8“Look at this!” Mom said a few hours later, pointing to a bird just a few feet away. It was a beautiful bird, with orange and black feathers and what looked like a Mohawk hairdo. “A hoopoe!” Mom struggled to get out her camera. But the hoopoe flew away. “Something it does with its crown is supposed to signify a change in weather.”
“I don’t want a change of weather,” I said. “Just a change of food.”
“You got that right,” said Mom.
“Check it out!” I pointed towards a small, roughly carved statue of a woman with her legs open. “Why is there a statue in the middle of nowhere?”
“To protect us,” Lama said. “When we cross the river.”
I immediately saw what he meant – a bridge that looked as if it was held up by huge wooden clothespins.
“I go first,” he said. “No problem.”
Mom insisted on
