Driving Central America & South America.
Virginia to Alaska and hopefully eventually Chile
November 6, 2008 - 8:37pm
Hey Aone,
Well i swore i had posted a thread in here before regarding our travels but i cant seem to find it. I just wanted to give you all a quick update on our adventures, we are finally south of the US border and so far so great! Sucked down a couple of Margaritas and fish tacos overlooking the ocean just as soon as we found a campground, and are now hanging in the van. We are in a town called San Carlos which is just northwest of Guaymas, basically on the Sea of Cortez coast about 300 miles south from Nogales. The ride down was nice and easy, we were super stressed about crossing the border cuz there have been endless reports of very serious violence in the border region; assasinations and cops being killed ect, but once we made our way through the streets of Nogales it was smooth sailing. From here we leev pretty early tomorrow and will head for Mazatlan where we will spend a few days before heading for Guadalajara and then down to the Pacific coastal beaches. The jounrey so far, amazing, we have seen so much and met a lot of interesting and very kind folks, while there have been a good deal of van issues we just realized today that with those problems have come some of our most interesting stories and friends that we will forever keep in touch with and remember. So overall everything has gone great and we are so excited to finally be here in Mex, its a completely different experience than that of the US. So anyways in case you haven't seen it yet check out our website at [url]www.panamericanjourney.com[/url] for pics and a lot more. Hope all is well with aone, enjoy the ride and thanks for all of your help and support.
Mahouse inC
November 12, 2008 - 9:30am
#2
So after our night in in San Carlos we did a long days drive to Mazatlan and landed on a RV resort a few step from the beach, the drive down was a lil stressful, a lot more check points and no more "hassle free zone", whatever that meant! On this leg we encountered our first attempted bribe, in some lil town we came into we passed a local cop car and soon after pulled into a gas station. TO my surprise the cop car pulled in behind us and then in front of us and started waiving at me to come over, mean while i had about 6 guys bugging me to clean our window and everything else while the gas attendant was spitting spanish at me about filling up, a frenzied scene to say the least. I told the gas attendant dos tanks and hand gestured my way through that, told the window cleaners no gracias which never works and then went to see what the cop wanted. Well the cop says i went through a stop sign, i said where (in spanish; Donde) and he points to the beginning of town. SO i walked away over the road looked back toward where he pointed and said donde? meanwhile there were a bunch of cars just flying along and clearly if their was a stop sign no one else could see it either. Low and behold as soon as i said donde and watched everyone else fly right through town and he drove away without another word. So i went back to the van, paid the attendant; 150$ to fill both tanks! My window was now nice an clean but i dint pay because i had said no to begin with and we got back on the road. Mazatlan was great, we hooked up with a couple from Canada that was staying at a resort right nex to our campground, we ended up staying with them for 3 days drinking and partying with there fam that came the following day. The first night in Mazatlan we drove down town which was only a few miles, had dinner and a drink or two. As soon as we got back on the road to head back to the hotel bam blu lights, i asked the cop what i did and he said seat belt; there was no way he saw that until he got to my door but he had something. he took my license and said i could pay the fine at the police station the following day and get my license back then. At this point the two Canadians in the back were prolly pretty scared and passed 40$ forward, so i pleaded with the cop to let me pay him then and he "reluctantly" grabbed the money and let us go. So that was our first rip off and overall it was pretty easy, but frustrating!
So ya our time in Mazatlan consisted of a really really nice stay at "Costa Bonita", we drank a lot and did a lot of swimming. Now we are in Gudalajara and have been for a few days, we ended up staying in a parking garage which was fairly secure, its been a really nice visit and we are now headed out. Sorry for the hurried update but time is short and destination unknown, hope all is well with aone else, we;ll hit you agin just as soon as possible, until then enjoy the time
Madhouse inC
November 12, 2008 - 11:04am
#3
Awesome time!
Here's something -- you don't need a seatbelt by mexican law, it's a city law. And even then, i think it's rare. Oh well, bad luck! Have fun and keep the updates flowing. Don't forget to make TONS OF NOTES!
November 19, 2008 - 12:03pm
#4
us wanted to throw out an update. All is well on the road, besides being pulled over 5 times now since in Mex; which is really starting to get old, we're seeing tons. Just got through with a 3 day visit to Mex city! lets jus say the legends of Mex city traffic are definitely true, as im sure many of you can attest. Luckily we had a secure house to park in and we did the public transport thing, but not after dealing with police for 2 hours and driving another 3 to get maybe 50 miles; sweating bullets cuz we apparently wer'nt supposed to be on the roads and had already coughed up $200 for not knowing that. Dint have much time but we saw a ton. Turns out Jess has all sorts of crazy contacts too, we stayed with one of the most important Lawyers in the Mexican government, his house was called "the castle", all brick, a pretty fitting similarity to Madhouse; though we barely fit. And after getting pulled over for the 5th time today; this time for being "over the line" at a red light, we find ourselves Sitin here in Acupulco on a coach overlooking the bay, another ridiculousness house, and free! We're literally 20 yards from the bay in the yacht club, with a house maid/cooker
SO anyways madhouse is running well as of now, since the major surgery in Tucson its been good, we're still holding our breath though. Oh i guess there is one problem, friking seat belt is all seized up and wont come out right now???? The perfect reason to pull me over mad SO ya there it is, check out our site to see the latest location though, seriously, otherwise hope everyone is well, until nex time... enjoy the ride
November 19, 2008 - 12:45pm
#5
$200 b/c you weren't supposed to be on the roads? What are they doing to ya!?
November 20, 2008 - 8:35am
#6
Sounds like you are having horrible luck with getting pulled over. On a roundtrip to Panama a few months ago, I was pulled over a grand total of once in Panama and once in Nicaragua.
November 21, 2008 - 1:06am
#7
wtf
Holy ... I've never heard of anyone being pulled over so much!!! We're leaving the Monday after T-Giving from WA. Hope this isn't what we're in for...
Good luck guys -- bien viaje!
Leah
November 21, 2008 - 3:30pm
#8
[QUOTE=globalhobo;769]Holy ... I've never heard of anyone being pulled over so much!!! We're leaving the Monday after T-Giving from WA. Hope this isn't what we're in for...
Good luck guys -- bien viaje!
Leah[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't worry too much, everyone seems to think we're just crazy so perhaps its something im doing, what i dont know but since im the only who seems to have such problems perhaps there is something. Wish me luck figuring that out, otherwise take care have a safe trip and enjoy the time.
November 21, 2008 - 3:28pm
#9
[QUOTE=atg200;762]Sounds like you are having horrible luck with getting pulled over. On a roundtrip to Panama a few months ago, I was pulled over a grand total of once in Panama and once in Nicaragua.[/QUOTE]
Ya know im starting think its something other than luck, but i don't know what so im still stumped.
November 21, 2008 - 3:27pm
#10
[QUOTE=robertdjung;761]$200 b/c you weren't supposed to be on the roads? What are they doing to ya!?[/QUOTE]
Well man i just went through a 2 day debacle on some RV forum trying to answer the exact same question. I really dont know whawts going on, i think part of its the fact that we are in a pretty high profile rig and do a lot of driving in cities, towns and such. Besides that nothing though, some of them were my fault; took a left turn where i wasn't supposed to in Guadalajara but the cop just let me go that time. The other time i would say was with good reason was the Mex city deal. Apparently there is a rule against cars with Temp Import Permits driving between 6am-10pm on Fridays in the DF but no one told us that. Besides that they have been pretty ridiculous, lets see one cop tried to say i went through as top sign that simply was not there and as soon as i pointed that out and he drove off. Another was because i wasn't wearing a seat belt but i have very serious doubts the cop was actually able to see that before he got to my window. And another was for being over the line at a stop light, pretty much a joke since i have seen cars blow right through red lights on many occasions and not get stopped. Anyways i really dont want to stir up any crazy discussion like what went down on the RV forum, they had to close a post cuz it was getting so out of hand, frikin RV'ers.
September 17, 2009 - 12:44pm
#11
how can i do to cross from Panama to Colombia
Can anyone tell me how to cross my car from Panama to Colombia and how much will cost me for that and if the ferrys still working for that purpose, thanx all.
Javier
December 2, 2008 - 5:55pm
#12
Hey Hey Hey Aone,
Just rolled off the [URL=http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0kqiFTiqLfsXpoIaR7Flb12lH1y8CXR6M]Shared Spot Page[/URL] island of Caye Caulker just off the coast of Belize on the Barrier reef. The island was around 3 miles by a 100 yards wide so needless to say it was tiny. No cars, no pavement and really not much infrastructure to speak of, but so so nice. The classic Caribbean island, mostly palms and green waters, just perfect. We were there for about 3 nights and met some very interesting people, we spent our first few days with some kids from Minnesota who were traveling by rental car for a while. Then we met some locals and chilled with them for a bit, great peoples. Anyways before that our final leg out of Mex was pretty uneventful, mostly driving, although we stopped at Pelenque one of the best ruins we have seen yet, buried in the jungle. Once in Belize we drove down the worst road yet! 30 mile dirt road of hell, but by the end we found we were the only people at the Lamanai ruin and ahd it all to ourselves, had thanksgiving dinner at some tiny restaurant, tomales rice and beans beer
Although we had brought a few cans of cranberry sauce from the states with us so that was our official thanksgiving treat, we slept in the van just outside the ruin in dense dense jungle. Anywho Belize is awesome, very simple countryside villages full of very kind people, and the islands are just picture perfect. So ya we'll be headed out of Belize in about 3 or 4 days before entering Guatemala, things are going well and we have not been pulled over by the police since Acapulco; although we are stopped at every single military checkpoint, but there not so bad. Hope all is good with you all, we'll fly you another update in few weeks here, until then enjoy the time. Oh and im not sure but if any of you care there should be a pretty long update in the coming vannin mag, but we got it in really late so we shall see. Enjoy the time
Madhouse INC
December 2, 2008 - 6:11pm
#13
Yeah, I got pulled over in Acapulco, too! Ha!
Lamanai is awesome. I'm really glad you saw it. Have fun! You're going to love Guatemala. When you get close to Panajachel, look up "Jardin de Americas" spanish school, just off Calle Catorce de Februro. There's a camping spot on the alley on the way to that school. Then look up my friends that have offices above the spanish school.
December 7, 2008 - 1:24pm
#14
[QUOTE=robertdjung;821]Yeah, I got pulled over in Acapulco, too! Ha!
Lamanai is awesome. I'm really glad you saw it. Have fun! You're going to love Guatemala. When you get close to Panajachel, look up "Jardin de Americas" spanish school, just off Calle Catorce de Februro. There's a camping spot on the alley on the way to that school. Then look up my friends that have offices above the spanish school.[/QUOTE]
any idea if that's a good spanish school? we're looking at taking a course in guatemala by the lake but figured we'd just suss it out when we get there but if you've got a good suggestion, we're all ears (or eyes, as the case may be)...
December 7, 2008 - 2:54pm
#15
yes that's a really good spot, and far cheaper than anywhere in antigua. there's a website as well that you can register on. [url]http://www.jardindeamerica.com/[/url]
December 12, 2008 - 2:18pm
#16
[QUOTE=globalhobo;836]any idea if that's a good spanish school? we're looking at taking a course in guatemala by the lake but figured we'd just suss it out when we get there but if you've got a good suggestion, we're all ears (or eyes, as the case may be)...[/QUOTE]
We re on the lake as we speak and there are a ton of spanish skools here in San Pedro. One that we were told is very good is the San Pedro Spanish Skool, io dont have any links or anything but im sure its not hard to find. Besides that there are a ton of them but we havent used any so cant help much there, sorry!
December 12, 2008 - 2:19pm
#17
After our jungle drive through some crazy moutain area in Belize; had to be esorted by the military to go see some ruins, we started south through Guatemala. The first leg of the road was amazing! beautiful rolling hills and some very very remote countryside, possibly the prettiest road we have scene so far, loved it! Then we got off the higway to explore some off the beaten track road through the highlands of Western Guatemala, WHOLY !%$&, The 1st hour was fairly crazy, super steep 180 degree swiich backs with potholes and washboard like you read about! Then we came to a few guys standing there looking at the hill side, as we looked up we realized we had just missed a serius rockslied by maybe 5 minutes, im talkin the dust was still heavy in the air and some smaller rocks still bouncind across the road. The men tol us to proceed with caution so we did, as we inched closer we could see that a very large section of the very steep hillside had given out and had we beenin that very spot maybe 6 or 7 minutes earlier madhouse wold have had some serious dents int eh side. Luckily the slide dint make it all the way to the road but there were still basketball size rocks bouncing across as we approached, i waited a minute and drove by without any recourse. When we got tot eh other side we found anentire village gathered round to see what had happened so it wasn´t biz as usual thats for sure! After that we realized what we were in for though, there was a section of road just about every half mile that had been covered in giant boulders and mass amounts of dirt and gravel. THe remainder of the drive was so amazing though, we were literally on the side of mounaitns, thousand foot drop offs on one side with thousand foot vert going upo the other, there were truckers all over with dust so thick i could barely see anything, a roda i dint really expect until we got intot he Andes, sort of like the roads you are talking about, so insane, but so pretty.
Anwyays we are now furhter south in Guat, on Lake Atitlan, an amazing lake with mountians surrounding and two giant valcanoes hovering on the water edge. Check out the latest Spot Track page spot track on our website to see what im talking about. So ya either way thanks for the ehads up man we´ll defintely look into the roads you mentioned. Hope everyone is well otherwise, ill keep ya updated, thanks for all the support. Enjoy the Time
Madhouse INC
December 12, 2008 - 7:56pm
#18
you've probably already gone across the lake and figured it out, but....
san pedro = crazy party, san marcos = hippies and crystals, panajachel = more of a town, etc.
jardin de americas is on calle catorce de febrero if you're still looking (in pana)
Good to here you crossed! Yes your other post is here [url]http://www.southboundtravels.com/vb/showthread.php?t=181[/url] i think.
Near mazatlan, check out cosala if you want an "off the road" destination. Check the journals at [URL=http://www.southboundtravels.com/vb/../days-9-10.html]http://www.southboundtravels.com/days-9-10.html[/URL]
I just got back from panajachel, guatemala. You've got to spend time at the lake, I've got a great campsite for you. let me know when you get closer, i'll email my friends and get a phone number or contact person for you.
good luck, keep us updated, and take TONS OF NOTES on those border crossings and camp spots.