| so you want to drive thru central and south america? good idea.
since you asked, here are my thoughts: my checklists:
customs (aduana) and border
crossings:
-
carry lots of $5 and $10 bills
- american dollars are accepted nearly universally in latin america.
it's easier than changing money all the time... though it makes sense to
change some if you're going to be in a country for a few days. the
change money guys at the border rip you off of course, but hey, its all
about supply and demand. if the odd customs guy demands rubles,
then go get some rubles from the change money guy. if you're going
to hang out in the country for a while, change money at a bank.
-
jump to the head of the line.
whenever there is a long line of trucks in front of you, you usually get
to cut in
line (unless you're driving a big ol' rv or something-- then i wouldn't
bother, you would probably just make an ass out of yourself... )
it might seem weird and totally rude, but believe me, you're expected
to. however, if you're standing in line at the customs window
behind a line of truckers, don't cut in line, they'll probably beat the
crap out of you. sometimes you can buy your way to the head
of the line... at the border in costa rica, a kid asked a policeman to
go get my passport stamped, saving me about a 45 minute wait as a lot of
people looked on with stormy faces... honest, i didn't even know what
the hell was going on till it was happening. later, the cop wanted
a couple bucks for the favor. i paid him gladly.
-
use the kids. with few
exceptions, unless you're a native spanish speaker as well as a complete
masochist, you should probably use the kids. the kids, you ask?
you've probably already heard, but at about 75% of the borders there are
flocks of kids that will crowd around your car demanding to be allowed
to help you get thru the process. yes, i know, letting some 10
year old run off in a cloud of dust with your passport, your drivers
license, your registration and so forth just doesn't feel right, does
it? just don't give them any money until you tip them at the end,
and you'll be fine. any time there is money to pay, make sure you
pay it yourself. even the sweetest of these little urchins will
rob you blind in a second... found that out myself i did. also,
don't give them more than they need to do the next step in front of
them, and recover your documents from them regularly. for the most
part tho, they are good kids, and they can help *a lot*. its
byzantine, believe me. at a couple of the borders (the 2nd border
inland between honduras and nicaragua for instance) the kids are
actually endorsed by the aduana officials themselves, and they all sport
identical blue polos with the word "tramitsano" on them. it makes
for quite a pleasant crossing. i've read a couple guidebooks that
recommend doing everything yourself, and that the kids are not that much
help... what are these people smoking?
-
each crossing is different.
don't think you've got it nailed down... each border sequence is totally
unique. its almost like they're totally different countries or
something..
-
each border is actually two transactions.
two totally separate transactions. you have to essentially
import and export a car at each border. or perhaps import a car,
and cancel the importation of that car in the last country you were just
in. so plan a lot of time, ok? it can be brutal sometimes.
you'll wonder why the hell you thought this was such a good idea...
-
border hours are typically 9am to 8pm.
sometimes you can get things done an hour earlier, at 8am... and it
usually pays off to get moving early. and if you sneak in at
7:50pm, you might get them to let you thru, but you need to find out for
yourself if the guys in the next country are going to wait for you...
they might not. (i've often wondered what would happen if the guys
from one side let you through, and the folks on the other side had
already gone home for the day... would you have to just lay your
sleeping bag down on the dotted line?) some borders are open till 10pm, and there are a
few 24 hour borders (the 1st inland border between honduras and
nicaragua for instance). try to avoid the lunch hour... best to
show up bright and early.
-
el salvador is the worst country in
central america to enter and leave with a vehicle (other than this, el
salvador is a wonderful place). honestly, you will be totally
amazed at how openly lazy and disgusting the customs & immigration
people are... you and all the truckers in the line as well. the
truckers hate el salvador. and the jokes and jibes and insults and
slurs will be free and flowing in line as the office jeffe just saunters
by oblivious (keys jangling at his side like a prison warden or
something) ... only one window in 10 open, and all the other workers
openly hanging out in back chit chatting by the water cooler. i
actually saw the boss openly pat one of the lounging employees on the
back at one point.. can you believe that? just when your heart
leaps and a 2nd window opens, the first guy will flip his sign over and
go on break... and you haven't even seen lunch time yet... i've heard
sometimes they just evaporate for a couple hours... honestly, it
makes a trip to the dmv back home seem like a fourth of july picnic.
but hey, now you know, so bring a book and enjoy.
The countries ranked 1-3 from least to most
difficult as i see them. you can probably figure on one hour per
point, per country. so the guatemala / el salvador border would be
4 hours... maybe more, maybe less... this is just an approximation...
hope it helps.
it takes a little less time to leave a
country as it does to enter... maybe 2/3 the indicated amount. i
would be interested in other people's feedback on this list.
-
colombia requires colombian drivers
insurance and also a front license plate - i made it through
colombia without the "seguro" or colombian drivers insurance, but i was
stopped and hassled about it many times. also, stopped because i
did not have a front license plate-- and also frequently because i was
not wearing my seat belt. however, i was never ticketed for any of
these offenses and i made it through colombia, alone, without any
incident. i consider it one of the safest countries to drive
through now, after the much-increased security on the roads since
uribe's presidency.
-
don't bring drugs or guns into the
country. like... duh. yes, chances are they would
never find a well-hidden package, and i've seen no dogs down here at
all... but they do search your car frequently (and not just at
the borders... in el salvador it seems like there is a checkpoint every
10 miles). i've never seen them scope the bottom with a mirror
yet, tho.
if you really need to smoke some pot or
whatever, buy it when you get there. honestly, it's probably
better just to take a break for a while. the cia and the dea
are everywhere in central and south america. i was blown
away when a black panel van with tinted windows pulled up right in front
of me at a convenient mart in costa rica, and 3 american dea agents in
full regalia, kevlar vests and all, got out and went in to get coffee
and donuts (or whatever... i couldn't resist). latin america is
frigging crawling with these guys... makes you wonder what the
whole
story is, doesn't it?
-
always keep a level head, and an
open-friendly disposition. you don't have to go
overboard, just be a likeable sort of person that's all. keep a
sharp eye out, and try to figure out what is going on... ask a lot of
questions.
-
present a clean image. the more
you look like you're not a problem, the less they will hassle you,
search you etc. i found that having a spare sports illustrated
swimsuit edition mag on the top of my stuff in back was a great way to
end the search... its not really necessary or anything, but it is fun to
watch the whole ak-47 toting crew completely forget about you and lose
themselves in bikini-bliss while you drive away...
-
the bureacracy is mind-boggling, so deal.
yep, that's right... the guy that stamps your car permit can't actually
also accept the $5 fee for your car to enter the country.
you have to go to the cashier for that (among other payments).
truly staggering, isn't it? it might even keep you up at night.
also topping the top-10-list-of-most-bewildering-things is that when
they need 3 copies of your drivers license, your car title, your
passport, and your 24 hour fitness membership card--if you didn't
already have them--you've got to go two buildings over to the
entrepreneur under the naked bulb with the copy machine wired via bare
twisted copper into the old extension cord snaking off under...
yes, they can't actually run the copy machine themselves and charge you
double or triple (which you would be more than happy to pay).
in fact, you might just lose your grip the first time they ask you to go
down the street and make 3 copies for them of their form,
for their purposes! just put a smile on
your face and go do it.
-
don't lose anything. don't lose
your drivers license, your passport, your car registration, and the most
recent paper permitting your vehicle into the country. they
always demand the *originals* of everything. did i mention that
you shouldn't lose any of your important documents? i
shudder to think. making copies of things is a good practice.
keep a copy of their form, your passport, etc. around. it will
help somewhat if you do lose the other stuff.
-
sneaky ways to make usable emergency copies of
things. there are some sneaky ways to make
usable backups of
important documents, just in case you do lose them. i would
strongly recommend you doing this. keep these backups in a
safe place... like wrapped in double ziplock baggies in a lockbox
bolted underneath your car frame. did you catch the world usable
there? that means that you can actually USE these copies in place
of the original document... this is different from a simple photocopy of
the original, which you should also have.
-
drivers license. before you leave,
either report your drivers license lost/stolen and get another one
(what the hell, do it twice), or go and get an international drivers
license at the aaa. you can use an international drivers license
anywhere in latin america. they may look at you funny sometimes,
but it will work. that way you always have your original as a
backup. its damn near impossible to get a full, valid drivers
license remotely thru the mail... at least from california. it
would be a shame to have to go home just because you lost this
superfluous bit of fluff.
-
passport. you could report this lost
back in the us, get a new one, and then use the first to travel around
south america, keeping the second in a safe place... (you
wouldn't be able to use the old one entering or leaving the us since
they're serial numbered). but this is probably a waste of time,
since if you lose your passport (with the most recent visa or dated
stamp for the country that you're in) you're going to have to go to
the us embassy anyway... better off not to mess around... just don't
lose your passport. by all means though... *do* make multiple
color copies (hi-res scans) of the first two pages and keep them in a
safe place. anybody have further thinking here? because
you have to show your passport frequently, it makes it difficult to
protect as well as it should be protected. you can try making
copies of the first pages of your passport and the relevant
endorsement pages containing the immigration stamp from your recent
country, and simply using them in hotels and at random checkpoints...
i haven't tried it yet, but i should ... i just have the gut feeling
no cop is going to be satisfied with a copy.
-
registration / title. in all the
guidebooks and all the government sites, they say you need to have
your original vehicle *title* with you. whaaaaa? my
original title, you say? are they crazy? well, i
can now report to you in my best deep & throaty voice of experience
that your most recent registration will work just as well (my car is
registered in california for the record). i have never showed my
title once (although i do have it).. obviously, it is quite easy to
get duplicate registrations documents--and honestly, a well-done
high-resolution scan and print job (front and back, properly aligned
and nicely cut and trimmed) will do the job just fine.
-
your most recent car permit.
this is the form you will get, or have updated in each country. make a good color copy of it in the nearest town.. front and back on
the same piece of paper... especially if you're going to be in that
country for a while. if the copy is good enough and its on the
same bond of paper, you could probably pass it off as the original.
who knows... at least you'll have something to point at when you beg
for mercy. one thing you can do is squirrel away the original,
and simply show the duplicate until someone complains.
-
make sure there are NO
ERRORS especially in any numbers recorded. passport numbers,
license plate numbers, VIN numbers, dates of birth, you name it.
they may seem easy-going at the place you are at... and it may seem
like a hassle to get it fixed... but once an error is introduced, it
has a way of persisting in perpetuity across borders, and successively
into multiple countries... one person uses the paperwork from the last
country as the reference to type in their numbers, etc. It only
takes ONE nit-picky clerk after 5 easy crossings to create a world of
problems for you. try explaining to them in Nicaragua that in El
Salvador you saw the clerk type in '665' instead of the 'GGS' on your
VIN but didn't think to object... even if your spanish is that good,
it sounds kind of like maybe you're lying... doesn't it?
-
reduce clutter. you will get
so many receipts, stamped documents, visa forms, entry permits, and
otherwise useless bits of bureaucratic detritus that after a few borders
you will literally be drowning in it. create a system
where you only keep your four most important documents together
in a single place that is safe, but easily accessible while driving.
you will show them often. make a habit after you clear every
border of taking all that other fiddle-faddle and moving into
secondary storage. after you clear the next border, you can
start to throw away some stuff.... the only exception is between
mexico and nicaragua, where the SAT form will remain with you the
whole time... but then, that form *is* your car permit.
driving:
-
you will get a lot of pointers.. and
most are fairly accurate... (signalling, blinkers, passing madness,
etc.). i will mention only a few things that perhaps go
against the grain of what you hear.
-
driving down here is totally nuts.
don't try it unless you are a little nuts yourself.
-
since you're going to drive at night,
prepare for it. jesus... every stinking guide book, website
and many well-meaning people that i talked to advised me whatever i
did, NOT TO DRIVE AT NIGHT!!! well, if you can drive all
the way to panama, or argentina or wherever you are going without
driving at night, let me know so i can send you a certificate of
special recognition . even if your intentions are to avoid driving at
night (which is certainly a prudent practice, make no mistake), at
some point you are bound (out of either necessity or sheer unstoppable
desire) to get behind the wheel of your vehicle after 6pm.
wouldn't it be better to be prepared for that?
-
your #1 fear should be hitting another
person, not livestock. i don't know why the guidebooks keep
yapping about livestock when they talk about driving at night.
yes, its out there roaming around, but if you hit a cow (with your
seatbelt on), you stand a chance of walking away from the accident.
if you hit another person, god forbid, kiss your ass goodbye.
besides the fact that it would be a terrible tragedy, one only can
guess when you might next see the light of day. hitting and
injuring another person is my #1 fear on this trip... aside from
getting killed myself i guess (in which case i wouldn't be around to
worry about it anyway). now that you're properly worried about hitting a
person, please continue as you were to worry about livestock and dogs
and bandidos and so forth.
-
make sure you have the best lights
money can buy. this might seem absurdly obvious, but
the best way you can protect yourself at night is by being able
to see as far ahead of you as humanly possible.
buy the brightest hi/lo HID (high intensity discharge) beam bulbs for
your regular car lights... read the mags, ask the boys... run the
pepsi-cola challenge for yourself. after you've taken care of
your regular lights... now go out and buy the absolute brightest set
of driving lights on planet earth. yes, those are the
extra lights you see on cars sometimes.... heck, if you
like, put an extra rack of kangaroo-hunting searchlights on top of
your rig. i got the
lightforce lights (from down under)... i like them quite a bit,
although i am upgrading from 75w bulbs to 90w bulbs. i probably
should have cut and welded my front guard in order to accommodate
bigger lenses, but i didn't. one thing you should be aware of
when you buy lights, is that what you're really buying is the light
housings. pretty much everyone uses the same bulbs inside
those housings. (can you believe that? all that goddamned
hype?) in fact, i bet 90% of the manufacturers out there run
sylvania/osram bulbs in their lights. (i can just hear the email
flames coming in already...) i kind of think its a sham, but
there you go... now you know. ASK THEM, what brand of bulbs, and
what wattage, ships with their lights new. this more than any
other factor will determine how bright your lights are... coming in a
close second is the size and quality of the lenses.
-
wire your driving lights with a special
"ganging" switch (my own obscure term) what do i mean by
that? in addition to the regular switch that you will no doubt
install which simply turns your auxiliary driving lights on and off,
you need to install a secondary switch that allows you to add your
driving lights to your regular hi-beams at will. this way when
you are driving you can flip all your brightest lights on or off
quickly and easily at the same time. otherwise you have to
toggle them both separately which is a HUGE HASSLE. the one characteristic of driving at night, particularly
outside of town is that there will probably be a lot of oncoming
traffic, unless you are truly way out in the boonies... why?
because everyone else around here drives at night too!
the way the guidebooks and websites go on and on, you'd think the
roads were basically empty around here after dusk. you will need
to dim your lights for other cars out of courtesy, but once they're
clear by jove, you'll want to hit the road with all you've got.
if there is a lot of oncoming traffic, you may need to stay on
lo-beams, or remove your driving lights from your hi-beams for
an in-between solution. yada yada yada.
-
drive more slowly. makes
sense, eh? did i mention that
the best way you can protect yourself at night is by being able
to see as far ahead of you as humanly possible? well the
last time i checked this could also be achieved by simply slowing
down.
-
carry a knife.
preferably something you can pull out and deploy with one hand.
like a spyderco delicia... my favorite.
See my Dec 25, 2003 journal entry.
bottom line? I wondered if i could actually stick someone with a
knife if it came to it. And yes... I can. I never could
have figured out the mechanism on the pepper spray quickly enough, and
I wouldn't have used it at close range, because i would have gotten it
all over myself. Plus a knife is a tool that you'll use
all the time for other things. Pepper spray is just dead weight
most of the time.
old section [want protection? buy a can of
pepper spray. guns are illegal in mexico and many other
countries (though not here in costa rica) and knives ... ?
well, let me just ask you, if someone threatens you, are you really
going to stab them or shoot them? try to visualize that
happening for a second... my guess is probably not, unless you
are seriously mentally ill. the single most effective personal
protection device in the world (providing you're not stationed in iraq)
is a stick of pepper spray. that's why women carry it! (wow,
eureka!) it's instantly recognizable, and any real
honest-to-goodness thug probably is well aware how much agony it can
cause. additional bennies: it can work from a bit of a distance
away, it will completely and totally temporarily disable
whoever you spray it on, it can work on 2 or 3 (or 5 or 10) people at
once, your poor aim won't be a problem because they'll be out for
hours even if you only get it on their hand (don't get none on 'ya),
and last but not least... you might actually use it if it came down
to it. and they know that. ]
-
try to park where you can see your vehicle, or
where there is someone watching it. its worse in the big
cities. try to avoid parking your vehicle on the street at
night, where it cannot easily be seen by hotel staff. make sure
it is always locked. i have had stuff ripped off out of secure
hotel parking lots with 12 foot high gates and cyclone fencing.
-
make sure your all stuff locks quickly
and easily, with the minimum number of steps and the maximum ease.
another really obvious point... if your stuff is locked, it probably
won't get stolen. its when you're lazy and "just run in for a
second" that you're likely to get hit. so make it easy... the
best way is to have all your stuff auto-lock from a key-fob alarm. if its EASY to lock your stuff, then
you WILL lock your stuff. if its a pain in the ass, then it
probably won't happen as often as it should.
-
you will get stopped
numerous times for no reason. unlike the united states,
there is no such thing as probable cause down here. cops can
pull you over anytime they want, for no reason whatsoever... and they
will. in addition, central america is crawling with police and
military checkpoints. in el salvador, they are probably every 25
miles. here in costa rica, maybe every 100. they will
either wave you through, ask you to stop for a second to check your
papers or ask you some questions, or they will ask you to pull off the
road and they will do a full check. in mexico they all have
machine guns, here in costa rica, no. i have probably been fully
searched only 3 times, and even then it was only a 3 or 4 minute
thing. just remember to be friendly and direct with the
officers, have your papers handy, and be able to answer simple
questions (where are you coming from and where are you going) in
spanish. also, make sure you check regularly that your brake
lights and turn signals work properly.
-
colombia requires colombian drivers
insurance and also a front license plate - i made it through
colombia without the "seguro" or colombian drivers insurance, but i was
stopped and hassled about it many times. also, stopped because i
did not have a front license plate-- and also frequently because i was
not wearing my seat belt. however, i was never ticketed for any of
these offenses and i made it through colombia, alone, without any
incident. i consider it one of the safest countries to drive
through now, after the much-increased security on the roads since
uribe's presidency.
-
so far, south america appears to have
much higher tolls for the roads - while i nearly never paid a toll
in central america, here in south america, tolls seem to be more
commonplace. in colombia and ecuador they are between US $0.40
and US $1.50 approximately every 30-50 kilometers.
how to successfully send packages to
banana republics quickly and cheaply
-
do you really need it? does it
already exist down here in some form? the cheapest way to
send stuff is never to send it at all.
-
the 2nd cheapest way to send stuff is
to have someone else carry it on an airplane. so ask around
to see if anyone knows anyone that's flying to your neck of the woods
soon. or have someone come to visit you and tell them to pack
light.
-
forget about it... it ain't gonna be
cheap. quick we can do.
-
every country is different,
but there are some similarities in attitude. i
have sent stuff in and out of costa rica and ecuador only so far... but this info
is probably pretty good for most countries down here.
-
parcel post really doesn't exist for
anything you'd really want down here. if its important
enough for you to have it sent all the way from the states for your
trip, then its probably gonna cost a lot of money... that is if you
want it to actually show up anytime in the next 3 months.
-
there is no overnight service down
here. maybe in rio or mexico city... other than that, forget
it. if you really need it in a hurry, its going to take at least
48 hours and probably more like 3-4 days.
-
the easiest routes are of course, fedex,
ups and dhl. easier is always more expensive. there
are other carriers as well that are more specific to each country, and
which are probably cheaper. but your stuff will probably take
longer to deliver. ask around.
-
the thing that takes all the time is
customs. the trick is to avoid having your package opened in
the first place, and if it is opened, to get away with as little cost
as possible.
-
here are the most fundamental rules i can
think of:
-
the quickest way to use a major courier
and have your stuff delivered quickly, is to put it in a standard
overnight letter envelope. there are usually so many of
these going every day to any country, that it is an impossibility for
them to even search a small number of them. most of them go
through to most destinations in 48-72 hours. if you need documents
in a hurry, as well as some other things, you might consider sending
the documents in a separate envelope, and have the other stuff put in
a box. your documents stand a good chance of arriving first.
what? your stuff won't fit in an envelope? ok ...
-
use one of their standard 4 or 7 pound
boxes. you want to be low profile...
customs agents are going to randomly select your box out of a line-up.
so fly under the radar screen... use the shippers' packaging, not your own. probably
the biggest thing that can possibly make it through customs unchecked
and untaxed is one of those flat boxes usually used for stacks of
documents. at fedex they come in 4 or 7 pound sizes... i have
been told that the 7 pound size is usually the biggest thing that
might go through unchecked. obviously, they can check (and
probably regularly do) anything they like.
-
don't lie about the contents, lie about
the value. funny thing they don't tell you... that same
space on the form that your friend back home is going to use to
declare the value for insurance purposes is the same box that the
customs agents are going to use to figure out how much to tax your
ass! talk about a catch-22! don't lie about what's in the
box... because if they do open it up, you're screwed (and
potentially in trouble too). lie about how much the thing costs
to replace. if you're using fedex, ups or dhl, chances are
they're not going to lose the box, or steal it. you're
just going to have to take your chances on that. even if they do
lose it, its going to take you so long to get your money back from
them, that you're going to have to fork over again for whatever it was
so important for you to get in the first place (assuming its
replaceable). so simply declare it to be of little value.
like, if it costs $100 bucks back home, say it cost $20 or $25.
they have no real way of knowing what you paid, and they're probably
not experts in whatever it is you're sending. they can't tell a
$200 camera from an $800 camera, not within any reasonable shadow of a
doubt. for electronics, you'll probably pay 10-20% of the
declared value, for other stuff, less.
-
make sure your box doesn't make noises
when shaken. noisy things are interesting. that's why
we open them first at christmas/kwanzaa/hanukah.
-
if you're using your own packaging, use
a laser printer to make the label. don't hand letter the
outside of the package... it draws attention.
-
if you don't use the carrier's box make
sure its a plain box - whatever you do, don't put your stuff in a
that brand new Dell computer box you have laying around or something
valuable seeming like that.
-
say its a replacement or that its been
returned for warranty repair and fixed. if you're getting a
new laptop computer shipped to you, its probably because you busted
the one you had right? so what you want to do is declare it to
be of zero value (for customs purposes) and that it is a
replacement or repaired item, and that it is not for resale.
this is the single best way to get important stuff down here quickly
and with little hassle and no additional customs duty.
-
if you're going to do this, make sure its
not in the original box, and that your friend strips a lot of
the packaging, useless bits of paper and so forth away from the item.
its most convincing if its just the item, power cord, and some bubble
wrap.
-
put a note with the item written in
spanish that describes this situation. you need three copies
of this note. one wrapped and taped around the item itself, so
they have to look at it before they see what's inside. one copy
floating on top of everything inside the box. and one copy for
you to refer to when you fill out the shipping paperwork. this
last copy is most important, because what you want to avoid is
having your box opened in the first place. somewhere on the
shipping manifest, you want to either transcribe your whole carefully
crafted note, or where it says contents you want to write
something like: Cámara
Fotográfica (Vuelto para la
reparación de la garantía). in spanish, remember?
no one in the u.s. except the guy taking your package at fedex is ever
gonna read the contents again. here is a
note i have used with success.
-
any other supporting evidence you have
(like if you really did return it for repair) is good additional
cannon fodder for inclusion.
-
have a real address, and preferably a
real phone number. if you're on the road and you don't have
one, call a hotel ahead of time and book a room, then tell them you've
got a package coming and could you use their address. if its for
"general delivery" care of ups in panama city, its gonna look more
suspicious... plus you're going to have to go down to the office and pick it
up.
-
if customs does decide that it
wants to look at the contents, you may have to go down to the
shipper's office in your country and sign a form first allowing them
to let customs inspect it. what a nightmare! this
process will add 48 hours to the whole shebang... that's why you want
to avoid having customs be interested in your thing to begin with.
make sure you are able to be gotten a hold of, or call them frequently
when you think your package is due to arrive.
-
have your tracking number.
they often cannot look up your package by your name. yes!
even at fedex! your box may be sitting just out of sight around
the corner and you would never know it.
how to battle harden your
rig for war or preparing your car for latin america
-
decide what kind of trip
you are going to take... if you're going to be getting off the pan
american highway at all, you should be prepared. even if you're
not, there are parts of nearly every country where the panamerican is
in terrible condition. oh, you thought the potholes in
[substitute your home state here] were bad? just wait till you
get down here! in addition, the ubiquitous mexican speedbump
(called a "tope") is one of the most treacherous phenomenon known to
the common suspension. i should write a mariachi song about the
tope.... ay-ay-ay-aiiiiiieee.... i have begun to suspect
that they intentionally hide unmarked topes in the shade... at sixty
or seventy miles an hour, hitting a tope is pretty much like running
over a curb at the same speed.
-
if you are planning to
really "get out of the way" ... then be prepared for potholes the
size of a mini cooper, river crossings waist deep, long stretches
without gas, numerous flat tires, stranded travelers that are going to
need a tow, steep muddy roads up hillsides where you may need to
winch, etc. etc.
-
make sure your car is in
perfect working order. duh. don't leave if it still
needs a little work.
-
think about having to
perform major repairs on your vehicle. can you do it
yourself? can you weld? can you rebuild your front end?
do you have the parts to repair everything? it is not necessary
to be an ace mechanic, but you need to be very comfortable in and
around your rig and you need to be able to diagnose most common
problems yourself.
-
there are plenty of auto
repair shops down here. you'd be amazed at the things these
people can do with a screwdriver and a hammer. the problem is
that if your car is unusual or complicated at all, there isn't a
chance in hell that most people are going to be able to fix
it--certainly not outside of the major cities. the popular cars
down here are toyotas, nissans, hyundais, etc. however, they all
make special editions for the latin american market, and chances are
high that your spare part is not available down here. consider taking
a car that is pre-computer-chip. consider a car that takes
standard kinds of parts. my scout is unusual (i've only seen two
others so far) but i can walk into any auto parts store down here and
buy an ignition coil, alternator, brake pads, spark plugs, carbuerator
parts, air cleaners, etc.
-
carry your own supplies.
brake pads, spark plugs, carbuerator rebuild kit, wheel bearings,
belts, fuses, light bulbs, lubricants and greases, a spare (front and
rear) shock absorber, spare tire, spare lugnuts, spare nuts and bolts,
spare air, gas and oil filters, etc. even if your car is pretty
standard, its nice to be able to fix it when you're 100 miles from the
nearest shop.
-
plan on regular
preventative maintenance. stuff wears. plot out its
expected lifetime, and simply change it before then. here is my
checklist. check stuff like
water, oil, power steering fluid, air pressure and so forth nearly
every time you get gas. i keep a
log of this stuff. one of the
other reasons to do preventative maintenance is that this is usually
the time you will catch other major problems before they become
catastrophic.
-
get the toughest
suspension you can find. other than making sure you have a
strong-running engine in good condition, your suspension is the most
important part of your car. when you have problems, chances are
probably one in two that they will be suspension or wheel-related
problems. make sure all bushings are brand new. leaf
springs, shackles and the like should be tough and attached preferably
with grade-8 hardware. make sure all attachment points are
strong (many stock cars will need gussets or reinforcements on factory
suspension attachment areas). have brand-new heavy duty shocks.
i use ranchos and i love them. no problems so far. a
little bit of a lift is probably a good thing. you don't have to
go monster truck or anything, but another couple inches won't hurt.
i have a four-inch lift. 2.5 in the springs and 1.5 in the body.
-
get meaty tires.
more rubber is better. mud-terrains are what you should be
looking for. bf-goodrich makes nice stuff. make sure your
spare is new, and identical to the rest.
getting to colombia from
panama... did you know that you can't drive?
surprise!
-
set it up before you get
there... or at least find out the timetable for ships going back and
forth... they aren't as frequent as you might think.
-
first you need a customs
agent. my customs agent in Panama:
Wilberto Santos
phone: +507-278-0855
email: willysantos50@hotmail.com
Willy is honest above all else. Unquestionably so.
He charges incredibly reasonably rates. There is only one
drawback... he is swamped. He just landed deals w/ Burger King and
McDonalds and so forth, shipping containers of hash browns and happy
meals and whatnot, and is 'drinking from the firehose' so to speak...
but he is connected all the way at the top of the customs organization
in Panama and is perfect for complicated situations. He is a
terrific agent and is a good friend to me... we went drinking and
carousing on many a night.
Willy speaks reasonable english... the folks in his
office mostly do not. Willy honestly probably isn't the best guy for shipping vehicles... he
cost me a little time. Better to use someone that does it all the
time. also... my shipper... :
elissa l. de martinez
CUDSSA
corporacion universal de servicios
colon panama office
lote #8, manzana 37, france field
zona de libre colon, panama
tel: (507) 430-2068 (also:2069/2070/2071)
email emartinez@cudssa.com
tell 'em i sent ya...
they were efficient and honest, and elissa's husband speaks reasonable
english if you need it.
they quoted me $1000, which is what i paid. but i also had to pay
nearly $600 to get my car out on the colombian side. see if they can
arrange to have all dock fees paid, and actually deliver the car out of
customs on the other side as well. i don't know if this is possible,
but for $600 i got royally ripped off... not sure how to avoid this
unless you can find a shipper that will take responsibility front to
back.
-
links to other folks that
have done the same thing:
thoughts on
colombia.
money matters
-
carry primarily $20 bills, and perhaps a
few $100s, but make sure you always have some $10s and $5s
- american dollars are accepted nearly universally in central america
even by merchants and such, but not so in south america (with exception
of ecuador of course, which uses the american dollar).
but even where american dollars are not accepted by merchants, US$ tend
to be easier to change at banks (than other forms of foreign currency,
though the euro is certainly widely accepted). The new
peach-colored $20 bills are definitely accepted down here. many
merchants that accept dollars will change a $20, though some will have
trouble. almost no one except a bank, hotel or large merchant will
accept or change a $100.
-
Down here, MASTERCARD
is KING: make sure that if you are using credit cards that at
the very least one of them is a MASTERCARD. While Visa is widely
accepted down here for sure, Mastercard is probably favored by two to
one. And while nearly every merchant or ATM machine in latin america
that accepts Visa will also accept Mastercard, the opposite is quite
frequently not true. This is true in many central american countries,
and has been particularly true in Colombia and Ecuador. I cannot speak
of Peru or other countries yet... though i have my suspicions.
My suggestion is to carry many different cards, only mastercards and
visas, and probably 2 mastercards for every visa. diners club is also
popular in some countries down here (why, i have no idea). forget
american express, its fast becoming a pointless card. plus, they
discontinued a lot of their high-value traveler services some years ago.
the travelers checks i find to be VERY cumbersome. Make sure you
leave at least one card at home... that cannot be lost on the road.
Keep the number and the info (security codes, etc. with you). that
way, subscriptions that you have that are credit card based cannot be
interrupted by you losing your card on the road. Take one of your
credit cards, seal it up and strap into a secure location (maybe under
your car or something) along with $100 in cash as a last-minute
emergency fund. also put in there high quality photocopies of your
passport, drivers license and car title.
coming soon...
cell phones, sat phones and latin america
internet availabilty and how to deploy a stealth temporary wireless network in
your hotel
this page is roughly current as of jan 4, 2004 |
