Well the moving frenzy has begun. The "to do" list a quickly moving target that we attack with a vengeance every morning. We have renewed Peg's passport, applied for international health insurance, ordered our FBI reports, received our TRS income verification letter needed for Peg's visa, taken all four animals to the vet for vaccinations (has to be less than six months but more than one month before travel), fixed the minor trailer boo boos, put the trailer up for sale, and bought more luggage (thank you Goodwill). The biggest chore so far has been figuring out how to get the butt-holes to Panama. For those of you that don't know the story....
A good friend of ours overheard a little girl repeatedly asking her mother for a new pet... first a kitten, then a hamster, turtle etc. The mother says no over and over until finally saying "What have I told you?" to which the girl replies "No more butt-holes". We love this story and have been calling our animals butt-holes ever since.
Well we had done our homework and knew all of the forms we needed etc. A health certificate has to be signed and dated within 10 days of travel and has to be authenticated by the Panamanian consulate in Houston. We didn't realize that the cargo charges for the animals are basically the same price as a seat and that everyone charges $30 to "authenticate" the health certificate (USDA and consulate). We also knew we wanted a non-stop flight because we certainly didn't want to worry about our animals missing a connection. We determined the only non-stop flight to Panama from Texas that arrives before the airport vet office closes at 3:00 pm is a United flight from Houston. So we call United to be sure they will let us "check" two dogs and "carry on" two cats and yes a maximum of four animals can be transported, but Panama doesn't allow animals to be "carried on". So I call the cargo line and proceed to get our animals booked. I am then told two things that have prevented us from sleeping for a week. First, we can only book a cargo reservation for two animals and have to call three days before the flight to see if there is still room for the other two. Secondly the crate must have 3" of headroom clearance and the crate we have for Calcite is the largest that will fit through the cargo door of the plane that goes to Panama. So if she doesn't fit in that crate she doesn't fit on the plane! WHAT? We both spent a few sleepless nights trying to talk ourselves into getting rid of at least a couple of these butt-holes, but we can't do it. We just love them too much. So in an effort to figure out if the crate we have will work we reached out to a pet relocation company here in Austin. They generously offered to look at Calcite in her crate to determine if it would work. NOPE. Not gonna work. This company is amazing! The staff was completely knowledgeable about relocating pets and actually have business partners at the Houston "comfort station" and at the Panama airport. We have never felt so relieved to find a solution. They also informed us that the bigger plane that will fit Calcite's crate is flying through March 31st so we are moving our departure date up to March 28th. We will be on one flight with the cats and the dogs will come in a few hours later on a different flight.
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| Calcite's new larger crate takes up the entire living room. |
My wife and I are considering moving to Panama. Wondering how Panamanians and ex-pats treat ex-pat gay or lesbian couples. We'd appreciate hearing from you at roofswap at gmail dot com. Thanks!
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