Somehow it’s always the sweetest dogs that attach themselves to us on the streets. Chavo is about as quiet and gentle as a dog can get.
We loved having him around, but were okay with saying goodbye as well. When he first followed Ali and the kids (remember I had veered off to the grocery store) into the house his fate was pretty well sealed. He’d get healthy, he’d get neutered, and then he’d get a new home. Ali put a call out on Facebook and within minutes a friend of her cousin said she would love to have him. She is part of a bunny rescue in Minnesota, has a couple of other dogs, and a bunch of land. It was pretty much all Ali could have asked for. Chavo too, though he didn’t know it at the time.
After saying goodbye to Chavo we had to do some last minute running around. The big deal for us was getting our visas renewed. There are any number of people who will do visa renewals for you—you start with 90 days and can extend for 90 more—but we discovered too late that for some insane reason we needed our kids’ birth certificates for renewal. Don’t need them to get in, but they all said this was mandatory for renewing. The birth certificates are back on the boat, a sixteen-hour round trip drive away. These “lawyers” all wanted about 600Q ($80) per passport, too, which is pretty excessive for a family of four.
So then we started thinking we’d have to make a run to Mexico, about a four hour drive from Lake Atitlan, where we are headed next. But that has its own risks. For one, you aren’t technically supposed to be able to walk out and walk right back in. That sort of issue can generally be finessed easily enough with border guards, though.
But then we heard that the immigration office in Guatemala City had recently changed up their system. We were still technically supposed to have birth certificates for the kids, but since this was only a 90 minute drive away we decided to give it a go. If it didn’t work out we’d make the Mexico run.
We drove down around noon, and were quickly underway with our paperwork. A few copies of passports and credit cards, and we were in the system and a friendly lady was helping us with a smile. The room was filled with people but everyone seemed to be getting stuff done. Then the storm started outside and the building kept getting zapped and losing power. The computers would all go down and take a few minutes to start again, and each time it happened I thought, “Ah hell, they’re going to tell us we have to come back tomorrow.”
But, about two hours after we got there our name was called and they handed over four freshly stamped passports with another ninety days in front of them. Twenty-five bucks per passport. Not bad.
Then it was back to Antigua to figure out how to get all this stuff into the sub-compact I had rented. Rental cars are pretty insane. I really don’t understand the business model any more. For less than $5 per day, they hand me the keys to an almost new car and say, “Go drive the hell out of this thing.” The old business model was to get you in there on the cheap rental price and then stick you for some ridiculous amount of mandatory insurance. But lately all the companies give me a form that is specifically for us Americans with fancy credit cards (obviously they won’t mention this to you—it’s something you need to know about). My credit card offers full coverage on rental cars anywhere in the world. So now, instead of paying the $5/day rental plus the $14/day insurance, I pay them the ridiculously low $5 price and they tell me to go have fun. I once rented a car in Sayulita, Mexico for $1.80.
We really enjoyed Antigua, but it was time to see some more of the country. This is Iximche, some Mayan ruins about 500 years old. The indigenous Maya still perform their ceremonies there. And it was a beautiful place for kids to just run around and have fun. Ali and I were most impressed by the fact that they had not one, but two lawn mowers. At 99% of ruin sites the lawn mower consists of a guy with a machete. When we were walking around we both saw the first lawn mower but didn’t say anything. When we saw the second one we both blurted out at the same time, “Wow, they have two lawn mowers!” I laugh at how the simplest things seem so impressive to us when we’re south of the border for a while.
A while later our drive got a little wacky, mostly because we were blindly following Google. Turn right. Okay. Turn left. This seems weird, but okay. Pretty soon we were on a narrow road in a corn field being told to turn where there were no roads at all.
In the highlands almost all the girls and women wear the traditional dress. A few men too, though most of them have gone western shabby like the rest of us.
Right here we were supposed to take a left. Not a slight left, but a full on 90 degree turn into the corn field, and then follow that over a mountain and across the base of a volcano to our destination.
We backtracked a bit, and found the right road down to the lake again. Normally it’s hard to show how steep a road is—like showing in pictures how big waves are—but with this road we didn’t have that problem.
And then we’re driving through San Pedro La Laguna and are sure that Google is just messing with us.
I had about 90% confidence this road was going to end with us wedged between two buildings, unable to extricate ourselves, like a Mr. Bean sketch.
Somehow we popped out again unscathed, Google said to turn, and lo and behold our destination was on the right. Prior to coming to San Pedro, on Lake Atitlan, we thought we’d be driving around the lake to all the different little villages. Nope. The car never moved the entire time we were there. No way were we going to let Google lead us back into that labyrinth.
A couple of days later the great folks at the Antigua dog rescue delivered Chavo—along with two other guys headed off to a fresh start—to the airport. They’ve done this lots of times, but really went out of their way to help us out since we had managed to find him a home in the States. The hardest part is just finding them a place to go. Rabies shots, vaccinations, neutering, that’s all fairly straight forward work, but getting them on a plane with an actual home on the other end is the trick. They got Chavo to the airport, in a kennel, with a ticket to MSP. Somehow they did all of this before we’d even given them a dime. That’s how caring, kind, and trusting these ladies were. Many thanks to Keri and Linda.
Arrived safe and sound. Mission complete.
36 Comments on “Adiós Chavo”
The Chavo story will continue to resonate with me for a very long time. A stray dog, probably getting some attention, some food, some care in his life, but ultimately alone in the world, magically finds the Schulte family, receives oodles of love, care, medical attention and ultimately a loving new home. It makes me cry for happy each and every time I see him in a photo. You can just tell he is an angel dog, sent here to teach us all what a little love can do to change a life. Thank you again Schulte family for saving this doggy.
Amen, Chris.
Thank you, Chris. I too cry (of happiness) each time I get an update from his new home life. Such a good dog.
So happy dear Chavo found a home and that his love will be returned many times over. Thank you for helping a very deserving guy. I so hope you will keep us updated on how he does. This sure warms my heart. ❤️❤️❤️
Me too. I anxiously wait for a new photo of him all the time. When I get them I will share them for sure. Wait until he goes in the snow!
What a sweetie Chavo is! Thank you so much for helping him. That last picture tells it all. You guys are great!
Thanks, Maureen. He was easy to help – thank goodness. Now who to help next… 😉
What a wonderful story about a lovely pup and a lucky chance encounter with a terrific family. We were so happy to be able to help you and Chavo. We love happy beginnings! Safe travels and adventures to you amazing people!
Thanks, Linda and your wonderful group, for helping us, help Chavo. You are kind people and I look forward to visiting you again some day in Antigua.
Well, that made me cry big tears. What a lucky pup, Chavo is. Thank you for finding him his forever home. What a story he can tell – rags to riches 🙂
Exactly! He really did get an amazing start at a new life.
An awesome post, many stories intertwined, the opening and the ending on the same subject. A wonderful read and the pictures beautiful as usual. Have a great life Chavo!
Yes it was a busy time for us, but in the end everything came together. Thank goodness!
As usual, your wanderings make me long for retirement. And yes, if we sold the farm and all earthly belongings we could retire right now. But, both spouses have to be on the same page; and so off to work I go each day living vicariously through the Bums and many others. Life is Good.
Hi Marie H, yes if one is not ready, it will be no fun. Slow and steady works just fine. You can always start unloading closets now – get a bit of a head start on those earthly belongings. 😉
Great story, and so glad Chavo got a good home. I found it funny that as you described you “googling” directions, one of the signs on a building suggested it might be “time to look to God”…..maybe try prayer next ? Lol !!
Well swearing didn’t work! We seriously had to check our settings to see if it said “no turn-arounds” or something, like we had set for our motorhome. It just kept going and going, turning us into nonexistent road cornfields.
So touching that Chavo made it to his new home OK. Kudos to all involved !!!
Thanks, Marlane. Woot! Woot! Such a good dog.
I’m a Major animal lover ( have a degree in Zoology ). Thank you guys so much
For rescuing another canine from the streets that needs a loving home.
Awesome, Trey. Yes so many in need, luckily their are many good people trying to make changes. Including us.
Love the scenery and people – majestic mountains, picturesque villages, colorful traditional clothing. Very entertaining and interesting.
It is really a magical country. Each village/region wears a different color clothes to show where they are from. They amaze me in all they do for such a hard life. A good life, but so different than where we come from.
We just returned from England. We were up north and google maps put on on a dirt path running between two fields. Growth so high on each side we couldn’t see anything and do narrow the bushes were rubbing each side of the new Mercedes rental. After about 1 1/2 miles, it had us take left on a paved road. I asked my nephew about the route later and he confirmed that it was correct. I sure was wondering.
Oh my goodness, that sounds like an adventure. Even after we got turned around and on the “right” road, we didn’t trust it as then we were doing hairpin turns down the mountainside. We asked the rental lady upon our arrival – she said yes that is the only road in. We didn’t drive the rental for the rest of our time there. 🙂
Oh, how wonderful for Chavo! We are in Mexico and feeding street dogs. They truly do tug at every heartstring you have. Thank you, Bums, for caring and helping. He is going to have a wonderful life! Will you get to visit him when you’re in Minnesota?
They sure do. Mexico had many (some??) rescue groups to help spay/neuter the population. We donated to a few in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Sayulita. Have to start somewhere and yes a good meal for a day was my go-to for helping many. We will for surely visit Chavo when we travel to Minnesota. I wonder if he will remember us…
What great pictures. My wife and I love the apartment! And how your kids have grown! Wow I really need to visit Guatemala again! So you got boy dog (chavo) neutered? I thought the females got neutered and the males castrated?
Thanks, Dave. And yes, I enjoy Guatemala, I was the one that pushed for us to come here this offseason as I wanted to show the kids. Yes, neutered for males and spayed for females. I suppose castrated works fine too. 😉
“I suppose castrated works fine too. 🙂 ”
Heh . . . your male readers will cringe and kind of press their knees together, but yes, a male is neutered via castration. If possible, neutering and spaying should be delayed until after a dog is past puberty. Here’s an on-point link:
https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/02/17/dangers-of-early-pet-spaying-or-neutering.aspx
TaoJones
PS: It is a lazy Sunday morning here, and I have been reviewing all you past posts in Antigua with my wife. I have a very nostalgic times sad feeling wishing I was there again. Really your photos are unbelievable. Then I started telling my wife about all your travels. You guys have really done a lot of great fantastic trips! I admire you all to no end!
Thanks, Dave. Even when I look back I cannot believe we have done all this. Never planned, just went. Thank goodness we were always on the same path. Life is good.
Last PS. I know you guys like to surf. If you go to Monterrico be careful with the undercurrents, they can get really strong. A guy at a beach bar told me a lot of tourists drown. And after body surfing all day, towards late afternoon I started having trouble getting up and out of the water.
Thanks again, Dave. We didn’t make it out to Monterrico this visit but appreciate the heads up. Pat and I were there back in our VW bus but don’t remember if we swam or not. The black sand was amazing.
San Pedro is where my friend lives. We (hopefully) will be moving to our 8 acre property in central Texas in about 5 years, I’ll expect you to find me a dog at that time. BTW, what does it cost to adopt a dog from another country, the only thing I’ve ever considered moving across a border was a horse and the cost and vaccines turned me away from that.
How great 8-acres is a nice size. And I will be available at your service to find that dog(s???). 🙂 In Guatemala it cost $330 for paperwork, crate, etc to export an animal. Then to fly alone with PetSafe on United $550. Not including medications, vaccines, neutering, boarding, and transport…. The rescue told me they usually ask for $400-$500 to help offset the costs of transporting. And I was told if we had done it ourselves, got him to the airport, etc. it would have been cheaper than under the rescue group as they are charged additional government fees.