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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Back home in South Africa

We left Nairobi at 16h00 on Thursday, arrived in Johannesburg four hours later,  overnighted at a hotel and caught the first flight on Friday morning to Bloemfontein. This is the nearest city to our home town of Marquard.



On Friday morning, the sun rose as we took off over Johannesburg. I managed to photograph the beautiful, soft early morning rays on the wing tip and clouds below

Albie's kennels, where Shadow's been boarding for 100 days, is a mere three kilometers from the airport. So our first stop was to collect our kitty who'd crept into Albie's heart that she said we should actually buy him back from her!

Back home, as soon as I opened the cat travel cage in our bedroom, Shadow crept out (cat's are naturally cautious, but he was even more so!) and began to sniff all around the room. By last night he'd remembered everything he left three months ago and had settled in so well, that he spent the night sleeping on my head!

Once again, Shadow has taken up his position as my shadow! I couldn't get a photo of him, as he'd constantly rub against my legs or as in the photo above, up against the camera lens 

Chip, our second oldest cat at twelve years old,  didn't forget us either. She jumped into Grant's arms and purred and rubbed her head against his face

Tigger, (ginger cat in the foreground) who turned fifteen last month, still spritely and also remembered us, although it took him quite a few hours longer to approach us. Angie, our black Labrador rescue dog, soaks up the sun while waiting for her evening snack of dog biscuits

Megan in serious need of grooming, and Eddie sit and wait for their cookies. All three the dogs were ecstatic when we arrived home and it took some juggling to pat each one over and over again, while they wriggled, squealed and wagged their tails with happiness

Felix calls for food while his brother, Puff hides out of sight around the corner. They also took a while to come forward and greet us, but now they hang around us whenever we're outdoors

14 comments:

  1. Oh, Jo, I'm so happy to see these pictures! Give Shadow a big hug from me.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  2. You certainly had the very best kind of welcome to make you feel at home ;) Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! Big hug, Des xo

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  3. I know your babies are so happy to have you all home, finally. 100 days is a long, long time to be away from them, and I cannot even begin to imagine the vet boarding bill. Am glad they readjusted quickly and things are once again back to normal. The pictures of each of them are just wonderful. They were very cooperative with you and your camera. Welcome home!

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  4. Nice to get such a warm greeting from the menagerie. Everybody looks healthy. How long will you be home?

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  5. The pic of the aeroplane wing is similar to a recent post of mine, :-)


    looks like you were missed!

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  6. I'm sure the animals are all so delighted to have you back. Shadow will have an adventure when you return to Kenya with him. I think you said you were going to take him after he gets his travelling papers ;-)

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  7. Looks like you had a great welcome home by the dogs at least. The cats were probably thinking You go away and leave us and now you expect us to be excited.
    Welcome home.

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  8. WElcome Home! and what a greeting committee; the BEST kind!

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  9. Welcome Home Girl! I'm wagging MY tail toooo!! Where's MY treat??!!!
    Hahahaaaa.....I KNOW they missed tou two! Isn't it nice to come home?!!!
    hughugs

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  10. Awww, how happy your pets are to see you and Grant again! To dogs, you are their masters, but to cats, you are their staff. That's what I heard, anyway. I saw a YouTube video shot in an airport terminal of a golden retriever greeting his owner, a young woman soldier who had been in Afghanistan for 6+ months, and he was crying/whining and licking her the whole time. It was really touching. Pets have such a bond with their owners and vice versa.

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  11. I'm sure your doggies and kitties all welcomed you home. I am always happy to get home to see my Goldie Girl. Wonderful photos of all your pets.

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  12. Ah, so you are back home, I didn't know exactly when you would go back. What a warm welcome of your pet family ! and little Shadow who hasn't forgotten you at all. How long will you stay home ??

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  13. Welcome back in the good old R of SA.

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  14. No doubt all the pets are delighted to have you home, even for a short time.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo