While couriers J and G headed to France and Italy, courier M made his way to Greece, where he was joined by courier S. Our big Mercedes Sprinter van is doing the Greek run as we have lots of passengers to transport to the UK.
Gibbs
After five years living in Crete, English Bulldog Gibbs and his owners are on their way back to the US. Gibbs will have a short stay with Animalcouriers before joining his owners at Southampton, where they’ll board the Queen Mary for a trip to New York. Their ultimate destination is Baltimore.
They’re taking the road and sea route rather than flying because snub-nosed dogs like Bulldogs don’t fly well — in fact, most airlines won’t take them. We think travelling on the Queen Mary sounds like a lot of fun. State-of-the-art kennels and qualified staff dedicated to the dogs and cats throughout the cruise — and owners are of course encouraged to walk their dogs every day in a pet-friendly atmosphere.
Gibbs arrives to meet us in Athens
Gorgeous Gibbs comes in for his close-up
Ermioni
Doberman Ermioni belongs to Andreas. Before accepting a job in the Maidenhead area, Andreas checked he would be able to take his beloved dog. This was a few months ago, since when we’ve worked with Andreas to arrange Ermioni’s trip.
A proper send-off for Ermioni — she’s a sweetie who quickly made friends with everyone
Bonnie
Cross-breed Bonnie belongs to George and Tracy, who’re relocating from Greece to the UK. It was quite a tearful goodbye but Bonnie will be in good hands with family members in Brighton until George and Tracy catch up with her.
Beautiful Bonnie
Spaik
Springer Spaniel Spaik arrived with friends of his owners who’ve been taking excellent care of him. Relaxed and friendly, Spaik is on his way to north London to rejoin Ionnis and family.
Very well behaved Spaik
Lila and Cookie
Lovely Lila belongs to Thanos, who’s relocated to Leeds for work. Lila arrived with friends and family, supplies of food and treats, and excellent care instructions.
Mum-in-law Eleni is also relocating to join the family, so her dog Cookie is on the same trip with us.
Lovely Lila
Cute Cookie
Rosie
Darling Rosie travelled from the Kalamata area of Greece to join the journey. Her owners have gone on ahead to Lancashire, and Rosie has been boarding at partnership kennels in Athens. Our friendly pet taxi driver Akis collected Rosie and brought her to our hotel.
Rosie in the arms of Akis
Eric
Akis also brought Eric to join the trip. Eric is our first holiday romance of the season, having attached himself to Christine and Richard when they were staying in Naxos. Eric will have four canine housemates at his new home in the West Country.
The rather stunning Eric
Zizel
Lovely Zizel is on her way to Chiswick in west London to rejoin owner Katarina. Being an Athens town dog, we think Zizel will quickly adapt to London city living.
Zizel shows us her fine profile
Mandy
Super friendly Mandy did the rounds, introducing herself to her fellow travellers. She’s travelling with us Newcastle to rejoin her family.
Mandy introduces herself to Spaik. We love her green collar and pink bow!
Lilo
Handsome Bull Terrier Lilo waited patiently for his paperwork to be checked and his bedroom to be prepared. He’s on his way to John in Northumberland.
Lovely calm Lilo
Chantelle
No trip would be complete without a cat from Nine Lives Greece, and we were delighted to be joined by the very glamorous Chantelle. There were a few tears when it was time for Christine and her friend, who regularly foster cats and kittens for Nine Lives, to say goodbye. Chantelle was rescued by the charity after being hit by a car, and has been lovingly nursed back to health. She’s on her way to her forever home in Surrey.
Chantelle arrives with her friends from Nine Lives Greece
Chantelle chilling out in her bedroom
Lochy
On leaving Athens we headed north towards Volos to meet Jack Russell Lochy, who travelled with owners Sally and Brandon from Skepelos, where they spend part of the year. Lochy will homeboard with Animalcouriers until Sally and Brandon catch up.
From Volos we drove on to the port of Igoumenitsa to board our pet-friendly ferry operated by EMMC, with our crossing organised by Mrs Emmy.
Sweet-faced Lochy
We passed straight through this amazing rock formation at Metéora, with an Eastern Orthodox monastery complex on the top (Metéora means ‘suspended in the air’)
On board the ferry we had a special parking area with no other vehicles around the van. Large portholes provided excellent ventilation to keep the pets comfortable, and we could visit them throughout the crossing.
Have a safe journey.
Thanks Jovina!
All the dogs look happy, but some of the cats are not too sure.
Dogs take to travel really quickly but some cats can take a day to settle.
Thanks Sarah for taking the time to call my husband George regarding the new collection point for Bonnie. My daughter Elena and our family in the UK can’t wait to see her!
I hope Bonnie and the other pets have had the best trip possible and that the last leg of the trip runs smoothly.
Thanks, Tracey.
Very huppy dogs ! ! ! Have a nice and safe trip! ! ! ! Many thanks for your hospitality of our dogs! ! ! Many many kisses to my lovely Mandy and to all dogs! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Hi Noi, Mandy is a delight to have on board and is travelling really well. We will pass those kisses on!
Safe travels to all
Thanks guys!
Looking forward to have my Zizel here in London after 6 months that remain back in Athens…take care all of you
Hy Spyros, it must have been a hard six months but she’ll be with you very soon! Loving her walks.
It’s reassuring to be able to see Bonnie and the other pets as they’re on their way across Europe. I hope the trip is smooth from every aspect. Looking forward to seeing the next posts!
Hi Tracey, glad you can keep up with Bonnie via the blog. We’ll be posting more about the journey later. So far so very good.
You are getting some really great pictures of your passengers.
Thanks.It is quite remarkable what the latest smart phones can do.
hallo from Maidenhead,
We are looking forward to seeing you soon.
Have a nice and safe roadtrip!!!
Regards Andreas, Lila, Chara, Eliza
Ps: Hungs and kisses to Ermioni!!!!
Hi Andreas, Hugs and kisses duly passed on to Ermioni! She’s doing really well and will be with you very soon.
Mee-you Eric iss a kittyboy after mee own heart! Mee luvss mee blue an green blanket all so Lady Annie! An that Gibbss sure iss a hansum doggie isn’t hee? An Lilo iss adoorabull…you have so many 4 leggedss to’inn an fro’inn how do youss’ keep uppy??? Mew mew mew…..
***paw kissesss*** Siddhartha Henry xxxx
Pee S: Safe journey to efurryone all so……
Oh that trip on the Queen Mary seems like quite a treat for humans and Gibbs. Hope everyone has a safe journey.
Thanks Gunta. We envy Gibbs and his human that trip on the Queen Mary!
Thanks Sarah for taking the time to call my husband George regarding the new collection point for Bonnie. My daughter Elena and our family in the UK can’t wait to see her!
I hope Bonnie and the other pets have had the best trip possible and that the last leg of the trip runs smoothly.
Thanks, Tracey.
Hi Tracey, courier S was delighted to hand Bonnie over to her family yesterday afternoon. Bonnie is such a bouncy, happy girl and will no doubt give you a huge welcome when you get there!
Can’t wait for Eric to get here, he’s not looking too impressed at the moment! He actually has 4 feline friends waiting for him, not canines, so please put his mind at rest!!!! Mooney, Bunny, Min and Twigs are all looking forward to meeting their new brother…..
Safe and happy travels to all. Cxx
Eric is a cool dude and is very relieved that it’s 4 feline friends waiting for him 😀 What a great meeting committee that sounds!
Thank you for taking such good care of our boy Gibbs. We miss him and can’t wait for our next adventure. See you soon big boy 🙂
Hi Alex, it’s been our pleasure to travel with Gibbs – he’s such an entertaining fellow! Bet you’re going to have a great crossing on the Queen Mary 😀
Chantelle is one of the lucky ones.
Eric is indeed a handsome boy! Some Abyssinian genes in there?
Love these virtual travels with your beautiful passengers!
Chantelle certainly is a lucky one, as is Eric after making eyes at two holidaymakers – you can see why they fell for him 😀
Hello Hello AC, I’m always happy to see all the sweet, sweet faces that fill you day. That’s awesome that the ferry gives you the primo parking with the giant portholes. Can your guests look out onto the sea? I didn’t know snub nosed dogs couldn’t fly! I hope all the peeps of these dogs know that too. I especially enjoyed Spaik because my old neighbours had a dog identical and his name was Rusty. Rusty was the best dog ever. So loving and smart. He was a rescue and I would tell him, “who could ever give you up, they must have been crazy”. Happy travels! xo B
Hello Hello AC, I’m always happy to see all the sweet, sweet faces that fill you day. That’s awesome that the ferry gives you the primo parking with the giant portholes. Can your guests look out onto the sea? I didn’t know snub nosed dogs couldn’t fly! I hope all the peeps of these dogs know that too. I especially enjoyed Spaik because my old neighbours had a dog identical and his name was Rusty. Rusty was the best dog ever. So loving and smart. He was a rescue and I would tell him, “who could ever give you up, they must have been crazy”. Happy travels! xo B