This Woman And Dog Stumble Upon Each Other Only To Embark On A Very Unusual Journey!

 William Shakespeare once said, ” Whoever Loves, Loves At First Sight.”

Many times you must have heard people saying  ” I fell in love the moment I saw him or her”. But have you ever thought about this closely? Well, if not then its time to just scratch your head and give it a thought.

Falling in love must be a beautiful feeling. But, ever heard that someone fell in love with a dog at first sight? Was the dog as charming as the prince on a white horse? Did the dog just make your heart skip a beat?

Read in here to find out what makes for this beautiful love story of a girl who falls in love with a dog. Is that dog a lucky one? Do their paths also drift away? Or the destiny has something else in store for them?

Ginger – The Beagle

Ginger was born in Zambia to a family of beagles. Since then, she has been living there with her family and a sibling sister. Just like a typical breed of beagles, she had an appearance similar to that of a small hound and is 13-14 inches high and weighs nearly 20-30 lb. She exhibits the traits of a two-color variety beagle and is tan and white colored. She has beautiful large hazel brown eyes.

The Woman

Sara Ortin Leon is a young, attractive and smart woman who pursued her graduation in Biology and post-graduation in Primatology from Universitat de Girona, Spain. She has a keen interest in science and development. Topics related to biology, ecology, evolution, and zoology attracts her. She puts up in Barcelona and is enjoying her life. Currently, she is busy working on her thesis.

Security Dog

Ginger was used as a security dog back in a sanctuary of Zambia. This was a particular profession which was predominated by the beagle breed. He is a scent-hound breed with a great sense of smell and superior tracking instinct. This ability makes this breed most suitable for the purpose of guard dogs and is thus, hired as detection dogs. But Ginger did not enjoy the privileges of being the guard dog. Why?

The Dislike

Ginger often hid under the cars and other property on the location. Detection Officers were often suspicious of her this strange behavior. Every time this security dog, herself has to be found on the site. Lately, it was discovered that Ginger was always frightened at this place because it was the same site where a car crushed her sister pup. Since then she has been so scared that she would search for places to escape the scene.

A Visit To Zambia

Sara was working on a Wildlife Project, under which she traveled from Barcelona to Zambia. In Zambia, she spent a year in a wildlife sanctuary taking care and rescuing chimpanzees. All day she would roam around the forests and would nurture the chimpanzees. She would closely study the behavior of these species as a part of her thesis. It was then for the first time there that she caught the sight of a little pup named Ginger.

Love At First Sight

The moment Sara saw Ginger, she knew she fell in love with that dog. Her hazel brown sparkling eyes and the unusual innocence attracted Leon. She could instantly connect with her. Leone says, “She reminded me of one of our family dogs in Barcelona. From the very beginning, I loved her.” For Sara, Ginger’s presence was like having her family dog near her without actually having one. 

Reciprocated Attraction

The moment Sara approached to caress Ginger; Ginger fell in love with her touch. In all these years, while working as a guard dog, Ginger never experienced this kind of generosity. Sara’s footsteps brought Ginger the much-awaited warmth in her life. She reciprocated her love immediately. It’s surprising as to how a mere human touch brought these two species together. Since then Ginger has always looked upto Sara for all the love and affection.

Dear Shadow

Just like a shadow never leaves your side, Ginger never left Sara’s sight. She would follow her to all the places Sara went. Sara was quite astonished by Ginger following her to all the locations. She was surprised by her loyalty. Sara would travel to work, studying about chimps all day and Ginger would follow her everywhere. Leon says, ” The distance to work would have been some 10 kilometers, and she and Ginger would walk that path together.”

Play Buddies

Ginger and Sara came closer day by day. The bond they shared was a lot more than that amongst a pet and an owner. They would walk together, roam in together, play together. Every time Sara got free from her work, she would want to play with Ginger. She took her along at all her work locations. They both began stealing time from their hectic schedules to romp together.

Cuddling Partners

With every passing second, the love between Ginger and Sara was growing deeper and deeper. Imagining a day without each other would scare them to wits. Every night, Ginger would curl up to Sara and she too would cuddle her up. Ginger would lick her up and Sara with all her affection would hug her. They both would sleep in together in a bed and would wake up cuddling next to each other.

Is It Time To Leave

The Wildlife Project came to an end and it was time for Sara to go back to Barcelona. But, does that mean that Sara would have to say bye to Ginger? Sara was in a state of huge dilemma. She has never been this weak in making a decision. All the time she would think about Ginger and the sight of leaving her behind would haunt her. Entire day she would just roam from left to right in her room and would worry about Ginger.

Time For Adieu

Finally, the day was there when Sara had to leave Zambia and head to Barcelona. After spending a week of sleepless nights, Sara arrived at a decision. Leone decided to leave behind her beloved Ginger in the sanctuary and carry on with her work. Sara said, “Ginger was a wild dog after all. She couldn’t carry an African dog with herself.”Leone bids a heart filled adieu to Ginger and leaves for her hometown sadly.

At Barcelona

Sara went back home. She got occupied with her studies and was all into completing her research thesis. Despite all this, Ginger would not leave her mind. Though she carried on with her work and reports, in the back of her mind Ginger would be running. All she thought was whether Ginger was fine or not. Whether she had her food? If she was sleeping on time?

Back In Zambia

The condition of Ginger was no different. She would be missing Sara all day and night. She had no one to go to. Her human best friend was no longer here to take care of her. She lost the smile which Sara gifted her. Things worsened on Ginger’s end. Since there were quite a lot of dogs on the sanctuary land, some were being relocated to different areas. And Ginger was one amongst the relocated ones.

 Travel Back To Zambia

Sara could no longer bear the pain of being away from Ginger. She immediately took a call and decided to travel back to Zambia and meet Ginger. On reaching Zambia, the first thing Sara did was visiting the Wildlife Sanctuary where she for the first time met Ginger. She was way too excited to meet her dear four-legged friend. She couldn’t think of anything else than the moment when she would be hugging Ginger and she would reciprocate it with cuddling her.

The Least Expected

Sara just rushed to the Sanctuary and started looking for Ginger. She reached Ginger’s kennel but was surprised to not find her there. She walked around the entire location but didn’t seem to find her. Sara was tensed and scared anticipating the whereabouts of Ginger. Lately, she enquired the officers at the sanctuary about her, only to realize that she has been relocated to another home. Ginger was used as a security dog at a mining site.

No Dogs Around

Sara visits the mining site where Ginger was being employed as a guard dog. She carries some dog food along with her as an excuse to visit and feed dogs there. Surprisingly, she couldn’t find any dogs nearby and was worried to the core. Sara asks a man on the sight, “Where are the dogs?” and he replied, ” There are no dogs here, madam.” Sara couldn’t believe her ears and was like how can there be no dogs.

The Reunion

Sara did not lose hope and continued her search for Ginger at the mining site. After searching for hours, she caught sight of the most wanted. It was Ginger. She was sitting under a car at the end of the yard. She was so scared that she didn’t even come close to hug Sara. Sara just ran like anything towards Ginger and cafuné her. But Ginger sat underneath totally motionless. This behavior of Ginger was bothering Sara.

The Move

Sara was about to leave for Malawi. This time she was sure about what she wanted. Ginger’s situation just broke her heart. Sara was extremely sad on knowing that the sweet dog she met a year ago was going through this mess. But, she wanted a life better than this for Ginger. Sara decided to take Ginger out of this mining site and wished to travel Africa with her.

Silent Pup

Sara just took Ginger and placed her in her car. She drove off to enjoy Africa with her pal by her side. But, Ginger continued to be in silent mode. She wouldn’t react to any action of Sara. Probably separation from Sara followed by her relocation made Ginger like this today. Sara says, “Ginger would keep looking out of the car’s window and would stay mute”.

The Happy Ginger

Ginger was scared of Sara even. For a month or so, she would be hiding under cars and trucks. She found peace there. But Sara was happy that Ginger was always around her and she could easily eye her, ensuring her safety. It took Ginger quite a lot of time to recover from that phase but sooner or later, Ginger returned to Sara as a happy dog she was a year back. She would bark and play around Sara. Ginger would cuddle and curl up to Leon. The dog got her lost smile back.

The Luckiest Beagle

Though quite late but Ginger realized that she was a privileged dog. Her human would take her to all the places she traveled by. This meant that Ginger was on a road trip to Africa with Sara. They would enjoy playing together, cuddling at night, long walks and talks and everything they did before; they were living all over again. Their companionship was back on the track and they had ample time to spend together. This stray dog was soon turning into a travel doggo!

Paddling

Their journey began from Malawi. Malawi is known for the greatest African lake, “The Lake Malawi”. A lot of tourist visit that lake not for its freshwaters and beaches covered with golden sands but for the water sports this lake offers. Sara and Ginger took for a paddleboard and paddled for hours and hours enjoying this stunning lake. Sara recalls looking at Ginger’s face. Ginger was happy and smiling.

Hiking Expedition

Mulanje Mountains are one of the best locations for hiking in Malawi. Sara and Ginger headed for hiking in this land. Ginger enjoyed hiking in those African bushes. They would cherish witnessing the sunsets and the sunrise. They danced at the bonfire and did camping. Sara could not stop admiring Ginger. Other people hiking in the mountains would also enjoy Ginger’s presence around them. Some of them even told Sara that her dog smiles. Wow!

Animal Safari

Ginger was enjoying this life. Here she felt secure with Sara. She would no longer hide under cars and trucks of fear. This life of a wandering dog was anyway much better than that of a security dog at the mining site. They once went for an animal safari in Africa and had the time of their life. On seeing a gang of elephants approaching them, Sara probably screamed, “Oh God, We are going to die.” But surprisingly, this time Ginger assured her, “Don’t Worry Momma, we will be fine.”

Other Adventures

The adventures did not stop. They came one after the other. Sara and Ginger have visited National Parks, trekked mountains, hiked at various places, went on long road walks, they saw chimpanzees and other African wildlife. They have even heard roaring  African lions and wandered to cities. But this was just a beginning of their voyage to upcoming adventures.

Dogs Prohibited

As they say, everything you want doesn’t come easy. Something similar happened to Sara’s and Ginger’s African tour. Traveling with a dog wasn’t an easy task. There were parts of the continent where people were scared of dogs; so taking Ginger in those parts was really challenging. There were hindrances at African Borders as Sara did not have proper papers to prove that Ginger was not smuggled. Every time they visited zoos, it was Sara’s responsibility to save Ginger from the attack of baboons and at the same time had to make sure that Ginger doesn’t bark at other animals there.

And A Lot More

Sara says, ” It wasn’t me but my heart that made the decision of taking Ginger along. I would do it again, but would never recommend it to anyone else who is traveling full time”. Do dogs really make your life that difficult? One would fall ill, will have work and at times would even need privacy, but first, they will have to search for a place to reside their dog. Sara says, “these are only a few problems, I could tell you a thousand more. But when everything went back to normal, then there was no beautiful feeling than having Ginger by my side”.

We Had Solutions Too

There is a solution to every problem one face. And Sara and Ginger also found one to combat people’s fear of the dog. They visited the countryside school and provided the students,  the knowledge about dogs so that they don’t fear them. They would impart education to children about the behavior of these species and would even show children that dogs aren’t that scary and dangerous. Not only it was an educational trip but it also left Ginger and Sara with a lot of memories.

Sensitive Being

Since Ginger faced quite a lot of mishaps in her life, she turned into a sensitive being. The death of her sister and then separation from Sara followed by relocation of her home, all this made Ginger more empathetic towards others. She now, spots dogs on streets who are in need of help and would make Sara help those. What a beautiful heart this dog owns.

Dips At Zambia

 These two are enjoying their time in  Zambia. Sara went to her friend’s place there, where she cherished her leisure time. Not only did she accompany her friend there but Ginger and she tasted some more experiences together. Little did I know, Ginger knew how to swim. Sara and Ginger cherished their swimming pool dips at Zambia and added another adventure together to their never-ending list.

So Happy

Sara happily celebrates the decision she made a year ago to keep Ginger along with her. Sara gave a new life to this “always scared” dog. She smiles realizing that she was able to make a difference in her life. Sara says, ” I am happy looking at her glittering eyes, I can feel it in my stomach. I am happy to not think of myself then and how expensive will it be to travel with Ginger”. Sara feels delighted to see Ginger happy.

Back To Barcelona

After traveling for a year with Ginger, Sara’s family wished her to return to Barcelona. They convinced Sara to head back home along with Ginger. Sara readily agreed and packed her bags to leave for Barcelona. This time she was happy as she had her loyal friend by her side. Sara recalls that Ginger and she have come a long way and now they have an even longer journey to travel. What awaits them at Barcelona is a surprise.

New Family

The best gift which Barcelona had for Ginger was her new extended family. Other than Sara, Ginger got two more friends, Ula and Joy. Ula and Joy are Sara’s family dogs. Now they were a trio who just got along together in a click. They would play along and would run in the entire garden. Ginger was no longer a scared dog at the security sites. She had an altogether new life. A life which was full of love and laughter.

Enjoys City

For Ginger, Barcelona was an all-new land. She had a lot to discover here. Her inquisitiveness about the new city kept her enthusiastic all the time. In the words of Sara, Ginger was enjoying it here. She was liking the tall buildings, huge cars, new streets. Sara says, “She stops every 3 centimeters to smell the other dogs”. Ginger is surprised to see there is smell everywhere. Ginger would get cuddles from random people walking by on the streets. She feels delighted by this attention and love.

Upcoming Adventures

Currently, Sara and Ginger are enjoying their vacations in Barcelona with their family. They will be staying here for a few months planning their upcoming adventures. They both are planning on a crazy year ahead. Sara says, ” I know it will be difficult, but it is going to be even better”. Not only this but Sara is also working on new projects to save the lives of more Zambian Dogs like that of Ginger, who are living a life of distress and misery.

Happy Ever After

Sara and Ginger are having the time of their lives. Their story is an inspiration to many around. For Sara, Ginger is her world and to Ginger, there is no sphere beyond Sara. Ginger realizes now as to how lucky she is to survive as a security dog at the sanctuary and coming across her life savior. Not all dogs are that lucky to be entitled as “World Traveler”. We wish Sara and Ginger, many more adventures and an even happier life ahead.