Traveling to Mexico and Central Amerika with a dog

How do I do it? I got that question so many times during my stay in Guatemala and to be honest, it was a bit of a nightmare BUT as I love to say- ANYTHING is possible if you really put your mind to it. I can also be really stubborn and have a tendency to never give up if I really want something which comes in handy in situations like these.

Where do I start..(firstly I want to mention that this is probably only interesting to read if you are planning on travelling with your pet or if you really love me and Elda and want to read our story)

You need a EU passport where all the vaccines, most important being the Rabies one. You also need deworming treatment and some treatment for ectoparasites and it all needs to go in the passport.

It was pretty difficult to find information about Guatemala specifically, doesn’t seem like a lot of people bring their dogs there from Sweden. LOL. So I emailed the embassy about 100 times with different questions and I really did my best to follow the very vague directions. My first mistake was that I missed to take a titer test which is a antibody test for Rabies. The embassy guy said it wasn’t necessary to fly to Guatemala, which was true. BUT what I found out a day before departure was that you need it to fly back into Sweden..completely missed out on that. You can actually do it in the country you are going to IF they have a EU approved lab which most countries have except Guatemala..So I had to rebook my first flight which ment I had to fly in high season so rebooking was basically like buying a new ticket. Deep breath.

My ticket was with KLM, and I booked specifically on their website and not through a travel site to be able to get some sort of customer service. You can’t unfortunately fly all the way from Sweden to Guatemala with KLM so you get as far as Panama and then you switch to a local airline. I paid for my dog and got her approved in a confirmation email that looked like she was approved all the way and 10 days after our first planned departure we are ready to go again. I also want to mention that I am not a light traveller..never have been and most likely will not be in this lifetime..clothes, instruments, altar pieces, books, journal, dog things, herbal apothecary..you name it, this virgo has got it.

Anyways, we get to the airport on a snowy November day, check in, I don’t get charged for my excess luggage, Elda is on her best behaviour, check in lady loves her. ALL IS WELL. We go sit down by the gate, I text my best friends that we are taking off. I go to the bathroom to try and get Elda to pee on a pee pad which of course she doesn’t do as I have no idea how to train her to pee on command so we just end up staring at each other and me desperately begging her to go pee peeeeee. I can laugh about it all now but it wasn’t fun then.

We don’t do this game for too long as I hear in the speaker…Nina Wiger to the gate please..I panic..I thought it was an hour before departure..am I going to miss my flight? I run to the gate, criss crossing through a crowded terminal with bags, hats, drum and dog..I am of course also dresses in all my heavy clothes so I was already sweaty before I started running..

I come to the gate and they say I cant board this flight. Elda is not approved on the second flight from Paris to Mexico City (as I rebooked the ticket they changed the route and therefor also the airline collaboration)..Apparantely Air Mexico does not approve dogs on flights longer than 6 hours and KLM is saying that the approval and payment I did was only on their end..not the Air Mexico end. This is so confusing right, as I booked a ticket all the way to Guatemala through a KLM website..

I am so grateful for my breathwork practice cause instead of having a panic attack I ask to sit down and I take a few deep breaths before I make up my mind..what I was navigating was if I should gamble and take the first flight to Paris and then sneak her on the second flight..I mean I was acting in fight or flight mode here so not the wisest idea with some after thought..I realise I am not 20 anymore doing these crazy things and also what a nightmare to get stuck in Paris airport with all bags and a dog in the middle of the winter..no thanks.

They cant help me to rebook at the airport so they just give me a number to call and after being connected, disconnected back and forth I basically get the answer that I won’t be able to bring Elda all the way to Guatemala as no airline will take responsibility for a dog when a journey is with several airlines- and like I said, no airline flies all the way to Guatemala so I panic..I have just invested in this piece of land there, I obviously have a dog which is like my baby and I cant just leave her in Sweden. Ah dear god why do I keep taking these crazy decisions all the time is the thoughts that are running through my head as I sit on an airport bench crying waiting for my best friend to pick me up. She is on a dinner but could come after a couple of hours so I think I am sitting on that bench for at least 5 hours, crying and trying to come up with a solution. I am to heartbroken to take any other decision at this stage. Also to mention a bunch of childhood trauma gets triggered here as my dad who I was staying with in Stockholm basically told me I am so irresponsible for me basically missing two flights and I cant stay at his house anymore so I have to drive down again to my house in Skåne while I wait for my third flight 10 days later. It all ended up being very healing as all the shit came to the surface from both of our sides and we healed a lot. So maybe this is why I missed that flight? Anyway, driving 7 hours south crying in the car feeling worthless and not welcome was not my brightest time of the year and I didn’t really want anyone to know how messed up this all was so I was just hiding in the woods for a week and didn’t let many people know I was still in Sweden. I just couldn’t deal..I turned the pain into purpose though and played a lot of guitar, sang, took long forest walks and read books in front of the fire.

When I realized I can fly as far as I can come with KLM- which is like Mexico or Panama. Then take my bags, stay in the country and then fly a local airline a few days after life got brighter again. And that is the story of how I ended up in Mexico City before my arrival to Guatemala and why I am also here now.

Long story but its not over yet..

All the paperworks I had in Sweden are not valid from Mexico to Guatemala so in Mexico I had to re-do the process of seeing a vet to get another health certificate in Spanish. Also you have to go to the airport the day before the flight, bring your dog, health certificate and all papers and go to a SENSAICA office there where they give you a export certificate. All papers are in Spanish and they dont speak English so I have no idea how people do it. I was so blessed to have my ex living in Mexico City and he was an angel and helped me out and barely he understood how to fill in the papers so not an easy task. They really dont make it easy for you that is for sure.

Crazy story is that I was also debating if I should fly to Mexico City or Cancun..was thinking Cancun and take Elda to Tulum for some beach days and then my ex that I havent spoken to since we broke up writes to me, literally the same hour I am booking my trip so I figured it all happened for a reason. And it was so nice to spend some time together and catch up. Life is a wild ride..

Ok so now I have all my paperworks and the day after we take off to Guatemala which was super smooth.

In Lake Atitlan where I have been living there is a lot of street dogs. Bless their heart I want to adopt most of them but some are super aggressive from living hard street life. This makes having a tiny dog a very easy target so both of our nervous systems were on fight or flight every time we left the house which made me not want to go for long hikes by myself or take her to town so it was a bit isolating before we found or flow. Sometimes I carried her in the piece of fabric the local woman carry their babies in and sometimes I walked with a stick which is a pretty good protection and most dogs won’t come close if they see you walking with one.

Ok, fast forward almost 5 months and we are on our way back home.

In Guatemala you need a vet to send in the health certificate and 300 usd to the government to get your export licence..so pretty easy but not cheap.

It was smooth on the airport as well as the entry to Mexico- except that the Mexican border took the health certificate and told me it was only valid to Mexico and not further. So now I have to go to another vet here in Mexico and do it allover again to be able to export her out of the country..

For anyone still reading- Yes, we will do this trip again and yes it is so worth having your dog with you and Yes, it is a mission, its expensive and super stressful being on an airplane with a dog but I wouldn’t do it any other way (unless someone can tell me a more smooth way haha)

Also it hasn’t been a great experience travelling on the actual airplane as Elda is so sensitive to any medications so I tried both homeopathic calming medicine as well as CBD but none of them worked so maybe I do have to try something stronger on this coming flight. Pray for us.

Traveling to Mexico and Central Amerika with a dog

3 years ago

Nina Medicina