It's been quite an adventure for four-year-old Maelle Ferradini and her toy turtle,Torticolis. In August they travelled with Maelle's family to Ecuador, as part of a year-long around the world trip.

Three weeks after leaving Canada, Maelle discovered Tortioclis was missing. The family thought the toy turtle may have been eaten by a dog.

Image | Maelle Ferradini rides a llama in Ecuador

Caption: Maelle Ferradini rides a llama in Ecuador. (Courtesy of Benoit Ferradini)

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​Maelle was heart-broken.

"It was important for her because it was not only a toy, it was her house, her bedroom as well," said her father, Benoit Ferradini.

The family travelled on to Argentina and Chile, where they found a toy penguin to replace Torticolis. Months later Ferradini received an email from the owner of the Ecuadorian hostel. Torticolis had been found.

That's when recovery efforts began. The hostel owner brought the turtle to Saskatoon. Ferradini contacted a colleague in Regina, who found someone in Saskatoon. The lost turtle, in fact, spent some time in the CBC Saskatoon newsroom before being sent to Vancouver. A family friend is now going to bring Torticolis to Thailand, when she visits the Ferradinis in December.

"Everything was over in 20 minutes. It was a very short recovery effort, but a very good team," said Ferradini.