What's with the flamingo?
THE STORY OF RODRIGO
Once upon a time early in the 20th century, there lived a girl in the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg who longed for something tacky to adorn her lawn. If she journeyed into the East Rand, garden gnomes were in abundance. If she went to the West, there were wagon wheel fences. And, in both, one could find letterboxes made to look like wooden barrels. Throughout her city, though, lawn flamingos remained rare and elusive.
(Yes, this was long before they became commonly available at the Crazy Store.)
One day, she journeyed to North America to sail one of the seven seas. While swimming off the quiet Island of Cozumel, Mexico, she met a scuba-diving instructor with crazy blue eyes named Rodrigo, who gave her some snorkelling advice. He also tried to convince her that his future happiness was based on the hope that she would one day return to the island and allow him to drive her into the sunset on his scooter.
Terrified that she had stepped into a bad romance novel, the girl fled the quiet seaside bar, never to return again (on that contract), unaware of the fact that she was leaving her beloved SPF 50 (and the secret to her non-tan) behind.
Upon her return to her ship's American home port, the girl set off to replace her much needed sunscreen. And there, in the discount section of Target, she found the lawn flamingo she had always wanted. She named him after the very forward Mexican guy, and the pair set off across the sea to the Bahamas and inland through the USA, in search of adventure and the two-storey Barbie house at the Toys R Us in Times Square (which they found).
They then travelled throughout Europe, held up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, watched the sunset from the Eiffel Tower, crossed the London Bridge, visited the Vatican and befriended obscene gnomes in Germany.
Their tamer adventures in South Africa consisted mostly of surviving a particularly wild house cat.
After visiting six of the seven continents (bypassing Antarctica, it's cold, no one needs to go there), Sharon intends to take Rodrigo to Cozumel, to find that scuba-diving instructor who inspired the shopping trip that resulted in his purchase, allow him to drive them around the island on his scooter and see if he remembers her after all.
You can follow Rodrigo on Instagram here.
Countries and Territories this Travel Toy has Visited so Far:
- The USA
- The Bahamas
- The Turks and Caicos
- South Africa
- England
- France
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Germany
- Italy
- The Vatican City
- Greece
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Czech Republic
- Belgium
- The Netherlands
- Mozambique
- St. Maarten (The Netherlands / France)
- U.S Virgin Islands (USA)
- Anguilla (Britain)
- Mexico
- Jamaica
- Honduras
- Belize
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- The Azores (Portugal)
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Russia
- Finland
- Sweden
- Norway
- Ireland
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- The British Virgin Islands
- Zimbabwe
- Bermuda
- Canada
- Antigua & Barbuda
- St. Lucia
- Martinique (France)
- Puerto Rico (USA)
- Barbados
- St. Kitts & Nevis
- Aruba
- Curacao
- Bonaire
- Grenada
- Guadalupe
- Cuba
- India
- Namibia
- Mauritius
#FindRodrigo
Be sure to look for Rodrigo near well-known international landmarks. Even if you don't spot him, if you find yourself in a place he has visited before, you may discover one of these:
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| Wynwood, Miami |
(The QR code on them will direct you to this page.)
Oh, and click here to find out more about travel mascots and Rodrigo's friends.
