*When we headed into our first overseas journey together in 2010, what was most invaluable to us (other than our Lonely Planet guidebooks) was other people's blogs about their travels. When we made our last blog public, we came to find that people from all around the world were looking at our website for the same thing: information! We plan to us this blog this time as not only a fun way to keep track of our travels, but also to provide even more useful information and tools to those that are planning to travel, or those that want to and are not sure they can. (This will be done in a weekly recap, as not to interrupt the normal flow of daily posts.)
First up, visas and vaccinations!! :-)
When traveling from the US, there are two countries where you need a Visa to enter, Bolivia and Brazil. In order to get these Visas, you must also have a Yellow Fever vaccination (you also need this vaccination to enter French Guiana and Guyana). Proof of the vaccination MUST accompany the applications for entry to both countries.
When initially starting my research on how to obtain both Visas, I was able to find both a Brazilian Consulate in Chicago, as well as a Bolivian Consulate, which is great news, not having to send our passports away to another state. Unfortunately, upon calling the Bolivian number yesterday, we come to find that they have since closed down. We now have to send out our passports to Virginia to obtain our visa for Bolivia. This will take about 3-5 business days, which means we will not have enough time to get our visa for Brazil (we leave on October 25th at 9am). We were lucky enough to find alternative means of getting a visa (from another traveler's website!) for Brazil in Buenos Aires, Argentina upon our arrival there. (Bolivia, and it's surrounding countries, will not issue an American citizen a Bolivian visa upon arrival, if it is not already in your possession, you will be denied entry.)
Getting a Bolivian visa has proven to be one of the most difficult, by far. You have to provide them proof of how you are getting into their country, as well as proof that you have a hotel booked, which is sort of standard, but we also had to provide proof of financial responsibility, i.e., a bank statement or a letter from the bank. All of this, for the greater good of course, but difficult to part with our passports, let alone personal information like this....we will be hoping for the best! When we get our passports back, I will post the link to the website we used for our visas.
As for the yellow fever shot, most health insurance companies will NOT cover this, however I (Jen) got lucky and mine actually does! This is good news, as the shot can range anywhere from $105.00, to $180.00, plus you have to pay for the travel consultation, which ranges from $75 to $90. If your health insurance does cover it, you have to submit the claim yourself, the only drawback, but totally worth it to save that kind of money! To find a list of places in your area that give the shot, go to: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellow-fever-vaccination-clinics/search.htm
Lastly, give yourself enough time. We had no idea that you had to show proof of vaccination before getting your visas (this is not the case with every country, just seems to be the norm for all in South America). A few places I called could not get me in for 3-4 weeks, so you need to plan well in advance so that you are not pressed for time in the end (like us.)
Be back soon!
***UPDATE - hours after getting our yellow fever shots and getting our visa stuff together, the US Embassy issued a warning against traveling to La Paz, Bolivia (this town was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Bolivia). This warning, and also the fact that it was going to cost about $500 total for visas, we have decided against going there. However, we did have to speak to an agent at the company providing Bolivian Visas, and they seemed to know their stuff. The website is: http://www.passportvisasexpress.com/visas/visa-to-bolivia.xml?view=requirements&v_type_id=1023
Good Luck!
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