Latin America Collection

Ralph Henneman form the U. S. recounted his long journey and
experiences while driving the Pan-American Highway to Río Frío, Costa
Rica in late 1995.

He left for Costa Rica from the U.S. driving a 1971 International bus
loaded with personal belongings, household goods and tools for his
construction work. His 1976 Chevy van was driven at the same time by a
friend who had already made the trip quite a few times. They stayed
together all the way and only got separated in heavy rush hour traffic once
while in Austin, Texas.

In Mexico he hit a bus in the rear due to the other buse's break failure.
Luckily there was only little bumper damage and he gave his Mexican
Insurance to the bus driver. However, in Guatemala the bus developed a
radiator leak as a result of the accident in Mexico. They found a garage
soon after the motor started heating up. The mechanic took the radiator
out and repaired the leak. Then put it in and only charged $20. His friend
found a motel for $10 a night with a swimming pool and first-class room,
so they stayed the night in Guatemala City.

The trip through Honduras was very slow and mountainous. They had
a soldier armed with a semi-automatic in the bus all the way through the
country. The same thing happened in Nicaragua. The purpose of this escort
was so they couldn't sell anything on the bus.

The whole trip took 22 days with 4 days in McAllen, Texas due to
problems with customs at the Mexican border. One whole day was spent
unloading almost everything on the bus and then reloading because they
were moving to Costa Rica. Since the the bus was full of household goods,
tools and clothing they had to pay $400 at Mexican customs.

A lot can be learned form Ralph' s many delays. You should avoid taking
a lot of personal belongings while travelling through Mexico and Central
America. If you are planning to move to one of these countries it is best
ship your belongings by plane or in a container by boat. You will experience
many hassles, untimely delays and pay a lot of taxes if you don't. They should
have also taken the costal route through Guatemala and El Salvador and
not traveled through the upper part of Honduras.