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I fell in love with South Africa during my internship in 2012.
The animals are free, the views are magnificent & the people are beautiful. I didn’t want to leave in 2012, but had to as I had two more years of college to finish. I graduated in December 2014 and I hopped on a plane to South Africa January 2015. 3 years I lived abroad and quickly learned vacationing in South Africa is different to living in South Africa. I had hopes to make a difference, helping where I can. However, South Africa would not grant me a work visa. So I started to look for volunteer opportunities. Unfortunately, non profits and such are not ran like they are in USA, that I found.I volunteered at the only children’s hospital in South Africa for a while. However, there was so many volunteers from all over the world and they didn’t seem to care about who helped and who didn’t. A lot of the time was just walking around the hospital waiting for the doctors to get out so you can read or play with a child. I eventually left without notifying them and never got a call regarding why I didn’t show up. It was too busy and too unorganized.I then got an opportunity to be a play therapist for a non-profit. I went for an hour long interview and made clear I do not speak Afrikaans. I was so excited. The excitement ended fast when I was paired with children who only understand Afrikaans. How was I suppose to help them? These children were spilling out their hearts to me and all I could say was “okay.” A year after calling and emailing and visiting places, I started to feel useless. I had a social work degree, I had experience with hospice, started my own non-profit in America and yet I was useless in a country that needed help. I started to get depressed, but luckily I was in a position where I didn’t need to bring in any income. A year after trying, I decided let me enjoy the beauty of South Africa without a job or internship. And I thank God everyday for allowing me to do that. The pups and I lived a spoiled life. But I developed anxiety. In South Africa crime is inevitable. I didn’t like driving as I heard stories of hijackings & smash and grabs. Most homes in South Africa have alarm system, burglar bars, electric fences and high walls. I’m not used to that and just going to friends houses I would feel not at ease. I felt like I was in jail. Luckily, we lived on a high security estate so we didn’t need any of these precautions. I realized normally I am an independent, go-anywhere type of person but in South Africa I wasn’t. I was slowly becoming unhappy and decided it’s time to move back. I planned to live in South Africa for 5 years, but I only made it to three. By living abroad I challenged myself in more ways than one everyday. I have become a stronger person and an even more grateful person. South Africa is beautiful. I will be continuing to visit there and will forever have love for the country. <3 For those who are following us, you might have seen my stories documenting the dogs flights from Cape Town to Denver.
I have received a large amount of DM's regarding our travel so of course I had to share our journey. So here it goes: About 6 months prior to our travel dates we hired Pet Relocation, a travel pet agency. This company was great with communication & answered all my questions within hours.We made payment and gave them a date of travel for the dogs. They arranged shipment of the travel crates and advised us on preparing the dogs for the flights. Even though we gave a date for travel, live cargo can not be booked until 10 days prior to the date. Actually most of the process is finalized within 10 days of flying. The documents required to move the dogs from South Africa to USA was to get a local vet / state vet health certificate. This can only be done 5 days prior to travel. Luckily, the pups got the clearance from both vets. When I got home from the vet visits, I got a call from the South African partner of Pet Relocation saying the dogs do not have a booking. I cried, I cussed, I lost my cool. How can this happened? Just the day before they told me everything was all clear and to go to the vet. Apparently, perishables were booked on their flight so live cargo gets pushed off which was York and Ro. Pet Relocation tried to solve the problem and get the dogs flights. At first they called to say they can land in San Francisco or LA... but I will be in Denver. So how do the dogs get to us? Well they would arrange a driver to drive to Utah, our end location. That is just mad!!!! To have the pups go through that. 2 long flights and then 12 hour drive with a complete stranger. In the end, I decided to have the dogs stay at Frankfurt Animal Lounge for 2 nights & then fly to Denver as planned. Either way we had to pay over $2000 on top of the full amount we already paid and be without the pups for 2 nights! All this last minute stress was something I did not expect. On the day of the flight in Cape Town, pups got picked up from the partner South African pet agency.They calmed me and made me feel good about the flights. I was finally feeling good about our move at the airport, and less stressed when I noticed my dogs in their crates in the sun on the tarmac (unattended). They were in the hot sun (it’s summer in Cape Town) for 45 minutes! Meanwhile I am watching this as I wait to board the plane. I’m crying, I’m yelling at Lufthansa, I’m calling the agencies and nothing was done. Of course I was again stressed and had the worst plane ride of my life. Then we all landed at Frankfurt. Dogs were sent to Lufthansa Animal Lounge. I could not see them after the first flight and had to board for Denver. Lufthansa Animal Lounge doesn’t provide photos or have a camera to check on them so it’s only word of mouth. So for 2 days I had the agency and my dear friend Katherine calling the animal lounge to check on them. Luckily, the pups were fine. And two days later, the pups got the okay to fly. And again more stress as I worry about them on another flight. First flight was 11 hours, second flight was 10 hours. HOORAY. THEY LANDED IN USA. Pet Relocation takes care of the customs paperwork and I was very impressed to say the dogs were cleared in one hour. I cried when I saw them and they acted like nothing had changed. They were happy and healthy so finally I was relieved. And we are now all officially Americans! Overall, I am not a big fan of booking 10 days prior to flight for live cargo, but that’s all airlines. Outraged with Lufthansa airlines for leaving my dogs in sun for 45 minutes. Happy I used a pet agency like Pet Relocation to do all the paperwork. The price was very high for these dogs to be flown, they should have been in first class not in the back of the plane. I wouldn’t want to put my dogs through this again, even though they were not shaken by the travels. |
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