Hey everyone,

How strict is the customs in Mendoza regarding bringing food with me for my climb?

Are sealed, processed foods ok (like tang, cookies, pepperoni) whereas something like organic dried berries would be a no-no? Or would nuts and berries type stuff be Ok as long as it's still in its sealed package?

I hear that there are pretty good grocery stores in Mendoza, so it may not be an issue, but I'm particular to a few certain items that I would love to bring if possible. (Like Trader Joe's Mediterranean Pizza flat breads.)

Thanks,

~Mike

are you flying into santiago then? it's a shorter bus ride, yes, but the waits at the border can be several hours. americans also have to pay about a 100-dollar 'tax' when entering chile on a plane (but not if by bus.)

i don't know exactly what they will take away from you though, since i passed through that border in the other direction. i'm sure someone will pipe in though.

I flew into Mendoza armed with 3 weeks (or so) worth of sealed package foods. They didn't say a thing. I had everything from trail mixes to dried fruits to freeze-dried stuff and cookies.

Oh yeah, though you unfortunately won't find TJ's, they do have a Walmart in Mendoza (if you're into that).

I think packaged goods are fine. If you are flying through Santiago and stopping there, I wouldn't bring opened or unpackaged fruits/nuts/veggies. They have a dedicated inspection process for those. There is a good selection in the supermarkets in Mendoza.

Woodie

To answer the questions, I'm flying LAN directly into mendoza. I only have a short layover in Santiago (~2 hours.)

Scooter, when you headed down there? We are climbing with Patagonica and arrive in Mendoza on 1/10. Good thread. We were wondering about customs and food. Good luck on you climb! Bart

I think the main thing is to not remove food from original packages. We took a bunch of bars, gu, and dehydrated meals. We concentrated on climber specific stuff. I don’t know if some categories are off limits for agricultural reasons, such as meat. Mendoza has a Super Wal-Mart with a full grocery store. So unless there is a brand name you just have to have, don’t feel you have to take everything. The peanut butter we bought had the very same label with the Arkansas address you would get at a Wal-Mart in the US!

Argentina is known for beef, and Mendoza is the center of wine country. Beer bottles were usually twice as big as here and the same price as pop. When we were there 2 years ago nice restaurant meals cost about 1/3 of what they do in the US. It was an easy place to be!

Maranna wrote:Scooter, when you headed down there? We are climbing with Patagonica and arrive in Mendoza on 1/10. Good thread. We were wondering about customs and food. Good luck on you climb! Bart

I leave for LAX on 1/18, arriving in MDZ late on the 19th. We head out to Penitentes on the 21st I believe.

My other friend told me to just buy all my snacks there as well, so I'll probably just do that and not stress about carrying it with me.

Good luck.

~Mike

FWIW I figured I would chime in and let everyone know of some additional information I found on travel, tourism, and border protection info websites. While none of this is official, it seems pretty common sense and is probably accurate.

It seems the only restrictions on food are "plants, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and perishables."

I think I'll gamble on some trader joes' dried berries and flatbreads and see what happens.

I'm guessing my other non perishable stuff should be ok from the other posts here (sealed peanut butter, candy bars, girl scout cookies, candy, etc...)

Hey,

Mostly, food and border crossing usually just come down to how bored or motivated the customs agents are that day. And if they are hungry and like the food that you have. They can do whatever they want really and that's just the way it is.

If you've got food you really can't live without, make sure it's packed and wrapped so well that it wouldn't be worth their time to dig in and find out what it is. Same goes for prescription meds.

The other trick is to put things that look alike (on x-ray) together. So put the packs of berries in a bag with 5 packets of M&Ms, so when the guy looks for a pack of small round things, he sees 5 packs of M&Ms and gives up.

I'm currently in an apartment a few minutes walk from the big Carrefour supermarket in town (corner of Belgrano & Juan B Justo/Las Heras). They have an 'imported' food section with heaps of Hershey bars and other stuff.

D

brandon wrote:Hey,

Mostly, food and border crossing usually just come down to how bored or motivated the customs agents are that day. And if they are hungry and like the food that you have. They can do whatever they want really and that's just the way it is.

If you've got food you really can't live without, make sure it's packed and wrapped so well that it wouldn't be worth their time to dig in and find out what it is. Same goes for prescription meds.

Yes exactly.

Damien Gildea wrote:I'm currently in an apartment a few minutes walk from the big Carrefour supermarket in town (corner of Belgrano & Juan B Justo/Las Heras).

Don't forget the 1 liter bottles of Stella beer for about a buck and a quarter USD. Beer was cheaper then water and soda at that place. Makes you almost want to move there

Damien Gildea wrote:...the big Carrefour supermarket in town (corner of Belgrano & Juan B Justo/Las Heras).

Oh sweet....I just pulled out my map, and realized that I'm going to be staying only a couple of blocks from this supermarket less than 1/2 km. This really eases my anxiety about navigating alone in a spanish speaking city with only an elementary knowledge of the language.