Hunt The Veterinarian

To enter Argentina Rusty must have a certificate of good health from a vet along with an export certificate from the Department of Agriculture. We’re used to the vet circus by now but let’s admit it we screwed up by forgetting the weekend, those two days government officials don’t work.

We tried the nearest vet we found on iOverlander but weirdly enough they only do the paperwork needed to export your pet to Europe. So we had to press on. 

We’d heard the beach town of Piriápolis is pretty and our idea was to run down the coast to check it out before turning west to Argentina. The black line below is the border between the two countries. 

Layne sent a message ahead to the vet and they said they could do the certificate so we set our sights on Piriápolis an hour due east. We were told they were busy and they would call us when they were ready.

We went in after three hours and found the employees standing around talking. No the certificate wouldn’t be ready before Monday by now… faced with a weekend in Piriápolis dealing with this disorganized office we decided to head west and deal with the paperwork in Paysandú, the border town where a competent vet is listed in the iOverlander app. First we had to have lunch at Cafe Picasso:

Layne said it got excellent write ups so I left the ordering to her. The granddad showed up and brought us an unexpected fish to try.

He says he likes it as a pick-me-up when he gets tired and hangry in the evening. He doesn’t like to eat late as locals do and prefers to eat dinner early like us gringos, but work gets in the way so he turns to a plate of pickled anchovies:

It was despite the odds delicious.  The anchovy fillets are soaked in salt water seconded and pickled in apple vinegar and served with garlic parsley and olive oil. No fishy taste just fresh fish lightly pickled. He was delighted we enjoyed it. 

We ordered a plate of fried calamari to share and in short got a small mountain:

We had planned to order a plate of fish in a blue cheese sauce, highly recommended but we were full. So we paid and that plate of calamari (the anchovies were in the house) cost us thirty bucks which in South America is expensive.

Yesterday was a day that sort of drifted by. We went to a supermarket to pick up some stuff forgotten the day before, sometimes it seems as though food shopping is what we are here for. Anyway after Rusty got his walk and the skies opened for a bit we set off for Paysandú six hours away across the country. It was 3:30.

A few photos of Piriápolis the beach town when we arrived:

As we left town the vet called back to say they could do the certificate but it would be ready no sooner than Monday. Why they were touring for business after brushing us off was a puzzle. Maybe the boss saw some easily plucked foreigners slipping through her fingers. We pressed on.

Rusty was being a trooper but we decided to stop after a couple of hours on the road. We probably weren’t going get the certificate before the weekend but there was no point in killing ourselves to get there early.

Good bye Piriápolis. 

And off we went  across Uruguay which doesn’t change much but as it happens there are some hills behind Piriápolis. 

And then Uruguay goes flat again. 

We passed a truck stop rest area, a paved pullout basically so we stopped. Leftover Indian food for dinner and bed.  What an inconclusive day.