September rehomings

Four baboons have found new homes this September.  I am sure you will be interested in reading about them.

The first rehoming involved two baboons.  John, the larger one and Tom the smaller one have gone to live with our dear Obe (@ajstenaka).  They have been adopted by him and his wife @wellytopping.  They are living in the United States with Obe but WellyTopping is also an adopter.

John and Tom were tired when they arrived but after a sleep they enjoyed a cup of tea.  Baboons do enjoy tea.

After that they went on a drive in the car to an Italian festival.

What fun they are having!!  They are well settled in.

Another baboon to find a new loving home in September is Sharif.  He is also living in the United States with Tuxies Mum (@ms_inwa).  This baboon is also having an exciting time he has been on a holiday to Astoria in Oregon (we baboons have been to Oregon and liked it so much we went back), and taken an interest in shipping lanes and barges on the Columbia River.  

We know that all of these baboons will have a great life in their new loving homes.

The fourth rehoming was a baboon who has been rehomed with us, at Baboon HQ.

Washington Baboon, in the middle arrived at Baboon HQ today from @TinyPearCat in Seattle.  He has come to live with us and Yaya and I welcomed him with bananas.  He is jet lagged and was hungry but he is happy to be here.  We love him very much.  Thank you dear Pearl for sending him to us.

Thank you for reading about the rehomings and thank you for everyone who has rehomed a baboon to two.

Goodbye #MiniBreeze

Its been a sad weekend at Baboon HQ.  We always knew that #MiniBreeze would be moving on one day, but its still very sad when it happens.  He has been with us since April so we are very used to him and we love him.  We had lots of fun but the time had to come.

I gave him lots of very big hugs on Friday evening.

We made sure he had his favourite dinner of fish and chips.  This time he chose scampi which is very popular at Baboon HQ.

If there is one thing we have learned from having #MiniBreeze here and taking him out for photos, it is that he is much easier to pose for photos than Mini-Kolo, and this is because he is a beany.

For this reason Harry had come to join us, he is a young cousin of our Archie and he is a beany, not much bigger than #MiniBreeze.  Mini-Kolo will still go out and about and meet people but Harry will be going on walks as well.  Mini-Kolo tends to fall off things unless he can be really secured and Harry won't.  However, don't worry Mini-Kolo will still get out and if we are at a tweet-up he won't miss it.

#Mini-Breeze gave Harry lots of hints and tips for his new job.

Well sadly Saturday morning came.  At Baboon HQ we are used to goodbyes because of our rehoming programme, its always sad but #MiniBreeze has been part of the family for so long it was extra sad and I couldn't face it, being an old softy, so Tashi and @Leroy_Sealion packed him up in his box to be posted on.  They put warm, comfortable bubble wrap in as he is going all the way to Australia.

Finally the time came to do up the box and take him to the post office.  We were all very sad.  We hope he has a good journey down to Australia and a great summer there.  We did not manage to do everything we wanted to with #MiniBreeze but he did do lots.  Maybe Harry will show you some more things.  Make sure you are following @PepiSmartDog for more adventures from #MiniBreeze.

My next blog will be about two more successful baboon rehomings, so keep a look out.

Goodbye #MiniBreeze, travel safely.  We love you!!

#MiniBreeze on the cliff path

#MiniBreeze did one of our favourite walks yesterday, from Upper Ventnor to the cliffs above Blackgang Chine (where we went with @TourGuideTed and co).  This about five miles each way with varied scenery.

We started out early, and after breakfast at the Bembridge Bakery, drove to Upper Ventnor and walked along the wooded path beside the Whitwell Road to the downs.  When we got to the downs #MiniBreeze was able to look out at the English Channel.  This walk goes along the high cliffs above the English Channel to a view point.

#MiniBreeze is astonished by the mushrooms he has seen on the island and to be honest so are we.  These were as big as dinner plates.  We have never seen mushrooms like we have seen this year.

As we walked along #MiniBreeze saw a lighthouse in the distance.  We will be going closer to that.

#MiniBreeze looked ahead to where he would be walking, along the cliff path round to the view point.

#MiniBreeze got lots of views of the English Channel on this walk and it was a beautiful day!

Looking back along the path we had walked #MiniBreeze saw that harvest time was over and there were hay bales in the fields.  No wonder we were sneezing.

Finally we got to the lighthouse.  #MiniBreeze wanted to sit and look at this, he loved it.  It is St Catherine's lighthouse on the southern tip of the island.  It used to have a lighthouse keeper and then you could go around it, but now it is unmanned and controlled by computer at Trinity House so we couldn't take #MiniBreeze inside.

From the viewpoint we were able to show #MiniBreeze where the lighthouse used to be.  I don't think you can see it but it is high up the St Catherine's Down near the mast in the picture, the oratory is just above #MiniBreeze's left ear on the picture.  It is known locally as the Pepperpot, as it looks like a pepper pot from a distance, you can see why in the picture below.  Its real name is St Catherine's oratory.

St. Catherine's Oratory is a medieval lighthouse. It was built by Lord of Chale Walter de Godeton  as an act of penance for plundering wine from the wreck of the ship St. Marie of Bayonne in Chale Bay on 20 April 1313 AD.  It wasn't much use because being so high on the cliff it gave ships' crews the impression that they could sail further in and then they got wrecked.  That was why they built St Catherine's lighthouse lower down on the Undercliff.  However, initially it was too tall and the light was lost when it was foggy, so it had to be lowered in height.

From the view point #MiniBreeze could see the cliffs at Freshwater, but sadly, in this picture, you can't!!

Then we turned around and went back to the car.  On the way #MiniBreeze stopped to look down to Ventnor and St Lawrence, the village next to it.

Well #MiniBreeze will be leaving us soon, but he has had a good view of the island and been to London and Kent.  He has also learned to love our sports, especially football and cricket.  Oh dear and he is going to Australia, they are meant to be good at cricket but we are not so sure this summer.  Maybe #MiniBreeze will have something to teach them!! Heeheehee!!

We will miss #MiniBreeze a lot when he goes, but he may get one more adventure with us as the Australians are deciding who we should send him to first.

#MiniBreeze meets the monkeys

Another thing that #MiniBreeze was determined to do before he left us, was to go to the Owl and Monkey Haven on the island.  Unfortunately it was quite hot and the monkeys were not really very active, but he did get to meet them and chat to some.  He also met some interesting birds.

These Capuchin monkeys have always been quite reticent when we have visited them.  They seem OK with humans but they have never liked us baboons, we were surprised that they responded to #MiniBreeze in the same way, we thought it was because we are primates.  However, he did get to chat with them a bit.

We were all really happy to meet these chaps.  They are Barbary macaques, the same kind of apes that live on the island of Gibraltar.  We always feel that they have a lot in common with us baboons.  They were friendly.

This little squirrel monkey was chatty.  It is a little difficult to see him because he was behind glass so we got lots of reflections.  He was pleased to meet #MiniBreeze.

The lemurs, like some of the others were not playing, this one is hiding in the corner and being sulky.

We decided to go and visit the birds and come back to see whether any of the monkeys were playing later.

#MiniBreeze was happy to meet this kookaburra because he is going to Australia soon and thought he would recognize a kookaburra if he meets one again.  Some owls were sleeping but didn't mind having pictures taken.

They are quite handsome.  By the time #MiniBreeze had met the owls some of the monkeys were being more friendly.

The gibbons were a bit preoccupied with looking at something but they did chat with #MiniBreeze.

The marmosets were climbing and not happy to come down, but they are always sweet.

These cotton top tamarinds were friendly and very handsome.  We had a long chat with them.

These tamarinds were grooming and playing but they stopped for a chat.

#MiniBreeze climbed up to meet this Lars Gibbon, he was friendly and chatty.  We think they are very handsome chaps!!

The meercats are new at the haven and they are always fun and popular.  They were doing their lookout jobs well of course.

#MiniBreeze decided to have his photo taken as a monkey!!

It wasn't the most sociable visit to the haven but #MiniBreeze saw enough to make his visit worthwhile.

He did a couple of other things today.  We walked along from Ryde to Seaview, the next town eastwards along the coast.  #MiniBreeze visited a boat yard where they make lovely handmade wooden boats.  We were not buying a boat.  We at Baboon HQ are not sailing fans, despite living on an island that is famous for sailing.  However, we think these handmade boats are beautiful.

As a cat #MiniBreeze doesn't welcome suggestions of going on water.  He would never make a ship's cat! This is the nearest he gets to water, the boats are on the slipway!!

We also walked around to Bembridge, this time we didn't go to the bakery, we introduced #MiniBreeze to the strange Pilot Boat Inn, which is shaped like a boat.

We have a couple more adventures to have with #MiniBreeze including back to Bembridge tomorrow for breakfast at the bakery.