The Zoo has arrived

Mimi & Jasmine have finally got here - 6 weeks later than originally expected and with a whole lot more drama - which went from Saga to Epic, after Tyler spent TWO DAYS in Puerto Rico trrying to get them out of customs. The animals are fine and happy, it seems, in their new home. We, however, are shattered and still recovering.

To cut a long,boring story very short - after being extorted by the vet in SA the animals were finally put on a plane to fly in transit via Madrid & San Juan (Puerto Rico) and then to Tortola. They had every permit, injection, blood test, visa, expert permit, CITES certificate, travel document, inter-continental permission, vaccination and anything else that anyone could possibly think of  and charge us for, all of which had involved a cast of hundreds. An entire industry, we discovered makes a good living from transporting pets.They were of course, meant to stay in TRANSIT until the BVI vet cleared them into Tortola.

All hell, of course, broke loose, when some dimwit brought them through customs into hallowed US ground - and you could hear the klaxons from here - as everyone kicked into gear to deal with illegal aliens without the right papers. You can only imagine. Tyler was literally running around the island for 24 hours having to get a whole set of new tests, innoculations & papers to get them out of quarantine and back on track. What a nightmare. He finally had to pretty much charter a little plane to fly back to Tortola and arrived back 24 hours later than planned.

Do not even begin to ask howmuch this all cost. On top of the original flight. On top of 2.5 month worth of Hilton-priced boarding fees. Oi.

Anyhow, life is getting back to normal. Jasmine is almost back to her original screech level and James and I had to rescue Mimi from the next door neighbours in the dark tonight, with James jumping over 3 metre high fences, like a hero.

And of course they make so much mess, I could cry, but there you go. I suppose you cannot put a price on family.