Jen's visit

Well we are all quite sad because Jens has gone home.  However, we had a fantastic time when he was visiting and it was wonderful to have a rehomed baboon visit Baboon HQ.  Jens has blogged quite a lot about his visit so I thought I'd just fill in the gaps.

Jens came with his best friend Bunny and they gaved me some lovely presents.  The best ever was these bananas.  They are yummy, you can see Freddy is eyeing them up.

Jens also brought along Otto this lovely Arsenal supporting bunny, to come and live at Baboon HQ.  When my people were walking down the road on Saturday with Otto, a gentleman gave him these cupcakes.  We think it was one of those random acts of kindess, or cupcakes in this instance.

Jens has shown you most of the food we had but he missed this lemon meringue pie in God's Providence House in Newport, it is rather spectacular.  We didn't eat it though, we came home and I made a banana cake.

Jens and I had trouble waiting for it to cool before we ate it. I also made apple cake but that disappeared before we even got a picture!

You have seen most of our adventures except for the last day.

I was very sad when they had to leave and I did hug Jens and bunny a lot.  I am pleased to say that Jens has remembered his hugging lessons well.

They went off to Portsmouth to see Henry but that wasn't the end of it.  In the evening we went over to Portsmouth too.  Well Mini-Kolo and Freddy did.

Mini-Kolo seemed to manage to get hold of this glass of beer, it would have been big even for me!!

I don't think he could pick it up so he is look around for help.  Mini-Kolo and Freddy had pizza, of course!

It was a very yummy pizza, Freddy looks as though he can't wait to get into it and Mini-Kolo is making sure it doesn't disappear.

Well we are baboons so when it came to pudding (and it always comes to pudding), we had a banoffee split.

No, don't be silly we didn't share one, we had one each, come on we are baboons after all!!

After that we left Jens and Bunny with Henry and went home.  We are sorry to see them go, but we had a great time during their visit.  I am sure we will see them again before too long.  I hope they enjoyed themselves, they certainly enjoyed the fish and chips.  Yes they disappeared too quickly to be photographed.

Oh dear, this blog has been all about food!!  Well and beer!!

Thank you for reading and thank you to Jens and Bunny for visiting and for our lovely presents.

Far east, far west: The sun shines at Baboon HQ

Hello friends!

This is Jens again. I am still on the Isle of Wight and having fun at Baboon HQ. As you can see on the picture  below, Mini-Kolo and me went on the choo choo train to the famous Needles in the far west.

The choo choo train isn't the fastest, so we needed some lunch first. With full bellies and very cheerful we started our walk up the hill.

On our walk we saw sheep and cows and some of the few wild English baboons. Sadly we were too slow too take a picture. We walked a loooong time and were about to give up but Mini-Kolo suddenly screamed "there they are". Woooohooooo! We made it! The Needles are awesome even if they look a bit like teeth. What do you think? Btw. they are the little thinggies erm rocks in the sea.

As we arrived back at Baboon HQ I had much to tell. Bunny, Freddie and Snowdrop were very interested like you can see.

Our next trip lead us to Bembridge in the far east of the Isle. The cliffs are lovely! You can the ones of Sandown. Really impressing. 

Bembridge is the town of the lifeguards who have a huge orange boat. Mini-Kolo and I took look and a little ride as the others weren't watching. Hehe.

Secret boat rides making hungry. So we went to the famous Tollgate Cafe at the harbor and plenty of chips with vinegar. A sweet old couple is running the Cafe and the old Lady who took our order forgot about it immediately and had to ask again and again. But we are patient baboons anyway and we love the old Lady. If you are in Bembridge pop into Tollgate Cafe.

The last mill of the IOW you can also find in ... Bembridge, of course! How clever were the people in the past to use the power of the wind to do their work. Really CLEVER!

And finally *drum roll* Ice Cream! It was the perfect day for it with lots of sun. It's Minghella's Fresh Strawberry and Old English Toffee. The ice cream man on wheels made my day! Thanks!

Here I am at Kolo's favorite place on the Isle, at Quarr Abbey. It's so beautiful and peaceful. Just a perfect place for relaxing. If you can't find Kolo at home, check out the Abbey. He will for sure hang around the Cafe with a big pot of coffee.

So, now it's time for some apple cake. They spoil Bunny and me here which we enjoy lots. Thank you, Kolo! *big hugs*

Lots of love from Jens and =:X)

PS: Olly (@ollyted), I forgot to post this pic last time. Henry and me waving the Marmosets from you:

Baboon HQ visit (without ice cream so far)

Hello all!

This is Jens. Kolo is so nice to let me blog. Thank you for that and the lovely company. So Bunny's and my journey started at the Frankfurt Airport. We had to be up so early that we almost fell asleep at the Airport cafe.

So the first order of the day was: coffee! Here we go:

After the coffee opened my eyes (so it should do it says on the cup) I was ready to take off. The flight was a bit wobbly but ok. After a bit more than an hour Bunny and me arrived in England. This is first pic of me on English ground. The eyes are still open wide.

After a long train ride to Portsmouth Henry picked us up and brought us to the Hovercraft (Thank you, Henry!). But before we went over to the IOW we had to chat a bit and have some more coffee. It was already gone and we kept on chatting like you can see here:

We jumped on the Hovercraft and 10 mins later we arrived at the sunshine coast. As you can see at the picture there are lovely palms and it feels almost like in the caribbean.

As we arrived at Baboon HQ the big hugging started. I was so happy to see Kolo again and meet all of the other baboons. Freddie welcomed Bunny and me as well and we shared some Surprise Eggs. But we totally forgot about opening them over all the chatting.

Look at the lovely view at the Solent. We can't get enough of it:

Today Henry came over and we were visiting together the lovely Monkey and Owl haven. We waved to the Marmosets from Olly (@ollyted) and tried to say Hi to Fudge from Clapton (@claptonterrier) but he didn't show up. It was cold and also some snowflakes said Hello. But we didn't mind and did relax on the big tree.

After a lovely day with our sweet friends, Henry brought us home with his brand new caravan. Mini-Kolo, Henry, Bunny and me had much fun on the ride. 

We are having a great time at Baboon HQ! Some more days to come. Yay! 

*huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugs*

Jens and =:X)

What a week at Baboon HQ

Hello everyone, we have had quite a week at Baboon HQ.  Firstly two of the March rehomed baboons have reached their new homes and got great names.

The first baboon didn't have to travel very far at all, just across the 3 miles of water and west along the coast abit, where he soon found his way to Chalky Bear (@chalkybear13).  His dancing and bopping ability showed itself pretty quickly and he got the name of Joe Baboonamassa!  Here is Joe being welcomed by the Chalky Bear family.  See he is already hugging his new pals.

He soon starting hanging ou like baboons do and enjoying his new home.  They started him off with a banana, so we know he will be a happy baboon!

The next baboon took pretty much the same route but had to go a little further north and west to meet his new pals @MumbasGabig.  They called him Tartuffo, as he is as dark as a truffle and as treasured as a truffle!  Baboon HQ's youngest baboon Freddy is his brother and Freddy was very pleased to see him so happy.

 

 

You can see these two bonded very quickly and went for a country walk.

 

The next day was cold so they stayed in and played the piano.

 

 

 

But we know Gabig likes to be outside and the next day they went rock climbing on the beach, in the wind.

 

 





I can see that Tartuffo is going to have a fun and varied life and be very busy.

Thank you to Chalky and Gabig for giving happy homes to these two baboons.  I hope Basta's baboon arrives in New Zealand soon, that is a long, long journey and I understand that, as an English baboon, he has suffered some shyness about the recent performance of our cricket team in New Zealand, he may be hiding a while until the laughing dies down a bit.

What else happened, well apart from exploding hairdryers, we had a very interesting moon this week.  We did our best to get a good picture and at least we did get a picture.

It is not very clear but you can see it was very orange.  Firstly we thought it was Mars but it was the moon.  I wonder why it gets so orange sometimes.  We have seen it orange before since we moved here (never in London), but we have never seen it that orange.  If anyone can tell us what makes it some orange sometimes please get n touch.

Then what, well scaffolding arrived on the house so they can paint the outside, it is a big house so there is a lot of scaffolding, it is a pity because it blocks the view a bit, and our friend Miriam is coming to stay.  I think she will still see the view.  Anyway, not to be discouraged we baboons got out to do some climbing on the scaffolding even though it was quite windy.

Baboons can make anything fun!  Barnaby, Abooo and Diego had fun swinging on the bars.  Guess which one fell off and got the white bits of his Arsenal hoodie dirty.  It has had to be washed and he is in a panic that it won't be dry before the game this afternoon.

We are sad that it is still quite chilly and windy and we hope it clears up before Miriam comes, it will probably be chilly but they say it will get warmer.

Edinburgh

Well we thought it would be spring by now and that would make it a good time for a little holiday.  We decided to go to Edinburgh because we were going to go there in June last year but it didn't work out then, so we booked flights and a hotel and our friends for a weekend in March.  The weather didn't do what we would have hoped so we haven't got as many outdoor shots as we would have hoped but we had a great time meeting our friends.

Leroy and I (as mini-kolo) went with our people and they flew from Southampton.  The first major treat for them (after the ferry) was plane spotting from the coffee shop.

We flew with FlyBe so that might have been our plane.  The airport was fun we had coffees and paninis and a Twix, great fun.  We flew up on the plane, it only took 75 minutes and suddenly we were in Scotland.

We took the airport bus (very convenient) and checked into our hotel.  Hotel Indigo in York Place has been presented with a Baboon HQ charter, it was excellent.

 

We weren't really sure what this giant sausage was for but it was very comfortable to lean against.

 

When we arrived the weather was quite OK so we went out and looked around, I met this very Scottish gentleman.

 



He was outside a very nice cafe called Deacon Brodies Coffee House, we had lunch there, highly recommended for their toasted sandwiches.  We also met some nice new friends there, I don't think they were native to Scotland though.

Sadly we didn't get many more outside shots as the rain started, so we made our way back to the hotel to chill out until it was time to have dinner.

The next day was very exciting, we were meeting our dear Twitter pals and two rehomed baboons.  We were meant to meet in the National Museum of Scotland, but sadly it was closed because of a power cut, so we had lunch in the cafe in the National Library instead.  We met up with lovelyAunty Kathleen, lovely @MogsBear's person and @ThisBear's lovely Madame.

You can see Aunty Kathleen in the photo with @ThisBear (in a very natty outfit), Paco (@mogsbear's rehomed Baboon), in the nice warm coat, Leroy in the middle there, then Marco (Aunty Kathleen's rehomed baboon), in his artistic hat, and me.  We had a lovely lunch and chatted lots.  @Mogsbear couldn't be there, like me she is too big to travel, but hasn't got a mini version like I have.

ThisBear gave out presents.  They all came in containers that were suitable to the recipient.

Marco's game in an Easter egg, and as an artistic baboon he put part of the egg on his head as a new hat.  His lovely bear, knitted by ThisBear's Madame, was pink and very cute.  @Mogsbear's little knitted bear came in a cupcake, so suitable for one of the movers and shakers from #caykclub.  Mine came in guess what!!!

Yes, a banana.  I love my bear.  Having been to Scotland Mini-Kolo suggested we should call him Ffyfe, yes a banana Scottish bear.  I hugged him as soon as Mini-Kolo gave him to me.  The banana box is great too, I can keep my bananas safe and that is not easy at Baboon HQ!!

Because the National Museum of Scotland was closed, @ThisBear suggested we went to the Museum of Childhood, off the Royal Mile.  That was great fun.

Marco and I found a great rocking horse to ride, that was great fun.  Quickly Bear joined us in his own inimitable way.

Yes, Marco moved up onto the head and Bear rode backwards, he is braver than I am!!

Leroy and Bear got well aquainted and met some very nice bears in the museum.

The weather was dreadful and we all said goodbye at the museum and went back to our hotel for a while.  Later we had dinner at a great vegetarian resturant with a friend that my person used to work with.

The next day the weather gave us a couple of hours without much rain so we climbed up to Edinburgh Castle.

It was quite a big climb but we managed it.  Then we walked around Edinburgh for a bit till the rain decided to come back.  So lunch at Deacon Brodie's cafe again and off to the airport.

At the airport Leroy found a great souvenier shop.

It had everything Scottish you could possibly buy.  Leroy and I don't drink so we didn't get a wee dram but we had a look around.

 

Edinburgh rock and shortbread.  Fine Scottish products, sadly not for me, these are for our manpeson's workmates.  I could really keep the shortbread, yummy!!



When we were at the airport the sun came out!!  We had to fly home though, so plane, car, boat, car and we were home again.  I can hardly believe that it only takes four hours to get from Edinburgh to home and that is with all the waiting around for ferries and stuff.  We will certainly be travelling that way again, flying rocks!!

Who is Who at Baboon HQ - Part 3

Well here are the last six baboons at Baboon HQ and I have to say that they must be the last, we cannot have any more coming to live here we are officially full!! Of couse we will continue rehoming.

Yo dudes! I'm Abooo, heaving on the ooo as in boo but don't boo me!  I am called Abooo because I have long skinny arms and legs like Abu Diaby the Arsenal midfielder but I like to make more of an ooo in my name.  I hang around a lot swinging on things and I do the climbing and swinging stunts for Baboon HQ publicity stuff and adventures.  Some people would say I look like Jackson but I'm much taller and skinner.  I hang around with Ryan a lot.  We have opposite personalities, he is quiet and thoughtful and I am cheeky but we get on really well.  I got here in August 2012.

Hi I'm Barnaby.  I came to Baboon HQ with my brother Ringo who was rehomed in Seattle with Jeego, (@SeattleP).  I ended up staying here as a climbing and swinging instructor.   I have long arms and legs so I like swinging a lot.  I chose my name because I love watching Midsomer Murders with Inspector Barnaby.  I swing around a lot with Diego, who you will meet next.  I arrived in September 2012.

Hi ya folks, I'm Diego because I come from the world famous San Diego Zoo.  My brother Bob lives in Norway with @Happpiii and @BearBerkeley so he has lots of fun.  I ended up staying at HQ as a climbing and swinging instructor because of my long arms and legs.  I can't wait for the warmer weather when we can swinging in the bay trees.  Its been a long winter for a lad from California.  My best friend in the world is Barnaby and we swing on doors together a lot and have swinging competitions.  I arrived in September 2012.

Hello I'm Marley and some of you probably know my story.  I am the other large baboon here at HQ like Kolo and Edward.  Nobody knows where I came from, but before I came to Baboon HQ I lived in a dark cupboard for several years.  Coming to Baboon HQ was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I love living with all these baboons, although sometimes I need to be by myself.  I talk to the new baboons who come here and I found that some of them have had the same story.  I wish people wouldn't do that.  Listen if you have any baboons or other anipals in cupboards please get them out.  If you don't have room for them take them to where they can find a new home.  I like to read books and every new thing I see in life is amazing to me.  I arrived in November 2012.

Hey hello, I'm Theirry, after the great Thierry Henry!  I wasn't originally meant to be a Baboon HQ baboon, the man person bought me to give to somebody but when he met me he realised that I might not be the right baboon for the person he had in mind, no problem just a matching thing.  So I stayed here and now I am a Baboon HQ baboon and loving it.  I would like to do some photographic modelling work as some people say I can put on a mean and moody look!  What do you think?  I've been here since November 2012.

Weeeeeeeee great to meet you, I'm Freddy, after a Swedish Freddy who played for Arsenal, I can't spell his other name right so I won't try. I was brought here for rehoming.  When I arrived I was in need of a wash.  I went through the washing machine and then sat around on the radiators to dry.  By the time I was dry I had made such good friends with everyone that I ended up staying.  That was in January this year so I'm quite new to HQ but I've already helped assemble a kitchen table.  I love all the stuff we do here.

Well so now you have met all the 18 baboons at HQ, we really don't intend that there will be any more coming to stay.  We have rehomed 70 baboons so far and aim to rehome 100.  I have two rehomings in progress so we are getting there.

Thank you for your interest in all these funny characters we have here and if you are ever passing please drop in and say hello. HUGS HUGS HUGS