Hi all,

In both 2006 and 2007, I took a solo driving trip into Mexico and had
a good time going to a lot of places tourists never go, or at least
seldom see. This year, I'm thinking of taking a trip further south,
but I'm not quite sure I want to tackle that alone this time. I'm
looking to see if I can get a few other folks to take their Jeeps (or
trucks) along too. 4WD is not a necessity, but good ground clearance
is. Reliability is a must, as is the ability to perform maintenance
and at least basic repairs (usually due to bad roads). Something that
looks crappy would be best; I have an '82 Scrambler that looks all of
its 28 years. You'll likely want to change your oil at least once,
and remember Jeeps are NOT that common down there (i.e. bring your own
oil & filters).

Dates are flexible for me, but I'm thinking about four weeks to be
safe, some time in the next couple of months. My Spanish is rusty but
serviceable. Everyone would be responsible for all of their own
expenses and for anyone in their car (hey, I'm not a friggin' tour
guide). I have a Garmin GPS, which I'll load up with a world map.
Unfortunately, I cannot find an equivalent to the Mexican "Bicimaps"
for Central America, so the maps will be fairly course. But I have no
plans to go too far off the beaten path, anyway. I'll likely pick up
a GSM cell phone, too.

My biggest concerns are Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and
Nicaragua. The corruptions about the worst in those four countries,
and the crime rate in the Guatemala border towns are pretty bad, at
least at night. Once into Costa Rica and Panama, things are probably
no worse than Mexico.

It'd be a fun trip, and something to remember. Anyone wanting to go
should be aware that they should NOT act like an idiot. Doing so in
some of those countries could get you put away for a while. I've
never had any issues throughout Mexico, but I rarely drink and only
chase women in the approved zones . Speaking Spanish is a plus, but
not a necessity (you'll soon learn what "Topes" means).

I live in Austin, Texas, only a few hours from the border. I'm going
to post to a couple of Jeep and Land Rover (let's see if their sense
of adventure matches their spare tire covers) clubs in the Texas area
to see if there's any interest there.

Let me know what you think. And yes, I'm aware it's crazy based on
the feedback I received when I asked about driving into Mexico back on
2005.

Thanks,
Michael

Hi Michael,
You drive faster than the rest of us:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=nuevo+laredo&daddr=Austi n,+Texas&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=30.267153,-97.743061&sspn=8.392038,12.700195&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=8% 3E
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
mailto:BillHughes (AT) billhughes (DOT) com
http://www.billhughes.com/jeep_bookmark.htm

"Michael White" <michael.white (AT) austin (DOT) rr.com> wrote

Have fun, sounds like a blast.

My wife and I have rented 4WD vehicles in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua
several times within the past 4-5 years. We've talked about driving our
TJ down sometime, but it hasn't happened yet.

I'm not sure that I agree with your comment that Jeeps are not that
common down there, we saw them all over the place, in fact I remember in
both Mexico and Costa Rica seeing many for sale as we drove through the
countryside.

In my opinion, Costa Rica is by far the safest of the countries that we
have driven through (we drove San Jose to Limon and then south to the
Panama border on the Caribbean side, and then back to Guanacaste on the
Pacific side).

Nicaragua was wonderful, though we stayed along the Pacific coast where
they're used to seeing lots of ex-pat gringo surfers.

And, we've never had a problem with Mexico, though it's been a year
since we last visited. Baja is a very fun place to drive. On our most
recent trip we drove around the state of Oaxaca and it was excellent.
Both in Oaxaca and in the mountains outside of Puerto Vallarta we had
the experience of the locals pulling a rope across the road and asking
for a "toll". They have no authority to do this, but you're best off
giving them a few pesos and a "Dios Te Bendiga" (God Bless You) and
they'll lower the rope and let you pass. One time they let us pass in
exchange for bringing a migrant worker back to town. Fortunately I've
spent enough time in various Latin American countries that I have a
pretty good sense for the culture (and it varies quite a bit country to
country) and my spoken spanish is adequate.

We've also had the experience of nearly running out of gas in both
Mexico and CR, and usually you just ask around, and you'll get directed
to some enterprising local who has a supply... in Mexico we once got
directed to a farm-house, and upon arrival we asked for gas, the mother
sent out her young (I would estimate 10 years old) daughter who brought
out gas and siphoned (by mouth!) gas from a container into our jeep.
Be sure to ask for the price up-front, though you may be in no position
to negotiate.

Yes, watch out for the topes!

I'm very cautious while down there, but I did get pulled over twice in
Costa Rica for speeding (they let me go both times after I handed them
my California drivers license, I think they are so dependant on tourism
that they leave the foreigners alone).

In Nicaragua I got pulled over for going the wrong way down a one-way
street (the streets in town aren't always very clearly marked, so be
careful!)... again, they let me go after I showed them my license.

I remember "checkpoints" (military checkpoints in Mexico, and police
checkpoints in Costa Rica... Costa Rica has no military) where they
usually just ask where you're going to... I think they're looking for
drug traffickers.

Look into the car insurance requirements for each country. Because we
rented vehicles, we didn't have to worry about insuring a personal
vehicle. However, we crossed the border from Costa Rica into Nicaragua
and had to transfer vehicles, they won't let you bring a rental across
the border.

Finally, when in Rome, do as the Romans do....

Jeff

Michael White <michael.white (AT) austin (DOT) rr.com> wrote: