Adventures to Grand Turk

So there was a lot of preparation that goes into going to a new country, especially by private yacht. One of the biggest things we have to think about is Stella. Some countries are rabies free and have strict rules, while other countries don't seem to be bothered if you bring your dog in. There are several different resources online that I use to get a better understanding of the requirements before we enter a country. Well, for Turks & Caicos, being rabies free, there regulations are fairly strict. Dogs must have a rabies titer done. Anticipating we would need one, I had hers drawn and sent off before we left Florida. It had to be sent to one of few labs that are accepted by Europe ($$$). We waited in the Bahamas waiting for her lab to be done so I could get an International Health Certificate....also required by T&C. I initiated contact with the dept of agriculture in T&C in June to arrange for Stella's import permit and verify requirements. So here we are now, end of July, I finally get the titer results and the health certificate. I emailed it to the Dept of agriculture veterinarian I have been dealing with. I must note here that I have sent the application in twice already, and sent documents three times already. So I send the final documents and the vet writes back that ALL documents must be in ONE pdf. Seriously? Then he tells me I need to send the application again 🤦‍♀️. So I do it, plus I sent him a long sob story begging for his help. Yes I am at the mercy of a power hungry ass in the government. But what do you do. Finally, after a month and 15 emails, I get Stella's permit, but it's for "In Transit Only/Not permitted to Land". Ok whatever, we're not staying long anyway. So, we get to Grand Turk and check in with customs and immigration. You, not one person asked to see that stupid dog permit. To make things even more aggravating, we arrived to the island on Sunday, tried to contact customs, but they were closed. So we went to the office on Monday and do you know we had to pay overtime fees to both customs and immigration for coming in after hours even though we did business during regular business hours.

Well, none the less, we got things done and got settled in.

One of the first things we did was hit the grocery store. During our walk to the store we saw something you just don't see everyday.

Fun facts for friends to know, apparently they used to export salt here. There are several inland lakes that they would fill with sea water and when the water evaporated they would collect the remaining salt. They used donkeys to haul the salt to the port for the boats. Many years ago, when they didn't need the donkeys anymore, they just let them go. So now there are about 200 wild donkeys that roam Grand Turk.

Well we have now checked out and had planned to leave here Thursday for Puerto Rico. It seems as though some weather has come in and we probably won't get out of here until the weekend. We headed south to Cotton Cay and will hang out here until we get the weather window we need to leave.