# International Travel/Work - Latin America



## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

So I realize this is a long shot sort of, but is there anyone here who has lived or worked abroad in Latin America with their little one? 

It's fairly possible that I will be offered a job in Ecuador for the 2014-2015 academic year and would really like to take advantage of such a great opportunity. 

If anyone has any thoughts/knowledge on this, I would REALLY appreciate it! I have read the general threads about traveling by air but it gets more complicated obviously when traveling internationally...


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

alma&dex said:


> So I realize this is a long shot sort of, but is there anyone here who has lived or worked abroad in Latin America with their little one?
> 
> It's fairly possible that I will be offered a job in Ecuador for the 2014-2015 academic year and would really like to take advantage of such a great opportunity.
> 
> If anyone has any thoughts/knowledge on this, I would REALLY appreciate it! I have read the general threads about traveling by air but it gets more complicated obviously when traveling internationally...


Keep me posted, i'll be in Colombia for business this coming June. I wanna know their legal procedures when it comes to bringing in pets


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## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

Neil, 

I think I will be in Panama actually so I'm unsure of how related laws are, etc. I am in the process of contacting airlines, etc. all the information I can find on bringing pets to Panama discusses checking the pets, and I'd really rather avoid this if I can - I would rather leave him in the states with a trustworthy friend/year owner/sitter than put him through the stress of those cabins in many ways... 

It depends on the rules of each government, etc. as far as I can tell... I never really did find out in terms of Ecuador since my focus has been on Panama where I received a really good offer. 

It seems like there is a fee with most airlines and so it will depend on what airline you're traveling, etc. additionally it seems like paperwork has to be collected and sent to the Panamanian Embassy within a very short timeframe (although this may be easier for us hedgehog owners because hedgehogs don't require vaccinations, etc. like other domesticated animals)... something like 21 days? I would definitely check with the airline you plan on flying with (ie. I am flying United combined with Copa Airlines) since the fees and rules may be different with each one and you will probably have to call airlines regarding international flights. United/Copa say there is a fee for domesticated dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, and hamsters. If you can take rabbits, birds, and hamsters, I'm pretty sure hedgehogs could be taken for the same fee as well. 

I will maybe continue to post information that I learn here. 

Additionally, if you're going only for a month, you might want to consider a hedgehog sitter. I will be going for about a year, which is why this feels a little out of the question to me to leave him that long. When I have gone on vacation (2 weeks or so a couple of times in the last few months) I have left Dexter with my breeder and only paid $5/day - cheaper than kenneling dogs and cats, that's for sure! 

Have you learned anything else Neil?


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

I'm actually staying for 3-6 months. My main concern is that my first connecting flight won't allow animals inside the passenger cabin and i don't have someone trustworthy enough to look-out for my animals. The MERS-Co issue is not gonna help me fly out anything out of the middle-east that easily lol


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## alma&dex (Jan 17, 2013)

Ah 3 months maybe, 6 months probably would be too hard. If you can't have animals in the passenger cabin, you maybe should try looking at other airlines. If you are going to Colombia, I'm not sure why you'd be going through the Middle East???? Although I'm not sure where you're coming from. 

I would check with the local/Colombian embassy (if there is one) and ask about paperwork, etc. because for Panama, it looks like that's mostly what I'm going to have to complete although again, depends on where you're traveling from and to. 

Also, I know some types of domesticated animals have to be quarantined for a certain amount of time upon return... and this could be a potential issue you may want to think about as well and investigate separately with a US embassy in Colombia and/or US State Dept (although I'm assuming you're going from the US to Colombia)... if you have layovers in other countries (assuming you're not going from the US) you may also have to have documents for those countries depending on where you would be landing, etc. 

Panama and US have a pretty close relationship which makes things easier (part of why I chose Panama over other options with a pet)


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

That gave me a great idea. Just remembered that i know someone from the Venezuelan embassy and i could probably ask for some diplomatic favor LOL

But even if i did successfully bring my pets along, the next issue would be their well-being onboard and before&after landing which i'm sure is very stressful and is definitely something that I'd want to avoid if i could.

Oh i'm currently living in Bahrain, a small island country in the middle-east. Bad news is that my flight is not a direct one and needs to be reconnected to two other flights not to mention a recent coronavirus outbreak in the region to make matters worst @[email protected]


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