Jakub and I know each other from work trips abroad. He is known to be an adventurer who often goes where it is not completely safe and comfortable. Just like the last time he restarted his wanderings after the pandemic restrictions. “Once again, it was my favorite Chile, where I return repeatedly. I take photos in the Puna de Atacama desert, the driest on Earth,” said Jakub Kynčl in the Blesku Podcast. While creating his first book, he also tried his hand at writing. The title The Belt and the Dog takes place in Central and South America. “It’s my favorite area. After ten years of traveling here, I thought I had enough stories from there to put together. And the dog in the title was the main final impetus for the creation of the book. But I can’t say that I consider myself a writer yet.”
Right at the beginning of the book, Jakub mentions the stories and bad reputation that people usually remember when they talk about South American countries and their drug cartels. “I more or less don’t get into risky situations, I try to keep track of what’s going on around me. Also because I often have more expensive photographic equipment on my back. I try to avoid immediate danger, but if a shot is heard somewhere fifty meters from me, that can happen in Central America,” Jakub said. “It’s quite common here for someone to lure me to drugs, to easy girls.” One of Jakub’s trips to the Atacama, in April 2019, turned out to be completely unexpected. Meeting a stray female, still a puppy. As happens between dogs and people, a spark flew.
Podcast: In a country full of pitfalls, Jakub found four-legged love, he took her halfway around the world to Bohemia. | J. Kynčl
Already at the end of April, Jakub ensured the chipping and vaccination of the female, who was later given the beautiful name Noria. During June, he handled the necessary documents and permits for the export and import of the dog, looked for a suitable cage for the transport itself, and bought plane tickets. And in mid-June, Jakub was waiting for a flight back to Chile for a detour and return to the Czech Republic with the dog. The cost of a rescue mission? About 50 thousand crowns! “Chipping, vaccinations and veterinary confirmation for export cost about six thousand, some stamps two thousand, a box for transportation five thousand and all the necessary tickets (dogs cost about half of what humans do),” Jakub listed, saying that he does not regret a single crown.
He had the advantage of an understanding partner. “I took some photos and videos, sent them to her, and she immediately jumped on the same boat.” Only then did they go through the bureaucratic merry-go-round together. “When we finally went through the customs department in Paris, got a stamp and were already on the territory of the European Union, he had a lot on his plate,” admitted Jakub. With Noria, Jakub, his wife Táňa and their now two-year-old son already form one team. How did the first meeting with a female somewhere in the Chilean desert go, how did Noria like the Czech snow and where would Jakub recommend to readers to travel to enjoy their vacation to the fullest?
… you will learn that and much more in the new episode of the Blesku Podcast.