- The documents you will need are your passport
and the title of the vehicle(s). If you are taking your pet, you will
need United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health
Examination for Small Animals (APHIS Form 7001). See DOG
for details on transporting a dog throughout Central America and back.
- Check
with each country before you go as formalities change. There is an
embassy representing each country in the capital city of most
countries. You want the consular offices. In many large cities you will
also find a consular office of the Central American countries to assist
their nationals residing there, and to answer questions of potential
visitors. Besides confirming their requirements, they can also provide
maps and tourist information. The following links are useful:
- Current Visa Requirements - http://www.wtgonline.com/
,
- See also http://www.letsgo.com/destinations/latin_america/central/essentials/documents.php
- Visa requirements for U.S.
citizens - http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html
- Make a copy of each of your documents to
leave at home, and a dozen more to take with you. You will need to hand
in copies at each border. We thought it interesting that the color
copies were considered to be originals.
IMMIGRATION:
- Your
passports need to be valid for least six months of your entry date.
- U.S.
and British citizens do not need to get visas in advance, but
Canadians, among others, need them for Nicaragua and El Salvador
CUSTOMS:
- You
need the original title of the vehicle or a notarized letter from the
lien holder.
- You must have one credit card and a driver’s
license in the same name as the vehicle(s) title. If the RV is in joint
ownership it is even better should one driver need to return home
unexpectedly, or one loses their driver’s license.
- Each traveler can only import one motorized
vehicle. You will run into problems, for example if you tow a dingy and
have a motor bike as well.
DRIVER’S LICENSE:
- Get
an International Drivers License (available through AAA). A couple
might be useful. Keep your other one in a safe place and only show the
international one. The official has a document he can read and you have
your regular license in a safe place.
CREDIT CARDS:
- Have
at least one in each person’s name on separate accounts. You need one
in the same name as the vehicle registration. Remember an individual
can only bring in one motorized vehicle.
- If
a card is lost or stolen you will need to cancel it while being able to
continue to draw out money on another account.
- We
could not usually purchase gas with our credit cards, in spite of the
logos on the gas station windows.
- ATM machines were available in most towns.
INSURANCE:
- Insurance
should be purchased ahead of time. Except for Mexico and Costa Rica,
there is no way to buy insurance at the borders (Costa Rica requires
you to buy insurance at the border on the southbound leg).
We spent half a day in Quetzaltenango looking for a place to buy
insurance, and ended up spending $100 for 30 days of coverage for
"civil damages" up to $6000. Otherwise we self insured. Sanborn's Insurance provides Mexican
Car Insurance at the border. They accept applications for RVs and might
cover the entire trip, subject to approval. For information contact
Mary Stave's at Sanborn's Brownsville office: (956) 546-6644 or (800)
258-1658. Nelson
International Insurance is another group that advertizes Central
American Insurance. They are located in McAllen, Texas and have
provided Central American insurance for at least one of our
readers. A UK company
selling auto and camper insurance for Central America is http://www.alessie.com/html/americas2.html.
We haven't confirmed that they cover big rigs. You
may also obtain insurance directly from AIG. In
fact, if you insure through Sanborne's or Nelson's it will probably be
underwritten by AIG. Kathe
Kirkebride obtained
$120,000 worth of insurance covering their nine month trip for $5000
premium. Contact them for more information.
- People sometimes wonder about liability and what
happens if you cause damage, hurt or kill a local in an accident
without insurance. This is a scary proposition and perhaps would put
off many to making this trip. Clearly in Mexico, which excercises
Napoleanic Law, you need to have liability insurance and it is
availble at the borders. We have not found it possible to obtain
liability insurance for the other countries in Central America except
for "civil damages".
One couple did have the unfortunate experience of causing a death in an
accident (not their fault). It is worth reading their account at http://aaronandamy.com/?p=64.
The conclusion from this story and other anecdotes we have heard:
personally take care of the victim's family. Avoid conflicts with
the authorities. We fortunately have no personal experience to
draw upon.
- For South
America, check out our South
America page for further
info.
WATER TREATMENT
The CDC web
site has information on water treatment. Tap water should not
be consumed in Latin America.
You should use filters that are designed to remove Cryptosporidium
and Giardia. They carry one of the four messages below on the
package label.
- Reverse osmosis
- Absolute pore size of 1
micron
- Tested
and certified by NSF International (formerly the National Sanitation
Foundation) Standard 53 or NSF Standard 58 for cyst removal
- Tested and certified by NSF Standard 53 or NSF Standard 58
for cyst reduction
One such filter is the Sta-Rite
F1 or F1Pb, available from The
RV Water Filter Store. Water may also be treated with
Chlorine and/or
boiling. Chlorox bleach is sold in most grocery stores in Central
America and proportions to use for water treatment are printed on the
container.
Travel Times and Sample Itinerary
When we go to Central America we usually want to transit
Mexico as fast as possible, then we slow down in Central America.
Our record is four days from Brownsville, Texas to the Guatemala border
at La Mesilla. The following itinerary was prepared in response
to a question: "what's the driving time from the U.S. to
Panama". It's an aggressive schedule without stops for
sightseeing, etc. Definately the fastest way to Central America
is by the east coast. Taking toll roads costs nearly $100
and saves 1-2 days also (thisschedule assumes that'swhat you do).
There's a new toll road from Coatzelcoalcos to
Tuxtla Guttierez in Chiapas, Mexico, which really makes the trip to
Guatemala
short.
Fast Route to Panama City
| Night |
|
Hrs |
| 1 |
Brownsville, Texas |
|
| 2 |
Tampico |
10 |
| 3 |
Veracruz |
10 |
| 4 |
Tehuantepec* |
10 |
| |
Tecun Uman (Guate Border) |
7 |
| 5 |
Coatepeque, Guate |
1 |
| |
La Hachadura, El Salvador (Border) |
6 |
| 6 |
La Libertad |
3 |
| |
El Amatillo (Honduras Border) |
8 |
| 7 |
Choluteca, Honduras |
3 |
| |
El Espino (Nicaragua Border) |
5 |
| 8 |
Esteli, Nicaragua |
2 |
| |
Penas Blancas (CR Border) |
7 |
| 9 |
Liberia, CR |
2 |
| 10 |
San Ysidro de General, CR |
8 |
| |
Paso Canoas (Panama Border) |
5 |
| 11 |
Guabala, Panama |
3 |
| 12 |
Panama City |
10 |
| |
|
100 |
* - Alternate: from Veracruz take the tollroad via Coatzalcoalcos to
Tuxtla Guttierex in Chiapas. Continue to San Cristobal de las
Casa then on CA-1 to La Mesilla and the highlands of Guatemala.
This will add a day to the trip but it is the easiest entry
into Gautemala. Follow CA-1 to Guatemala City then the either continue
on CA-1 to an easy entrance to El Salvador or turn off to Escuintla and
the coastal road.
<return to top>
What
to Take
These are all
the things we took and a couple we wish we had had.
We were traveling in a small motorhome and had limited
space.
Please let us
know if there are things you would like to add to the list. We want to
share your ideas with everyone who is heading south.
- There were no groceries on
this that I didn’t see for sale in just about any of the supermercados
throughout Central America. Belize
was the least well equipped country, even in the capital.
Peanut butter was available but pricey, (what we
brought
made a great gift for ex-patriots) and we couldn’t find our favorite
salad dressing and what was available was expensive.
- The meat in Central America
was extremely lean and therefore
tough. We were grateful for each piece of
meat we took with us. Meat was readily available, but I found it hard
to buy a hunk of meat cut from a side of animal hanging up in an open
air market. I gave up on beef and went for the pork in the supermarkets
and chicken in the mercado. We also ate a
lot of eggs. For more edible meat take a
grinder to make your own hamburger. It isn’t advisable to buy ground
meat as there is a greater chance of bacterial infection, and the
grinder in the shop might not be as clean as you would like it.
- Fruit like apples were often
available in the mercado and they looked great and often had the same
stickers we have grown used to. However, none that we bought were worth
eating. It must be a lack of care in shipping.
- Fresh milk was not always easy
to buy, so we kept some of the shelf milk that lasts months without
refrigeration. You can get it in the major markets.
- I should have taken more paper
towels as the locally made ones were expensive and not very good.
- Spares of other basics were
not needed, except of course the irreplaceable special soluble toilet
paper.
- Two appliances we were glad we
had brought were the small crock-pot and the George Forman grill. I
could cook food in the crock-pot as we traveled. It was invaluable for
that tough meat, and it didn’t add much to the heat of the motor home.
(Don’t forget you’ll need an inverter and a long extension cord.) The
grill also cooked quickly and produced little ambient heat.
- A bread machine would be invaluable. Flour (harina)
and yeast (levadura) are available in supermarkets.
- Take a level bubble and
install this near the door of in the cab so you can check it quickly
when parking.
- Washing clothes wasn’t a
problem, but getting the things dry was a challenge. It is not always
appropriate to hang out your washing and we didn’t stay in one spot for
very long. We didn’t see any coin operated laundromats.
Occasionally we found that someone in a town that
would do
laundry (wash and fold). This service is
probably available on most towns but you have
to ask. The laundromats are not advertised. Sometimes
it is just a lady in her home.
- The stick-on hooks we had
installed dripped off in the heat and humidity, so we resorted to
screw-in hooks.
- We hardly used the bicycles
and I would not take them again if I intended to keep moving as we did.
However, next time we would like to go more slowly and spend more time
in some areas and then they would have been most useful.
- We took masses of books, books
on tape, CDs and videos but hardly used any. We thought we would listen
to books on tape and CDs all the time we were driving but there was too
much of interest outside the windows. We
didn’t get past the first chapter of “Murder
on the Orient Express”. We watched just two video movies but we did
enjoy the boxed set of M*A*S*H*. We were not usually up for a long
movie, but a lighthearted half hour was great. Twenty four episodes
lasted the whole trip.
- We brought seed packets to
give away and they were invaluable. We always carried them in our
pockets, and could give them to just about anyone. Some were flowers
but most vegetables.
- Soccer balls were good
give-aways for families, schools and the like.
- Ball point pens were a hit at
the border crossings. Bring many to give
away.
- I brought a spare wallet to
carry money from the countries we were not it. John used it when he
lost his. We kept “other country” money in envelopes in the file of
that country.
- Check the weather for the time
of year and the altitude you will be experiencing. We were surprised at
how cold it was in the mountains. A comforter came in handy.
- Long sleeved shirts are useful
to protect from insects or the sun.
- If you are taking a digital
camera and laptop computer, include CD burner or external hard drive
for backup. Take digital pictures at the highest resolution.
COMMUNICATION
-
We used an Iridium
Satellite phone which we borrowed from John's company. It worked
everywhere as long as there was an unobstructed view of the sky, i.e.
we weren't always able to communicate from within the RV or when in a
jungle covered with trees! The basic plan costs $32.95/month plus
$1.49 per minute for air time (see http://www.gmpcs-us.com/index.htm).
They sell the phone for $1395 (model 9505a). You might
find cheaper ones on eBay. They also
offer other technologies. Globalstar, using a Qualcom tri-band
phone, seems to be a better deal but we have no experience with
it. The Iridium phone came with a data kit for connecting to the
internet via a modem on our laptop. When it works it is limited
to about 300 Baud! We couldn't get it to work very often.
-
The Direcway Satellite system is used by many RVers ( http://www.direcway.com/).
It offers broadband and free phone access but requires that you make an
initial invetment of $2000 or more and carry a big satellite dish
which you need to set up. Its coverager is limited, reaching only as
far south as Honduras. According to http://www.gmpcs-us.com/
Inmarsat is coming out with a Broadband Global Area
Network (Bgan) which may be competitive with Direcway, but it isn't out
in North America yet. When it comes it will service
all of Central and South America.
- Internet cafes are plentiful although the computers are old
and slow. We compiled epistles on our laptop, transferred them to
a floppy disk and copied them onto our web based email server.
Pictures were slow to upload. Convert larger jpegs into smaller
ones before uploading if you can. It is best if you maintain a
blog, web page or group to communicate through. It saves having
to have a huge address list copied each time you communicate.
- I had a T-Mobile tri-band cell phone. It worked in
major cities in Mexico, all of El Salvador but little elsewhere.
If you spend any time in one country look into renting a local cell
phone. They are pretty inexpensive. One source for phone
rentals in Quetzaltenango is www.xelapages.com.
|