October 12, 2018 – October 18, 2018

In order to enter Chile with a dog you need to have a recent vet certificate stating that the dog is healthy and all of its shots are up to date, then you need a form issued by the government of the country you are entering Chile from, stating that you are allowed to “export” the dog. A lot of annoying paperwork, and the first country to really care whether Piper was along or not. We could drive to Potosi in Bolivia for the paperwork, but decided that we would sooner spend the time required for all the appointments in Sucre.

Sucre, a city of about 300,000, is the official capital of Bolivia, although the larger city La Paz is really the economic capital of the country. We camped close to the old centre and enjoyed its laid back colonial style, visiting some nice cafes at the square and some fun evenings out between multiple vet and government office visits (a long process for which no one really seemed to understand all the steps, except when we had to make special payments at the bank).

There was a great market daily in Sucre where you could buy fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese and meat….you could even buy the snout half of a cow’s head, should you be so inclined (not pictured!).

Finally, paperwork in hand, we left Sucre and headed to Tupiza, on our way to the remote Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. We were on a strict time line. Piper’s rabies shot had to be at least 30 days old before we could enter Chile.  This would be understandable, had it been her very first inoculation, but she has had rabies shots continuously since she was a puppy.  But, Chile doesn’t care, you MUST wait 30 days after each and every rabies shot before entering the country.  We talked the vet into backdating the information for the rabies renewal shot so that we didn’t have to spend 30 more days in Bolivia (shhh, don’t tell anyone).  To further complicate things, her anti-parasite medication, her health certificate and the government papers could not be more than 10 days old. This left us with only two dates that would work…we had to enter Chile either on October 24th or 25^th, and the roads through the Reserva were notoriously bad. There was no room for error, or we would be backtracking to Potosi or Sucre to get the paperwork and anti-parasitic treatment done all over again.