Shifting Sand Land - In the Talons of the Big Bird

Shifting Sand Land is the 8th Course.
N64
To the left of Lethal Lava Land, in a rippling stone wall is Shifting Sand Land. This course is a desert, complete with Egyptian themed music and a pyramid. There are several patches of quicksand to be aware of: the small circular patches we can escape from and the instant death patches in the maze and surrounding the pyramid. What we have to do here is snatch the Star from Klepto the Condor (mentioned in one of the messages we got). He flies around the course, circling the pillars around the pyramid a few times. I tried to take short cuts to the pillar near the oasis at the end of the maze, but fell in quicksand and died three times. On Take 4, I walked carefully through the maze of Tox Boxes. They will flatten you, taking three bars of health if they land on you on the flat sides. There is an alcove within them that is safe to hide in while you wait for them to pass. Watch them carefully and memorize which squares they land on when the alcove is on the bottom side. (The squares never change.) After I got out of the maze (you can wait for Klepto near any of the pillars, preferably not the one in the instant death quicksand) I waited for Klepto to appear near the pillar by the oasis. I waited until his shadow was over Mario, then jumped to knock the Star out of his talons. The Star landed between the two pillars.
Star Get #60, 1 Coin, 20 Lives

Nintendo DS
I decided to use Yoshi this time, to use his tongue to reach the Star more easily. We can see the location of the Star and Klepto on the Touch Screen map. We released the Star over the pillar near the circular quicksand that occasionally creates a tornado. The Star flies between the pillars on the other side of the pyramid. I took a hit from a Snifit. We went through the Tox Box Maze to the oasis and got the Star between the two pillars.
Star Get #67, 1 Coin, 4 Lives