Driving Central America & South America.
Canada to panama
September 3, 2008 - 9:53pm
My father is set on driving to panama from bc,he needs all the help he can get.insurance for the vehicles seems to be a problem,anyone?
September 18, 2008 - 9:57pm
#2
Ive been reading,thanks seems like there is alot to learn,im leaving in jan09,and still need some serious help,i want to pay somebody to help plan my trip,insurance ,papers, do's and dont's,safe locations,borders,maps,(im lost
).your help is very appreciated.
September 22, 2008 - 2:12pm
#3
No offense, but if you need to pay someone to help figure out logistics, the trip is probably not a very good idea, or you should consider going with an RV tour group. Part of the fun of the trip is figuring everything out, and no matter how well you plan, things will get weird and you'll have to improvise as you go.
You can figure out everything you need from reading the Lonely Planet books to Central America, looking through old forum posts here, reading my blog at [URL=http://www.laakso.us]http://www.laakso.us[/URL], and then asking more specific questions.
September 22, 2008 - 7:56pm
#4
thanks,im not an idiot, just looking for the right tools to make my trip successfull.looking through these books,my next questions will be a little more educated.
September 22, 2008 - 8:09pm
#5
ive ordered "driving the pan american highway",& "lonely planet central america " any other suggestions?thanks.
October 1, 2008 - 12:13am
#6
read the whole site, and ask questions. We can answer them. that's my advice.
December 12, 2008 - 5:34pm
#7
[QUOTE=Rob;644]ive ordered "driving the pan american highway",& "lonely planet central america " any other suggestions?thanks.[/QUOTE]
Yes: for Central America we have found the [URL=http://www.footprintbooks.com/guidebooks/latinamerica.cfm?ccs=77&cs=268]Footprint Mexico and Central America[/URL] very helpful - it even has camping options listed which one can use with a RV, and all border procedures with an own vehicle are explained (more or less correctly). You can order it through Amazon...
October 14, 2008 - 8:03pm
#8
Rob, my husband and I are considering doing the same at around Xmas or early Jan. I assume it will take a couple of weeks from the entry into TX and we have about 4 days drive to TX from Cape Cod, MA. We must be nuts! We'll be driving a Chevy Astrovan and could sleep in it some nights but will prefer to map out cheap hotels along the way. We're going to Panama, about an hour and a half before Panama City. Stay in touch!
October 16, 2008 - 4:02pm
#9
Basically you don't need insurance before you leave, you can buy it, if needed, at the borders. I've heard that driving the pan american highway is way outdated. I've recently read 99 days to panama and americas overland. I don't think they say anything that hasn't been addressed on this site.
October 20, 2008 - 8:09am
#10
Rob
You can get most of what knowledge you will need from loney planet and this blog. Be sure to buy good maps the AAA give away maps are not sufficent. Insurance can be bought via Sanborns or other sites noted in the blogs. To get one policy for all of Central America you may want to contact Sanborn's or AIG a month before you depart, otherwise all can be purchased at the border. As for help with the borders, there is no need for help at the Mexican or El Salavador border points. Actually there is no need for help at any border crossing if your Spanish is reasonable, but at many borders there are helpers who want you to pay them for their assistance and they will make so much noise that you are unable to handle it without them. As I was told at the Honduras border "pick one of us and everyone else will go away". It's true, so pick one and hope that they don't take too much advantage of you. I am told that Loney Planet has a internet web verison for all of Central America, which may be nice. A earlier thread note taking a couple of weeks between the US Mexican Border and Panama City, this is much too short a time. You need 30 days minimum for the drive. Thats 20 days for driving a 150 miles per day and 10 days for siteseeing and rest. Note that the best you will be able to average is about 30 miles an hour. That five hours behind the wheel, plus an hour for lunch. You will need a place to stay where your car will be safe and that is not always right where you want it to be, so you will have to spend time each day to find appropiate accommadations. An ATM card is manitory and you can get cash in all cities that have a bank. Note that many cards charge a fee on international ATM withdrawals, so try to get all the money you will need in each country at one time. I have to stop now as I am wanting to make the drive again. Have a great time.
Pura Vida
October 20, 2008 - 1:55pm
#11
One followup to Doug's post. If you do use a helper, make sure you go everywhere with them even if they insist you don't. Also, make it very clear that you will only pay for fees directly and will never under any circumstance reimburse them if they "take care of a fee for you".
I found helpers to be almost mandatory in Honduras(except near Copan), useful for getting past long lines at the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border, and totally unnecessary anywhere else.
October 25, 2008 - 8:34pm
#12
Thanx a bunch guys,the trip is a go and we are just ironing out the wrinkles.
October 26, 2008 - 8:18am
#13
Sounds great! Don't sweat too much, so long that you're willing to think on your feet, you'll be fine. PLEASE update us with border crossing info and pictures!
December 19, 2008 - 11:31pm
#14
I've read that i need the following at central american borders:(vehicle wise)
vehicle title
vehicle registration
vehicle insurance
in canada the registration is the title,and the insurance is on the same detachable piece of paper.
is that good enough?
any canadians out there that have done this before?
January 4, 2009 - 1:58pm
#15
if that's what your government gives you, it's good enough for the foreign goverment. You can't show them something that doesn't exist. In Texas, the registration is the fee you pay yearly to drive. It's around $60, and then you get a sticker for the windshield. That's "registration".
What do they give you yearly?
January 10, 2009 - 3:03pm
#16
[QUOTE=Rob;860]I've read that i need the following at central american borders:(vehicle wise)
vehicle title
vehicle registration
vehicle insurance
in canada the registration is the title,and the insurance is on the same detachable piece of paper.
is that good enough?
any canadians out there that have done this before?[/QUOTE]
Just this morning a Canuck was telling us he couldn´t go into Honduras because they insisted on having a ´TITLE´ and he has the same info you do. He ended up turning around cuz he couldn´t go through. They were open to bribes but they still didn´t come through with the transaction. Interestingly, the guy showed him some copy of a phony someone else made and said he needed something like that. So, you could fake something that looks official - they really don´t know what it should look like anyway. He said he comes to Guat a lot and no prob there and obviously no prob in Mexico.
January 5, 2009 - 6:52pm
#18
Yearly we buy insurance,and they reprint our registration every time we insure.Oh we also get a sticker for our rear license plate.Your rite though,i cant give them something that doesnt exist.
Thanks....rob
January 9, 2009 - 10:53pm
#19
Leaving in less than a week,WHOOO HOOOO, thanks everyone for all your great advice!I'll use this thread to keep you guys and gals posted.
January 10, 2009 - 5:43pm
#21
Can someone please let me know what this title looks like?What is included on the title?
-vin#?
-name?
??????
I've never seen one.
we are leaveing in four days and we really need some help.
Can someone e-mail me a copy of there title so i can use it as a guide?
PLEASE!!!
January 11, 2009 - 12:30am
#22
call them: [URL]http://www.embassyhonduras.ca/[/URL]
ask them what they want for entrance, they are in canada and should be familiar with the title you have. Be aware: there is ALWAYS a way through.
I'd call them myself for you, but i don't know what your titles look like, etc. Please report back.
January 11, 2009 - 2:53pm
#23
Honduran Embassy in Canada
Good luck trying to call them. We tried, but no one answers...I think we were able to leave a message (it was a few months ago), but no one returned our call. If you have better luck, please let me know.
April
January 11, 2009 - 5:25pm
#24
We were able to obtain the original paper that came with the truck when we first bought it.It has all the vehicle id #'s.And the name of the new owner,it looks official,but instead of "title" it says something like "vehicle ownership document".Lets hope this works.
January 11, 2009 - 7:33pm
#25
Yep, that's what you'll need. Proof of ownership.
Some links:
[url]http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=121000[/url]
And this page is just one that mentions the ownership document, though of course it's not for that country. Just added as an example: [url]http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=27000[/url]
January 21, 2009 - 12:16pm
#26
mexico
We are currently in tuxpan,we were held at the mexican border for a day because our truck is registered as a flat deck ,but we had a camper on the back.We had to buy a $900.00 "permito".Gonna drive like hell to get through mex!See you in belize...
January 22, 2009 - 4:53pm
#27
Hi Rob,
Word of caution: argue like hell more often. Ask for paperwork. Ask for documentation. Good luck!
January 14, 2009 - 10:57pm
#28
Turns out we could only get a copy so we forged a title and had it notarized with an official red seal.Looks good,i'll let you guys know how it works.
January 15, 2009 - 7:08pm
#29
if it's an official copy that's fine anyway. in texas, they don't re-issue the original title. they issue "official copy" titles... good luck!
January 24, 2009 - 11:06pm
#30
we had our first run in with the cops in tampico,those ffnn pricks got us for $50,we were in the wrong because we drove our truck rite through town,we know better now.We drove to veracruz and tryed to avoid the "centro"but ended up in the middle of town agian.in the middle of the nite!We didn't get busted this time and found a place to crash.The next day we decided we have haD ENOUGH OF MEXICO!We drove all day through the nite to get to chetumal.Only to get hosed agian at the mex and bel border.We r in cay caulker now and our vacation just started mon.see u in guat
Read old threads. Logistics questions like insurance have been answered already many times.
Perhaps we should write a FAQ for this forum to make it easier to find this information.