But for those of you who wanted a Pet Update...
When the day finally came to say goodbye to the pets, I was a nervous wreck! I gave them the "relaxation" drugs recommended by the vet, drove them to the airport, and tried to keep them calm as we went through check-in and security. Bean was meowing and trying desperately to claw her way out of the crate, Flanny was huddled in the back of her crate with a wide-eyed look of terror, and Daisy just sat there, looking at me with her big, brown, watery eyes, head cocked to the side, with a look that said, "Why are you doing this to me?"
As I tearfully watched them wheel my babies away, I couldn't help but wonder - am I putting them through too much? What if the airline loses my pets? What if one of those pet travel horror stories I'd read about online happens to MY babies??
It was a long, restless night, but we finally received word the next morning that everyone had made it safely to Santiago. Daisy, Bean, and Flan were eating, sniffing, and exploring like nothing had ever happened (at least that's what they told me...!) Whew. Part 1 of the journey, over. Just a 12-hour bus ride to Puerto Montt to go. What could go wrong??
Part 2...the bus.
A couple days later, Perla (Ricardo's mom) and Tia Patty bravely gave the aminals more drugs, put them back into their crates, and headed to the bus station for the long trip. But when they arrived at the terminal the bus people gave them a hard time about bringing animals (even though they had previously said it was allowed!). The bus attendants begrudgingly loaded the animals in the back of the bus and Perla and Patty climbed aboard, thinking that was that, the animals were taken care of and they would collect them again in Puerto Montt.
HOWEVER, (bet you knew that was coming), soon after the bus started rolling, Daisy started to whine. And when Daisy whines, she is relentless. As Daisy whined louder, and louder, and louder, the other passengers started giving annoyed glances and complaining to the bus attendant. 20 minutes later, Daisy and Perla were kicked off the bus, left standing at the side of the road.
My mother-in-law is not a large woman. Daisy in her crate is almost as big as she is! But somehow she managed to transport Daisy in her crate all the way back. It seems that travelling all the way to Puerto Montt was just is not the stars for Daisy, at least not at this point. Plane tickets are WAY too expensive, and there's no way we're going to risk a repeat of the bus fiasco any time soon. Fortunately, Ricardo's Aunt Ingrid agreed to take Daisy for the time being. She has three dogs herself and apparantly Daisy has melted the hearts of the whole family there (just wait til she eats a whole pizza by herself)! We have gotten several updates from the family, letting us know that Daisy is doing well, playing with the other dogs, and learning Spanish. Probably better than mine by now :)
The cats, meanwhile, continued on the bus with Tia Patty and are now living cozily in Puerto Montt in Casa Perla (Ricardo's mom's hostel). Perla herself took another bus and was able to return home some days later. Although separated from Daisy, the cats have begun to venture outdoors from time to time, but spend most of their time lazing and taking up entire beds doing it (yes, they do that.) Perla sent these pictures of the cats declaring themselves owners of various beds/blankets in the hostel:
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| Flan |
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| Beanie |
And so we are relieved to know that the animals are enjoying their new homes, and looking forward to the reunion when we arrive in Chile after our journey!
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