Since leaving Calgary my faithful steeds and I have faced giant mountains, grizzly bears, drug lords, rivers, deserts, windstorms, and extreme heat. We have taken on more obstacles in this Long Ride than some people face in their entire lives. Yet all of these now seem like a walk in the park compared to the challenges I have faced attempting to cross borders in Latin America.

After three days in the Peruvian airport photocopying papers, paying fees, and waiting in seemingly eternal lines, my horses were finally allowed to leave. Of course this was only on one condition… that they be trailered immediately out of the country. Senasa would not allow me to import the horses into Peru from Costa Rica because of a quarantine policy that controls equines entering the country from Central America. I was only allowed to transport them through Peru to their final destination, Brazil.

The Senasa veterinarian who signed the in-country transit permit knew these animals had been standing in a trailer for three days when he ordered them to be trailered for a week to get them straight out of the country. I felt like he had basically sent my horses to their death with the ink of his pen. No horse can take that amount of stress. Ask any vet and they will tell you it’s not right. Yet the Peruvian vets not only told me to do it, they tried to force me.

“Filipe, I will have to leave a $3,500 dollar deposit with Senasa that I will only get back once the horses leave the country within the allotted time frame,” Don Victor, my logistics agent told me.

I felt like puking. I was so stressed and tired from the past few days that I could barely think straight. There was only one last thing to try…

Being from Brazil I learned at an early age that the only way to get anything done in Latin America is by using money. It is as if the laws are created to be so restrictive, so senseless, that money becomes the only solution.

“Don’t worry Filipe, we will pay the officials and they’ll give us time to unload the horses and let them rest.” 

“You will be able to ride for a few days here in Peru. Money buys anything in my country” Don Robin said.

Just like that, the ponies were unloaded outside of Lima and allowed to rest for a few days at a beautiful ranch. Emma and I got to ride through dirt country roads while meeting some wonderful Peruvians and learning their customs.

Sometimes a cowboy needs to cut a fence or two in order to get to where he needs to go. I will not let Latin America put an end to my Long Ride!