Me and my “Jewel”…she was a wiggly one!
I arrived home after my long flight and had to say goodbye to Diana at the Portland airport. She still has 5 hours more flying time ahead of her to Des Moines then an hour’s drive home from there. Whew our butts are so tired of sitting!!!
I couldn’t resist loading the panda pix into my photo program first thing. WOW do I have some awesome pix this time around. Here are just a couple to get started plus our guide Mickal sent me the latest blog post from the panda base to show me that my adoption showed up today. The first link is in Chinese…the second is translated (kind of strangely) through Google.
http://www.panda.org.cn/china/news/news_view.asp?newsid=113
THE TRANSLATED VERSION CLICK HERE
This pair of pix turned out so cute. I asked while I was cleaning the panda enclosure of poo if I could swing on the panda swing. The staff loved it and when the panda girls came out after we were done feeding them bamboo…they kicked back to play on the swings too!
Here are Diana and I hard at work raking old bamboo leaves getting the enclosure ready for my “Jewel” and her little friends to romp in soon. They are still a bit young for kindergarten ….just starting to wean them at 6 months old which is a long process.
Hauling freshly washed bamboo to bring to the year old pandas
…our entourage of photographers and staff in tow
A beautiful group of yearlings
Yea, and welcome home from your amazing journey!!!! Can’t wait to hear more, and I would love to see videos of those beautiful babies. I just showed the pics to the student I am working with and we both are in awe of your experience. Thanks for sharing. Love, NM
Hello – welcome “home” … I think initially more people feared you wouldn’t be home safe from Africa than from China, but now we all know where your “pet” love lies, China may have far more attraction for never returning!!!
Big kiss from the Mz as well!
With some hot SA sunshine – lotsa luv
Bernice
Hi Sandy! I am so happy for you and Diana…WHAT A TRIP!!! I do agree with the quirkiness of the translated version. Reading about the “Panda Larvae” made me laugh!!! I can’t wait to hear all about your explorations!!!
Sandy, the photos are fabulous & your Jewel is absolutely adorable. Someone else said you looked so incredibly happy & I would certainly agree……you & Diana both look like you are having the time of your life. This truly has been a trip of a lifetime & thanks so much for letting us enjoy it with you. Luv ya…….Pat
Love it !!! Welcome home
Hi Sandra!
Lovely photos and those pandas are just so adorable!
Sandra.. what an experience. Thank you so much for sharing. Wish you could have brought Jewel home with you. Would you know the newspapers that were taking photos that day? My girlfriend in Shanghei said she would go purchase them for you. I told her to be on the lookout, but she says there are so many. And the front page is usually government headlines.
Can’t wait for the downloads to your photo albums to begin!
Welcome home! Jewel is soooo beautiful, she doesn’t even look real, she looks like a perfect stuffed toy! The picture of the yearlings looks like they are laughing.
A trip of a lifetime for both you and Diana. I wish we could all give Jewel a big hug. Thank you for sharing your daily experiences with us.
Hugs,
Bonnie
WOW Sandra!!! That is such an amazing picture of sheer joy! Jewel looks like she’s full of spunk and so totally huggable! What an incredible journey you’ve just had! Your fabulous experiences have certainly created such wonderful new memories! Thank you for sharing all this fun with us! Welcome back.
Lois
Im so envious…. The pictures are great!!!! Im glad you had such a remarkable and enjoyable trip, and made it home safe and sound. Jewel is a beautiful panda, as are them all, but she just has this look to her that says look at me!!!!
Take Care,
Sherrie
Sandra, you look so incredibly happy in every photo…even hauling bamboo! Welcome home and looking forward to seeing more photos of your jewel. She is a beauty. xoxo