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Tony and Jim, two Californians we interviewed, made a trip from Los
Angeles to Panama City by car. They left Los Angeles early one morning
and drove to Tuscon, Arizona in their 1968 VW van. The next morning the
entered Mexico at Nogales. Customs was a breeze and the drove all the
way to the port of Guaymas. From there they went to Mazatlán to relax
and soak up some rays for a couple of days. They camped at a nice trailer
park right on the beach.

While relaxing in Mazatlán, they decided they were going to try to drive
to Panama as quickly as possible but vowed they wouldn't drive at night.
After working on their tans for two days in Mazatlán, they left for
Guadaljara and arrived later the same day. The next day the made it all the
way to Cuernavaca on the outskirts of Mexico City. The follwing morning,
they got up at 4 am and drove to the city of Oaxaca. Their generator had
to be replaced so they lost about three hours but started out for Tapacula
at 11:30 am. They found a motel as soon as it got dark and spent the night.
At dawn the next day they reached the border with Guatemala. After
spending the night in Tapachula they crossed over to Guatemala as soon
as the border opened and made it all the way to San Salvador in one day.
The next day they again left bright and early and arrived in Nicaragua. The
following day they made it to San José, Costa Rica and one day later to
Panama City. The last leg proved to be a grueling 16 hour drive.

Aside form the usual delays at the borders they didn't encounter any
real problems. They regretted not having stopped to enjoy many of the sights
along they way, so on the return trip they took their time.