Anna's Travel Post: Part 2

Suffice to say Kodie was terrified, compounded by a Haitian lady running toward us talking loudly and noisy traffic. Cats don't freeze when scared, they bite and try to squirm away.  I was afraid that he would wriggle out of his harness, run away, and be lost forever. Because of this I at first held him tightly, hoping after looking around he would chill and just look around calmly. My cat has spent most of his life very close to our house, and he was having none of it. He doesn't usually bite, but in his terrified state, he gently nipped me on the neck. (It now looks like I have a double vampire bite☺) I went to put him down (with a good grip on his harness) and he bit me on the hand, right on the knuckle. 

By now, I had had enough too, so I brought him back to the car and gave him to my mother, while I rinsed my scratches and put hand sanitizer on them. Mom took the carrier, and Kodie stayed up front in her lap. It wasn't until later that I realized I had succeeded in one part of the goal; he had peed...right on my shirt. After grabbing some fried food at the next town from a street vender, we snacked, and leaving town behind I borrowed one of Dad's shirts. Kodie remained relatively calm all the way to Ortlip center. 

There we stopped and I washed all my scratches, and then sat in the cab for a bit with Kodie loose. This time rather than try and let him out we put his kitty litter inside the truck, though he didn't end up needing it, apparently my shirt was enough.

I switched seats with mother and took a turn riding in front with the cat, and we began the last half-hour of smooth roads. Then we commenced two hours of bumpy, rocky roads. Kodie did very well through  this, and as we gained altitude and it got colder he snuggled in one corner and stayed there the rest of the trip. Toward the end it began to rain and lighting, luckly he wasn't afraid of it. When we pulled in, Mom and dad locked up the dogs, and I carried Kodie into mom and dad's room, where he stayed quietly for some time. We had lots of fun unpacking in the light rain, carrying everything over the mud. 

Overall everything went well; the rain didn't ruin anything, and Kodie made it. He spent last night and today exploring mom and dad's room and getting used to what will be his home for the next few months. Thankfully, he is acting pretty normal, though he hasn't met any of the large dogs yet, we probably won't let him into the rest of the house for a few days, and at first only when Maya (the German Sheppard) is outside. It is nice to escape the warm summer days, even if the showers are freezing. 

Mom's Note: We praise the Lord that Anna's hand shows no signs of infection and is healing well. Kodie will be allowed to start to explore outside our bedroom today. We walked to house site yesterday on a nice new access road.  In the above picture the fort and coffee plantation ruins are on the left, on the far right you can just see the top of the sand pile.