Diamond Safari

## Stats

**Diamond Safari** is the 22nd episode of the series *The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures* that aired on May 16, 1998. The setting in this episode is Africa.

## Summary

Emily and Alexander watch the sunrise over Serengeti Plain, in Tanganyika, Africa. Emily is excited, especially since their cousin Sue is their guide, claiming nobody knows Africa better than she does. Sue slides down a rocky slope, and so does Emily and Alexander follows. Sue catches Emily, but Alexander isn't so lucky and he falls on the ground. A lion growl scares Emily and Alexander up a tree, and a lion cub up a tree also scares Sue. The cub chases them around, eventually just chasing Alexander. They go to a pond where the lion runs away, because a hippo in the water that also startles Alexander. The mice meet each other again and Emily finds Dark Mountain just behind the place, Sue remarks that nobody goes there as the Masai people believe a great spirit there protects the country.

Sue then shows them to a circle of huts where her friend Tumaini lives. There, they find Tumaini and two others arguing over a picture. She demands the two boys to let go, so they do which makes her fall to the ground, and they laugh menancingly. Tumaini tells the mice that her friends say that she should go live with the spirits on Dark Mountain, and looking at the picture that shows she's taller, she hates being different. Sue says that being different makes life fun, and Alexander says that she is beautiful the way she is, like a beautiful giraffe. That saying makes Tumaini cry. She runs out onto the road unintentionally and a car passing by stops before he could hit her. Sue states that the person driving is de Klerk, a diamond miner. Wondering what is he doing, the three catch a ride on his car.

He goes over to a tent and table, viewing Dark Mountain in a telescope. The mice have a closer look and according to Alexander, he reads on a survey map that there could be something valuable underneath the mountain. And sure enough, de Klerk plots to blow the mountain up, and throws a stick of dynamite in the water to test it out. Emily suggests they tell Tumaini, as word will get out in the village and his plan should be foiled. The mice go back and call for Tumaini, but all they see is a note left by her, written in Swahili. Sue translates and it reads that she ran away and doesn't want anyone to find her. Emily bets that she went to hide in Dark Mountain, which is in jeopardy as de Klerk begins planting his boxes of dynamite. The mice begin their adventure, and they get in the way of a snake. It chases Sue, so Sue makes it tie itself up to a tree.

They get to the cave opening where no sight of de Klerk is seen other than a footprint. Suddenly a bat comes soaring out and Alexander and both the bat think that the Spirit had gotten them, they are scared until they calm down. When they do, they introduce themselves and the bat introduces himself too, as Bongo. He insists they relax a while, but they hear an explosion followed by a cry for help from Tumaini, so they get back on their feet. Bongo flies after them too, as he claims he knows the mountain best. They find Tumaini trapped in a pile of rocks. Alexander moves the right stone, and all the rocks fall which free her. He also has another idea to find de Klerk, by finding diamonds inside kimberlite which could prove that de Klerk is nearby. When they try climbing a platform to get across flowing water, another blast happens and everyone falls in the water, except Sue who saves herself. Bongo pitches in to save them using his radar ears, as they flow down. Alexander and Emily get in a leaf much like a boat, but they and Tumaini get split apart at a fork.

Luckily, they get back on her route and fall down a waterfall. But they aren't out of the worst yet, as their next danger is a whirlpool. Alexander is too small to reach the ledge that'll save them, but Tumaini is just the right size and she saves them both. Sue and Bongo find them again, when Alexander finds kimberlite, and where there's diamonds, there's de Klerk. Sure enough, they find him, and he lights a dynamite fuses. Tumaini and Sue run to the clearing of the cave, while Alexander, Emily and Bongo quickly put out the fuses. But one dynamite stick explodes, however thanks to Bongo they fly out safely. But they hear de Klerk's voice, and they worry that one more explosion could bring the entire mountain down. Tumaini wishes there were an actual spirit to scare him away, giving Emily an idea to use a scary mask back in the village. They create a spirit that at first frightens de Klerk, but it falls apart and Tumaini is exposed. However, just as de Klerk grabs Tumaini, a larger and frightening shadow appears on the wall. De Klerk thinks it is just a trick, so he marches to see it and runs away horrified, and so do the heroes when they realize that nobody there is pretending to be the spirit. Tumaini tells her friends the story, and they love her and want to go play with her. Alexander finds a rock and it cracks, unveiling a diamond, but unfortunately, they are unable to tell anyone which Alexander finds awful. Though, Emily reminds him that there's something more valuable than diamonds: friends.

## Trivia

* When the spirit shadow appears, Tumaini is barefoot as her sandals disappeared. Though, they reappear on her feet when she and the mice run out of the cave.
* Dark Mountain is seemingly a fictional place in this episode.