcome. They

28:12

sat in the acacia tree for a

28:14

few minutes longer, nibbling

28:17

on treats and chatting to

28:19

their new friend, Lyra the

28:22

leopard. Then Sonny

28:25

let.

28:26

Out a very large.

28:28

Yawn indeed, and

28:30

they knew it was time to go

28:32

back home. They

28:35

said their goodbyes and climbed

28:37

down the tree. As

28:40

they walked back to Sylvie's house,

28:42

they felt like they were falling asleep

28:45

on their feet. It

28:47

had been a very long day,

28:49

indeed, flying

28:52

all the way from England to

28:54

Kenya and being

28:56

taken on their first ever

28:59

minuture safari. Hector

29:02

and Sunny were ever so

29:04

grateful to Mirror for that. The

29:08

pleasure is all mine,

29:11

Mira said. And

29:14

when they got back to Sylvie's house

29:17

and time unfroze, their

29:20

owners were amused by the animal's

29:22

sleepy yawns and tired blinks.

29:25

They commented that the dogs must

29:28

have been tied out from the plane journey.

29:31

Knowing nothing about the late

29:34

night safari, they just enjoyed

29:38

As their owners chatted. Hector,

29:41

Sonny and Mirror tucked

29:43

themselves up on the verandah

29:46

outside in the warm

29:48

Naivasha air. Good

29:51

Night Sonny, good night

29:54

Mirror. Hector said, stretching

29:57

his toes and letting out a

29:59

yawn. And good night,

30:01

Hector Sonny said, Sleep

30:05

well, both of you, Mira

30:07

told them, for tomorrow

30:10

we go on an adventure safari,

30:13

and it is important that you're

30:15

both well rested. And

30:19

so the three of them

30:22

close their eyes, the

30:24

smell of honeysuckle drifting

30:27

over the verandah, and

30:29

with the sound of the cicadas

30:32

as their bedtime lullaby, they

30:35

drifted off into

30:37

a deep and peaceful

30:40

sleep. Anything