We are wondering if anyone has any ideas about, or can help us with the logistics of ,actually getting our pets to Bonaire when we move in September.

Our dream is sort of turning into a nightmare as far as the logistics of moving our three cats and a dog are concerned.. We live in NC now and American Airlines is the dominant carrier from the Southeast to Caribbean destinations. They are very strict about ground temperatures (over 85 degrees and the pets cannot be shipped). They have no direct flights and their departure and arrival times virtually guarantee temperatures in excess of 85 somewhere along the line. An alternative, Air Jamaica, says they will no longer take pets. We've tried different airlines from different US cities, but haven't come up with anything that will work. It's difficult to locate flights when you don't have a fixed departure city (or destination city working it backwards). There are some possibilities to Curacao and Aruba, but BonairExcel says that they won't take any animals in cargo and only one cat (no dogs) at a time in the cabin.

Does anyone have any suggestions generally or specifically about getting our pets from Curacao (or Aruba) to Bonaire? The ferry from Curacao doesn't run any more does it?

Thanks,

Pete, Alex and Susan Brown

Our friend, Dara, is taking her 2 dogs, 1 cat and parrot off island. The plan is to use a air cargo plane to transport the dogs and cat. The bird is going in the cabin using AA. The Air cargo plane is Amerijet and flys once a week out of Miami - arrives Wednesday morning and leaves later the same day. Contact Fabiola@FourStarCargo.com

The only other suggestion I've heard is some people moving from Curacao to Bonaire with 9 dogs (yes, nine). They arranged transport aboard the Don Andres freight ship on deck. They said it was a horrible trip. Although I imagine you could hire a motor yacht to make the crossing for you.

Pete,
We moved our 3 cats down in July. We purchased "sherpa" cat carriers...soft sides and tops specifially for under airplane seat.

So the cats flew in the cabin with us...got sedative from the vet....no problems with 14 hour travel day.

American Eagle will only allow 2 cats per flight, so we brought 2 with us and the next day Sharon's sister brought the next.

Can't help you with the dog.

Scott

Linda,

Thanks so much! It looks like Amerijet will work out . It means a two day drive to Miami in a Petmobile, but compared to the stone walls we were hitting elsewhere, it's a great relief.

Scott,

Yeah, the dog was the main problem but we were also worried about multiple hours of cats crying and/or otherwise misbehaving on crowded airplanes to the enduring enmity of our fellow travelers.

Alex, Susan and Pete

Pete,
With the meds, the cats made no noise the whole day...plus it is so loud on AA Eagle that no way anyone would hear them!

See you soon on Bonaire.

Scott

Somebody who thinks of their fellow travelers? Somebody give Pete Brown a pat on the back!

If you have lodging concerns along the way check out www.pets-allowed-hotels.com

Good luck!

Great website, Dara! The best of luck to you on your latest adventure in life. I know you and your critters will make it back just fine and will do well. Will you miss living on Bonaire??? Carole

I was really relieved to find that site for pet friendly lodging.....I have not only to think about staying in Miami, but all the stops for 2500 miles!

I'm gonna miss the island, but not as much as my dogs. While they trek off to become "Mountain Men" their Bonairean Beach Babe Buddy, Mokka, is gonna be crying at the seaside and howling at my gate :-(

Pete, I hope you got my direct e-mail, Bonairelive is 'acting up' today.

With Jamaica Air not flying pets - how o we get the "bandits" to Bonaire.

We've discussed driving to Miami and shipping by freight / cargo...is that the only alternative?

Thanks,

Brian & Phyllis

Hi Brian and Phyllis - how many pets and what kind, and when will you be traveling? Amerijet Cargo from Miami to Bonaire may very well be your only option - we rejected it because we had two special needs cats (one 19 yr old and one 13 yr old diabetic) and were afraid they might not survive the stress - it would have involved driving to miami, turning them over to a pet shipper who would keep them until Amerijet was ready to have them delivered to their warehouse, waiting in said warehouse for as long as 12 hours (they have no set schedule for departure to Bonaire because they may or may not stop on the way) with nothing but water - and cats don't drink when they're stressed. I think this route would be ok for young healthy dogs though. Without more details about your critters and plans the only other thing I can say is that Continental was less stringent about the temperature and other restrictions than American, especially if you use a professional pet shipper to make the arrangements and deliver them to the plane (the airlines will bend the rules for a pet shipper but not for you) - also you may know that if changes of airline mid-trip are required you will have to use a pet shipper because the airlines won't deal with the transfers themselves. I can tell you that pet shippers in Miami are very expensive! Anyway, glad to give you more info if I can (spent a lot of time researching options before we came - you don't even want to know what we wound up doing to get our guys here!!) if you give me more details. Susan (recently moved here with 1 dog and 3 cats).

Alex & Susan,

Thanks for all the info... Mostly thanks for giving me some assurance that I am not over estimating the snags of getting the bandits down there.
We've got a senior citizen poodle (Rex) who'll probably sleep the whole way, and we have Dillon (a poodle with criminal intent) and Sydney the cat.

I'm wondering if, counting all of the air fare cost etc, it wouldn't be cheaper to just charter a plane from Miami ?

I thought about trying to pass the two bandits off as guide dogs.... but Rex isn't seeing too well these days and the airline folks would spot Dillon as a imposter as soon as they saw him.

Could you share your adventure with us so I get an idea of how much Gin I should stock for the next couple of months?

Thank you

Brian & Phyllis

Hey Brian and Phyllis - be assured that you are not overestimating the difficulties (definitely stock up on the gin!)...I'm assuming the poodles are not toys, i.e. too big to put under the seat. Bonaire Exel will take one carry on bag of pets per flight (and they didn't seem too particular- they suggested we put all 3 cats in a sherpa bag together!). Which assumes you can find a carrier who can get them to Curacao instead of Bonaire and then take them one by one from there. We would not recommend going to Aruba as we have heard there are no pet friendly hotels (I believe there are some on Curacao but obviously you would need to research it) in the event you get stranded (our father got stranded in San Juan for the night on his trip down, fortunately without a pet). At any rate, that may be an option for Sidney the cat at least. Here's our saga: my sister and I (our father was already here) needed to get 4 critters from NC to Bonaire - even carrying on the cats would have meant an extra trip and possibly traveling separately (capacity limits), and it still would have been a very long stressful trip for them all (14 hours). Add to that the fact that the diabetic cat is a poor traveler and he presented the worst worry for us. Then we still had to contend with the temp restrictions for the dog in cargo. Bear in mind that the airlines can refuse to take a carry on or cargo pet for whatever reason at any point, leaving the possibility that an animal could be stranded at any leg of the trip... the logistics became a nightmare. We too debated enlisting the services of a friend who works at the AKC to get the dog certified as a service dog - but it never would have worked - she's not really criminal but she's not exactly, well, obedient I guess... Then we started adding up the cost of commercial airfare, cargo, petshippers, possibly board and/or vet along the way and it was getting up there. So we looked into chartering a plane from Miami - the first estimates we got were in the $30,000 to 40,000 range so we said oh well. But then a charter service contacted me and we started negotiating, and then another, and I played them off one another until we got it down to $11,000 (according to a friend of ours who's brother regularly charters jets this was insanely low). Still too much, but we also figured in the money we would save by taking an extra 600 or 700 lbs of stuff on the jet thereby saving on overseas shipping costs...and if they could book the return portion of the trip we would break even. Of course they didn't book the return (we've been trying very hard to forget that, thanks so much for reminding us), but if you could do that yourselves (you could find someone in Aruba or anywhere close) then it might be an option for you. The company was Maximum Air out of New York - I think the number is 888-maxxair but they're online - talk to Ron, he will definitely remember me. I will mention that the pilots were most displeased by how much stuff we brought, so you'll want to nail down those details in advance if you do this - tell them to take out the seats! If you do drive to Miami (or wherever) we found that La Quinta Inns & Suites (we drove with the critters from NC to Miami in two days) were VERY pet friendly, and reasonably priced, plus they are suites so Sidney can have his own room if he prefers to be away from the dogs . We wish you the very best of luck; please fell free to ask any/all questions (do you have the scoop on health certificates, etc.?) and please keep us posted--we'll be thinking of you! Defintely let us know when you arrive so we can meet the bandits! Susan

Alex & Susan,

Thanks for the saga...

I thought coordinating the container shipments was going to be the sticky part of the process.
Looks like the bandits are going to steal the show.
I'm leaning more towards a charter flight out of Miami - perhaps a small six seater - that'll be in next chapter.
Of course with the right currents, we could do the slow raft from Miami route.
Rex is small enough to be comfortable in a carry on. As for Dillon, well, I don't think we could
get him slimmed down enough to pass even if we cut off his pot roast and gravy.
Sydney wouldn't mind going carry-on ...much, maybe.
I guess it looks like some logistical work in the near future.
We'll be back in a few weeks (end of April) for the containers / check on the LHBR place and move the stuff into the new spot.
We'll contact you through Bonaire talk before we take off out of here - cocktails at Mona Lisa or Light House perhaps?

Thanks,

Brian & Phyllis

The old ALM (now DCA) flew our full grown rottweiler in cargo, reasonably & w/o problems, (+/- 8-10 yrs ago). I have no idea if they still take pets...but I would have to use them again in an emergency, say, to get them up to the big animal hospital in Hollywood, FL (you do realize how limited vet care is here, right?). I would have to make sure DCA scheduled DC9's, BON/CUR, or use Divi (Bai Bini) to/fm Curacao (but they cannot take the large pet kennels), and DCA to/fm Miami. Or I'd have to fly KLM to Holland & seek care there (and a 2nd mortgage).

Hey Brian and Phyllis - cocktails anywhere sounds great - looking forward to meeting you. About the charter, we were told that a Lear 25 or similar size (seats 8) would be the smallest plane able to go the distance from Miami, unless you fly through Cuban airspace which adds around a thousand onto the trip. Wish you luck with your research there - nobody knew where Bonaire was when I first spoke to them. In response to the last post, concerning the vet care, it's not too bad - a little short on TLC at the "hospital", but they seem competent enough (I have met 3 of the vets there so far). Met the vet in Nikiboko last week and really liked him - he also seems better equipped than the "hospital" - at least he has x-ray and a decent surgery room. I am a vet tech, currently working at the shelter here. I think that you'll be fine for routine care, including wound treatment, minor surgery etc. If you need a veterinary oncologist, orthopod or other specialist then I am sure you would want to head back to the states. Susan