Moving to and living in...Argentina

Looking for a safe healthy place to board your pet in Buenos Aires for the holidays?

Are you looking for a safe and healthy place in Buenos Aires to board your pet for the holidays? You should definitely check out Jim Anderson's place PetsVentura.
Jim is a transplanted Canadian who has brought his holistic pet health views and pet friendly living ideas to Buenos Aires. He is the only one performing this service at this time in Buenos Aires and I love his service and the care he provides for the animals. He took care of our four babies (2 cats and 2 dogs) with the utmost respect and love like they were his own. I just can't speak highly enough about him. He speaks English and Spanish so if you have any difficulties with doing your pets paperwork in Spanish, he's the person to talk to! Here's the information on his services, try him out - you won't be disappointed.
p.s. don't forget to ask him about doing a "pet cam" for your babies :)

The Holidays are just around the Corner…
Don't forget to make your boarding reservation!

Availability for boarding your pet (dogs, cat or exotic pet) with PETSVENTURA PETS HOTEL are filling up fast and we currently have for some days a waiting list.

If you need to board during the upcoming holidays, Christmas & NEW YEAR make your reservation now!

We are constantly getting boarding reservations and will more than likely be able to reserve you a spot. Please keep in mind waiting for last moment; we may not be able to accommodate your booking needs at PETSVENTURA PETS HOTEL. 

Whether you would like your cat or dog looking best, or need a TOP NOTCH home for a stay while you’re away, PETSVENTURA is here to provide all your needs.

We have the best Master Groomer and an excellent Veterinarian (Home Visit) to take care of all your pets needs. For your convenient All services are providing in English and Spanish.   

For more information or to make a reservation, please give us a call at 11-4836-2290 or, make your reservation by email at info@petsventura.com

Ebook Moving to and Living in Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you're considering a move or are already actively planning to relocate to Buenos Aires, don't forget to make Moving to and Living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of your resources. If you like the information that is available in Moving to Argentina, then you will definately find the ebook even handier.

Triple Crown of Polo in Argentina

Whack! Cheering! Thunder of hooves at full speed! Yes it's that time of year again! If you're a polo fan, horse lover, or just a sports fanatic, then it's time to pick yourself up and trot over to the Campo Argentino de Polo en Palermo for the 2006 Triple Crown of Polo in Argentina.

Currently up and galloping is the Tortugas Polo Master Cup (Campeonato Abierto del Tortugas Country Club), which started on September 26th and will end on October 14th (a fine day incidentally as it's also my birthday!)

The second event of the Triple Crown of Polo, the Hurlingham Open (113º Campeonato Abierto del Hurlingham Club), will take place October 17th to November 4th. 

The season will culminate November 18th through December 9th with the Argentine Open Championship (113º Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo) which was first played in 1893. This event is the fifth-oldest polo competition in the world. Is a fabulous event not just for watching the horses and (of course) the celebrity players, but also for people watching as Argentina's elite turn out in record numbers.

Campo Argentino de Polo en Palermo
Av. Del Libertador and Dorrego
(54 11) 4576 5600

"Got Tickets?" Try Ticketek.com for your tickets, they have tickets for all sporting events including polo, and will have maps of the event location, seating, etc. as well. Click here for ticket sale locations.

Can't get tickets? Here's a hint...you can always hang out by the fence on Libertador for a bit and watch the game.

Don't know anything about the game of polo? Check out these two great Internet pages:
Polo News page "About the Sport of Polo"
Feelpolo.com's page the "rules of polo"

Enjoy!

Animal lover struggles in Buenos Aires

It's not really talked about here, but there are so many stray and abandoned animals here in BA and in other areas of the country and yet so few animal welfare groups or people who spend their time and money to help them. In the States we have so many groups and individuals and they receive a lot of attention and help. It has come to my attention that there is an English gentleman here who recently lost his wife and was left to care for her remaining 15 dogs from her dog sanctuary. He is doing this while coping with the loss of his wife, and not being completely fluent in Spanish. If you want to help him out by sponsoring one of the 15 doggies or just donate then visit his website Rescued Doggies.

Pet Travel update

nI've recently received several emails again about sending their pets by plane. As I've always written, Delta was the most responsive of all the carriers we checked into for shipping our pets to Argentina. Because their links are sometimes a bit buried I wanted to list them in an accessible place. Remember that you can book well in advance with them and reserve space for your pets at the same time. In cabin is 2 pets per regular class, 1 per busines, and 1 per first. Checked you have to talk to them. You can only bring one pet per person into the cabin.

I'm also giving some links for people who need to send their pet dog or cat back to the U.S. from Argentina.  For this I recommend using the services of someone in Argentina to help you do the paperwork required by SENASA, unless you are thoroughly comfortable with dealing with Argentine beuracracy. It's pretty much the same things you would need for coming to Argentina, except you won't need to pay an import tariff for your pets.

by the way, if you're coming into the country - DO NOT throw away all of your paperwork. Always keep a copy of it for your records.

Delta International Pet Travel
Delta Pet Travel Restrictions

Importing pets (cats and dogs) into the United States

Bringing cats and dogs into Argentina

"Cats and dogs !!! Favorites"
Originally uploaded by flatcoat123 and complements of flatcoat123 Flickr photos.

I've posted numerous times with information on bringing your dogs and cats into Argentina. Unfortunately, the online sites for the various consulates have conflicting information. So, after digging around I finally found the version from the Argentina Government website. Here is the information EXACTLY as it is stated. Note that nothing is mentioned about apostilling the information! Also, remember that on the paperwork you NEED to make sure that you put your address and telephone number in Argentina so don't go to the USDA without it.

Admission of pets into Argentina
The requirements to be fulfilled to get dogs and cats into Argentina are the following:
1. Complete information on the owner:
   • first and last name;
   • country of origin or departure;
   • countries in transit (if any);
   • address.

2. Information about the animal:
   • breed – sex;
   • birth date – size;
   • weight–fur colour;
   • particular signs.

3. Vaccination certificate against rabies for animals over 3 months old.
For animals under 3 months old or that are coming from a country free from rabies and/or where anti–rabies vaccination is prohibited, this situation has to be stated on the certificate issued by the official sanitary authority.

4. Zoosanitary certificate issued by the official sanitary authority of the country of origin that should state:
   • that the animal prior to leaving the country had no signs of any infectious–contagious or parasite disease, characteristic of the species.
   • if the animal is coming from countries that declare before the International Office of Epizooties (O.I.E.) the presence of african equine pest or Valle del Riff fever, shall certificate that in the area of origin, or where the animal is coming from, and in an area within fifty (50) kilometers of such, there have been no reports of those diseases in the last 12 months or that during that period the animal has not been taken to the affected regions.

5. Quarantine: the animals that fulfill the mentioned requirements will not undergo an import quarantine; if there is a suspicion of infectious–contagious, zoonotic or high risk diseases the SENASA (Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Animal) (National Office of Animal Sanitation) will decide on the means to assure the animal’s isolation and the corresponding sanitary measures.

About the admittance of other species of domestic animals, each particular case has to be dealt with at SENASA, telephone (54–11) 4345–4112/4110.

S'expatrier en Argentine

For all you French readers out there, my husband has been keeping a blog as well, S'expatrier en Argentine, but in French. Unfortunately he doesn't get the opportunity to post as often as I do, but it is sort of interesting to read a different point of view. So, if you can read French, then have fun...

chau

Karen Buck and her photographs

Thursday was a great day. We had the opportunity to head out to Pilar, about 55 kilometers from Capital, to catch up with our friend Karen (and her mascotas). Karen is a fellow horse addict and photographer.

Before we went to the ranch, we relaxed a bit and looked at some of her photos. Although she's shot a lot of different subjects, clearly her favorite is horses and anything related to them. The variety included: polo players - mallets flying  through the air - chasing the ball down like hounds after a rabbit; silver-tipped wood stirrips that do triple duty as riding accessories, water bucket, and ground tether; young horses caught in mid-air during play;
farriers caught in the midst of the back-breaking, but all important job of shoeing horses . We could have spent all day looking at the all of her photos. I guess next time I'll have to ditch the husband so I can see more photos. So, if you're looking for a fabulous horse photographer, I'd be happy to send you her way.

After our little photo fest, we headed out to Rincon Alto polo ranch to see her horses and check out some polo practice, but I'll just have to keep that story for another time because it's getting late and my poor fingers are stiff because here in Buenos Aires tonight...it's COLD! 

chau for now.

* All photos in this post are the property of Karen Buck

Semana Santa and Pascua

It's been a busy week, but today it's quiet. Today is Pascua (Easter). It's the last day of Semana Santa (Holy Week).  This is also the start of the third week already as an expat in Argentina.

It's been interesting because I knew that much of the city shut down during Semana Santa, but according to a friend of mine, over recent years more and more businesses have stayed open. Many people still spend this time in religious observation, but it has also become more commonly anticipated as a time to spend with family and friends and enjoy a few days off. This was well evidenced by the decrease in people around Capital and even here in the northern suburbs, as people overflowed into vacation destinations such as Mar del Plata, where they were anticipating 150 Mil (150,000) people for the holiday weekend. Las revistas y las noticias also warned about increased police presence on the roads and congestion on may of the  major rutas out of the city.

For us though, it was a chance to enjoy the peace and quiet, do some more shopping for the house, and visit with our new friends.

 

Tons of riding schools and horsie related stuff here in Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you're a horse person like me, then you will be in heaven here!

 

Many of the riding schools teach english and dressage (adiestramiento), although there is plenty of western style riding just a bit further out from the city.

Last night I passed the Club Aleman de Equitacion and I was going crazy to get out of the car and jump on one of the horses - they were in the middle of a jumping lesson for kids. There are so many activities for kids here and riding is a great sport for them as well (okay well I'm actually a little biased since riding was my sport of choice since I was a child!)

Not too far from the Club Aleman is the Escuela Equitacion de Hipocampo. They offer equitation and jumping classes (clases de salto). Of course we can't forget the kids, being that Argentinians love their kids and Argentina offers so many great things for kids, there's the pony club. And for people with spinal problems, Down Syndrome (sindrome de Down), or other disabilities there's a program called equinoterapia, or equine therapy. They also offer trail riding, which is called cabalgatas.

The Club Hipico del Norte is located in the northern suburb of San Isidro, not far from the Hippodrome. They offer equitation lessons, adiestramiento, as well as programs for handicapped riders.  If you're looking for a place to stable your horse, they also offer boarding. I think the location is great if you live in the northern suburbs.

I'm going to list several other places that I haven't driven by, but might be worthwhile. The locations vary from way out towards San Antonio de Areco to areas going towards Ezeiza Airport to Mar del Plata.

El Encuentro (no website) Vagues (San Antonio de Areco): Way out in the georgeous countryside.  Cel: 02325-15-682673

 

Club Hipico Mar del Plata

In addition, the Directorio Ecuestre is a fabulous list of all things horse related across Argentina, although sadly, some links are not active as of this posting.
chau