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This is a breakdown of exactly what was involved in taking our ’58 VW bus through the borders of Central & South America in 2008/2009. Also included is shipping information between Panama and Colombia and from Argentina to Germany. U.S./Mexico Border Mexico/Belize Border First turn in your tourist cards and have passports stamped out at the small booth on the right side of the road just before the customs drive through area. After that pass through the customs booth, they will just wave you through, and park on the left in front of the Banjercito where you will need to remove your vehicle import sticker and turn that in with the original receipt. They will give you a form stating that your vehicle has left the country. On to Belize. Across the bridge there will be a tiny shack on the right side where you need to stop and buy vehicle insurance. The cost is $14.50 a week. Continuing down the road there is a little shack on the right with a couple of orange cones out front. This is where you stop to have your vehicle fumigated. For $5 they spray your tires with some sort of disinfectant and give you a receipt which you need later. Following the road to the right not very far is customs and immigration. Just pull up on the right side against the fence before the checkpoint and walk into the big white building. A porter will meet you at your car. Ignore him, he is trying to get you to pay him to do what is so simple that it requires no help at all. Inside the building immigration will stamp you in for free. Then on to customs where they will ask for your title and registration. They fill out your vehicle information in a hand written ledger and give you a vehicle import stamp in your passport and a customs declaration form. You will need both of these checked upon leaving the country. This is also free. Back outside the vehicle will be searched, rather lackadaisically, and you will be on your way. Note: fill up with gas in Mexico for about 40% cheaper than Belize. Everyone was friendly here, spoke English, and didn’t hassle about anything. A simple crossing. Belize/Guatemala Border Note: fill up with gas in Belize for about 25% cheaper than Guatemala. As you approach the Belize border gate park off in the dirt to the right. Then all passengers should go into the big white building where you will first pay your exit fee of $27.50 BZ per person as well as a $7.50 BZ charge for something that I’ve forgotten already. They also accept USD. These are the only fees for clearing out. With that done you proceed through the large room to Immigration who will quickly stamp your passport out. You then turn around, exit the way you came in, and go in the other large set of doors on the front of the building. The signs will say do not enter, but that is just because it is the backside of the incoming customs building. Go to the desk in the middle of the room with your vehicle papers and be sure to have your passport vehicle stamp stamped out. Back outside it is a good idea to change some cash for quetzals, as there is no cash machine available until Flores, Guatemala, and you will need some to clear in. There are plenty of guys around on both sides of the border who will offer you this service. Always try and check the latest rates online before border crossings. Back in your car you will pass through the Belize border post where customs will simply double check that your passports have been stamped out. It’s then on to Guatemala. Just fifty yards away you will see what looks like a giant automatic car wash. This is basically what it is, some sort of pesticide mixture. Beware, if you are on a motorcycle this thing will spray your entire body, it’s run automatically. You may want to try and bypass it by taking the pedestrian path, though I’m sure you will still have to pay for it. Anyway, drive through and immediately park to your left. On your right is a small building with barred windows where you pay for the fumigation. The cost for us was $38 quetzals (7 QZ to 1 USD at the time we went through). Next, turn around and walk to the large open air building across the street. By now some money changer will probably be talking to you and telling you where to go. Just tell him thanks, but you have it under control. Their not too pushy and you really don’t need their help. Also, only one person need go inside, the rest can stay with the car, though it seemed like a safe enough place to me. Inside the building visit Immigration first (on the right). With hardly a question they will stamp you in for 90 days for $20 QZ per passport. Then walk over to Customs for the vehicle permit. He’ll send you out for copies of your passport stamp, license, and title. To get the copies made just go back outside and right next door to the little shop set up there. These will cost $3 QZ. Then back to Customs where he’ll enter your info in the computer, print out a sheet for you and send you to a bank window twenty feet away to pay $40 QZ. After that he’ll walk out to your car, have a cursory glance at it, and walk back inside. You will sign a few pieces of paper, get a vehicle stamp in your passport and you’re done. One more note, just down the street there is a bridge where you will have to pay a toll, $50 QZ to Tikal. A hundred yards on the paved road veers to the right. This is a trick. That way is just through town, you actually want to continue straight up the big hill, which is dirt, and very rough. You get fifteen miles or so of that before the paved road begins. The people here were exceedingly friendly, all were smiling, most spoke pretty good English, and there were absolutely no lines. The whole process took about thirty minutes. Simple. Guatemala/El Salvador Border Note: Arrive at the border on empty. Gas is much cheaper in El Salvador. As you approach the Guatemala border you will see a large, low, white building. It will be obvious which building by the large amount of “helpers” standing in front of it waving to you as you approach. They will point you towards a spot right next to the building where two uniformed officials are waiting for you. Ignore everybody however, and park instead in the large empty lot to the right. Then walk back over to the two officials. These guys want to see your vehicle permit, will write down the number in their logbook, and will then tell you that you need a copy of your passport (front page and stamped page), drivers license, and title. Get two of each so you are ready for El Salvador. There are a number of shops along the road, all have a copy machine. Go back to the officials and one of them will lead you over to a customs window, where someone new will take your copies, then ask to see your vehicle. They will simply confirm that your VIN number matches, they won’t search the car. Note: At least one “helper” will try to latch on to you, but they are extremely unnecessary, and if used will try and charge you an outrageous amount for the help you didn’t need. Make it clear to him that you don’t want his help or he will follow you around the entire time. The customs guy will take your passport and ask you if you want to cancel the permit or if you intend to return to Guatemala. He’ll then go back inside to finish the paperwork. This is a good time to exchange any Quetzales or Pesos you might still have. There will be at least two money changers hovering near you with a wad of cash. Haggle with them for a decent exchange rate. I let them take about a 3% profit. Customs will then return your passport with the vehicle stamped signed and cancelled, and also your original vehicle permit marked cancelled. Keep it handy. There are no fees at all on the Guatemala side. Back in the car drive down the road to a bridge where El Salvador immigration officials will stop you. They will look at your passport, ask where you are staying, and if you have family in El Salvador. Just tell them you are a tourista. You will not get a new passport stamp here. The Guatemala stamp (and the 90 days you received on it) is good for El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They will point you to a customs building straight ahead. Park the car and head in. Inside the office there is a sign that says in English “Tourists: Customs is here for your service. It is free and personal. You do not need help.” Get in line and be aggressive about holding your spot. Regulars will come in and walk right in front of you if you don’t assert yourself. For some reason this process takes a very long time, despite being very easy. You turn over your copies, they make a cursory inspection of the vehicle, and they give you a new vehicle permit. It’s simple, but time consuming. Again, there are no fees at all. Back on the road proceed fifty yards to an official who will double check your vehicle permit. Another less official looking guy will come up and ask you for $5 and your name. This is a road toll, good for all of El Salvador. You’ll get a receipt. Once through there you are done. The road only goes one way from there. If you’re tired and want an easy campground for the night drive just four miles or so to the turnoff for San Francisco Menendez, which is the first paved road to the left. Another four miles or so brings you to town. Continue straight ahead until the road runs out. You’re at the gate for Parque Nacional El Imposible. Wait there a while, or ask around, and a guard will show up to open the gate for you. Just inside is a camping area with a toilet and sink. $6 per person park fee and $1 vehicle fee. El Salvador/Honduras Border Approaching the border you will most likely come across a long line of parked trucks. Pass all of them in the oncoming lane until you reach a tiny building on the right hand side at a speed bump. Along the way dozens of very aggressive “helpers” will grab at your car. Be forceful in saying no, these guys serve no purpose whatsoever. Park your car off the shoulder and walk to the small building. These guys only want one thing, a copy of your vehicle permit. If you already have a copy, great, you’ll be on your way in seconds. If not there is a copier nearby. A bit further down the road is customs, where you will cancel out your El Salvador vehicle permit and pay your exit fee of $3 per person. Again more “helpers” will try and point you to a parking space. Ignore them and pull under the overhang up to the front of the building where there will be a row of customs service windows. These guys are very friendly and one of them will probably take you inside to complete the simple paperwork. Make sure your passport vehicle stamp is cancelled out. Now back in the car a few hundred yards and over a bridge you come to the Honduras side. A large blue building is right in the middle of the road. It looks more like a market than a customs building, with food stalls everywhere. Park anywhere you like near the building. The driver can then go into the middle of the building to the customs window. The line here moves excruciatingly slow. The trick is to get the officer behind the window to see you. Once he sees a tourist there he will call you forward and probably bring you inside the office. Inside you will fill out a simple form (though if your Spanish is terrible you should have a dictionary with you). He will then send you back outside to a yellow and green building just fifty yards up the road to the left. There someone will enter your information into a computer, charge you $11 USD, and issue you a receipt. Take that paperwork back to the customs office. Just knock on the door and let yourself in, being sure to smile and say buenos dias to everyone inside. He’ll then stamp a few things and send you next door for copies. There are a lot of them, so no point in trying to get them ahead of time. Back inside again you’ll get the final stamps, including a large one in your passport, along with your new vehicle permit. At this point you pay the fee. These are printed out right on the documents. They come to $33 USD. You’re done. It’s a simple process, but somehow takes about two hours. A lot of people make the hundred mile or so drive across southern Honduras in a day. It’s easy to do. The only obstacles are the checkpoints. We had no real problems. At the first five stops the officials would ask to see a license, or the vehicle permit, but would be extremely friendly, shaking hands and asking about our trip. However at the final stop just before the border the police scam came into effect. We’d heard about this particular scam ahead of time and were ready for it. The two police officers stop you as usual, but you can tell something is different. They take your license and then tell you to pull off the side of the road. They then ask you where your “triangles” are. By this they apparently mean the sort of triangles you put out in case of a breakdown on the highway. Of course nobody has these and they know it. They threaten huge fines, etc., etc. before settling on a twenty dollar on the spot fee. DO NOT PAY THIS. It is a scam, and everybody who pays them makes it harder for the rest of us. Here’s how we handled them. First, when they tell you to pull off the road just ignore them and stay parked right in the middle blocking traffic. They hate a crowd. When they finally got us to pull off and asked us for our triangles I just looked at them like they were the idiots and answered, “No comprende.” This frustrates them to no end. They then called in a cohort who spoke English. He asked us where our triangles were and I looked him in the eye and said, “I’m just going to pretend like I don’t understand what you are saying.” He relayed this to his police buddies who were really frustrated now. A few seconds later the guy said to us, “They just wanted to see your title.” They handed back our license and we drove off. We heard a story of some travelers passing through a week earlier who were asked for their triangles three times and each time paid the fine. They were also fined for not wearing a shirt while driving. People like these are idiots and do nothing but make life difficult for those of us following in their path. Don’t be one of these people. Have a backbone and refuse them. I promise they are not going to lock you in jail for not having orange triangles or wearing a shirt. Overall, a pretty easy border, just a bit more time consuming than it should be. Honduras/Nicaragua Border At the Honduras side you will have a whole group of “helpers” trying to wave you in to the building. That’s how you’ll know you’ve arrived at the right place. The building is a low tan cement affair on the left side of the road. Drive purposefully right past every person waving official id’s in your face and park near the end of the parking lot right in front of the windows you need to visit. Go to the windows on the back side from where you parked. There you will visit Honduras Immigration first. He will give you a couple of forms to fill out which are actually for Nicaragua. Take those forms to the next window, Nicaragua Immigration. This guy will charge you $14 (ten on one receipt and four on the other, I’m not sure of the breakdown) for entering Nicaragua. Then it is on to the third window where Honduras will clear your vehicle permit out. Back in the car just down the road to Nicaragua customs. The road Y’s and you want to stick to the left. Find a nice place to park right in front of the building. Inside the building is the now standard room with rows of bank teller type windows. The ones you want are marked International Vehicle something or rather. If your not sure if you’re in the right line ask somebody because the line moves slow. When we arrived on a Sunday afternoon there were fourteen truckers in line in front of me. An hour and a half later it was my turn. They didn’t want any copies or money. In five minutes he’d typed out the information he needed, printed my copy of the vehicle permit and sent me on my way. Back outside the door was a possible scam, though I’m not 100% sure of it. A woman wearing no official identification at all came up with an official looking pack of paper. It said I needed to pay $12 USD and appeared to be for some sort of toll. I got a weird vibe from her though so I went back in and asked the customs agent about it. He wouldn’t really give me a straight answer one way or the other, and the lady wouldn’t follow me inside the building. She just kept telling me that the police were going to ask for the receipt. I decided to NOT pay it and see what happened. Leaving customs a group of guys will stop you and ask you for all the same papers you’ve just been showing everybody. In a few seconds they’ll wave you on. Then a mile or so down the road is a police checkpoint. The “Local Police” it said on his uniform, asked to see my license and vehicle permit again. He than asked for the receipt that the lady had tried to sell me. I just played dumb and acted as if I had no idea what he was talking about. He tried one or two more times but quickly gave up on it and waved me through. The next police stop five hundred yards further on the guy didn’t ask for it at all. I’m of the opinion that the lady and this cop had a little scam going on together. Whether or not that is true I really have no idea. Either way the worst that could happen by not paying it is having to backtrack one mile to pay the lady. Nicaragua/Costa Rica Border This border has a bad reputation and we have absolutely no idea why. Once again there is absolutely no need to pay for outside help. First up is Nicaragua. As you drive down the road to the border the road will be blocked by dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of semi-trucks. Fortunately there is very little oncoming traffic, so pull out and pass everybody until you reach the front of the line. You’ll know you’re there when the road widens out. In front of you, sort of in the middle of the road is a baby blue gate. Stop in front of it, ignoring everybody except the guy with the uniform on. He’ll ask you for $1 per person, then will send the money off with a different guy who will run to a nearby office and return with your receipts. I honestly don’t know what this is for, but he’s official and has receipts so I let it go. They’ll then let you through the gate where you’ll stop right away. A guy will come up and ask to see your vehicle permit and will then issue you a receipt with your license plate and time stamp on it. Now you drive about a hundred yards to the group of buildings on your left. Follow the big blue signs for autos to the inner “courtyard” and park in front of the building on your left as you drive in. Go inside the building and to the left where there is a row of desks and windows. Start at the beginning with Migracion. He’ll stamp you out and charge you two dollars exit fee per person payable in USD or cords. The next window over is marked “Vehiculo.” This person will fiddle with your papers and hand you a ticket stub that you then need to carry back outside to have signed by both the police and customs. These two are outside inspecting vehicles and aren’t hard to spot. Just walk around with your ticket stub and they’ll know what you need. The customs inspection was totally cursory and signed off in seconds, however the police inspection had us nervous. The officer was the most thorough of any we’ve met anywhere. Apparently they are not eager to allow drugs to leavetheir country. We of course had nothing to hide, but we were a bit worried he’d ask us to start removing body panels. That’s how involved he seemed to be getting. Anyway, once they both sign your ticket bring it back in to “Vehiculo.” She’ll do some more work and then send you to the last line right next to her. This guy seems to do nothing but place the final stamp on your ticket. Take that ticket and drive back out the way you came, turning towards Costa Rica on the main road. About two hundred yards along the road forks, with a small building in the middle of it. Go right but park next to the building. Pay $4 for fumigation and then drive down the hill through the “car wash”. Drive fast, nobody cares and the sprayer is automatic. On the other side of the sprayer trucks will be lined up on the road to the right. Don’t go that way, instead make a sharp left and drive up the hill to another set of buildings. The building on the left has a big overhanging canopy. This is Immigration and there will probably be a line here. Park in front of the building and get in line. We both went along this time instead of just me. They may or may not care. Immigration will stamp your passports without a question. Now take your passport to the copier located just inside the building to the left as you came in. Get copies of your passport (drivers only), immigration stamp and front page, your drivers license, and title. Now walk across the street to the tiny peach building. There you will be given a form, in Spanish, to fill out about your vehicle. When that is done he’ll send you back across the street for seguro, which is insurance. There is a set fee for this posted on the window. It’s about $15, payable in colones, which you can get from any of the money changers outside. (As always you should know the exchange rate before arriving. If not it’s posted at the bank inside the building.) With your seguro receipt in hand go back to the peach building. Now they’ll come out and inspect your vehicle. A very cursory glance inside without touching anything. Okay, he’ll sign the piece of paper you filled out and send you down the road to the Customs (Aduana) building. It’s about two hundred yards down on your right. The parking lot is tiny and crowded and the road outside is all marked no parking. Find a spot and go inside. You’ll see the office door on the left marked tourist vehicle something or other. Here they’ll simply enter the information in the computer and print out your vehicle permit. Done. You’re on your way. We actually found this to be a very straight forward and easy to maneuver border crossing. It’s a very busy one with lots of gringo tourists, many of whom hop the border every three months for three days in order to be able to re-enter for another three months. But overall things ran very smoothly. Costa Rica/Panama Border Note: Gas is quite a bit cheaper in Panama. Approaching the Costa Rica border stop at the big blue and white building on the left, after the bus stop awning. Outside, but underneath the roof, are a row of windows. Visit the Immigration window first, marked Costa Rica Exit. You’ll fill out an exit form and get stamped out there. Next is Aduana (customs) which is in an unmarked window directly to your left as you are facing the immigration windows. The customs window is covered in travel/hotel/restaurant stickers. Cancel your vehicle permit there and receive a receipt. There are no fees on this side of the border. Back in the car drive down the road a little way. You will come across what is essentially a busy market. This is a duty free area and is filled with locals. Stay straight through it all and you will see a huge building with a roof over the road. Park against the curb next to the building. Underneath the outdoor building look for the dark tinted window with a sign above it saying Tourism Bureau. Here you will get tourist cards which cost $5 per person. With those in hand gather up everybody from the car and head to Immigration which are a set of windows on the other side of the big circular staircase. There was a long line when we arrived because a bus had just shown up. However we were able to simply walk up to an empty window next to the line and get the attention of the official inside. If you’re too chicken to do this yourself ask the Tourism Bureau guy for help. He’ll walk you over and get it taken care of. Immigration will then stamp you in for free. Take your passport across the street and get a copy of your passport entry stamp, your passport front page, drivers license, and title. Now to customs which is located at the window to the right of the Tourism Bureau window. They will take your copies and fill out a vehicle permit for you. When you receive the paper make certain that it is filled out correctly. Apparently when shipping your vehicle the customs agents will raise a huge fuss if anything is off at all. My paperwork had my passport number wrong. I pointed it out and she went back and fixed it. It was still wrong. I gave it back again, and finally received the correct papers the third time. They were very nice about it though. Again no fee. Note: We were a few miles down the highway when we got stopped at a customs checkpoint. It turned out the bottom section of our vehicle permit wasn’t signed. From what I gathered it should have been signed by a customs agent after searching our vehicle. Nobody at the border asked to do this. If I were to go through again I would insist on having that bottom section signed off before leaving. The officer at the checkpoint had me open the back gate, peeked in, signed my paper and asked for a Coke. We didn’t have one so he just waved us on. Other officers might not be quite so easy. The last thing to do is pay for your fumigation. This is in a small office at the end of the building across from the fumigation car spray thing. It cost $3. Be sure and get your receipt as you may need it later when stopped at a checkpoint. After driving through the fumigator you are done and on your way. The Pan-American highway is straight ahead. This was one of the easiest border crossings we’ve ever experienced. We went through at noon on a Sunday and there were very few cars or people around. As always, there is absolutely no need at all to pay for any outside help. Shipping from Panama to Cartagena, Colombia Beginning one week before shipping date. Day one: Go to Barwil’s office with passports, title, and Panama vehicle permit. They will put together three copies of your bill of lading. Double check everything. They can also help you find the best flight and book it for you at no cost. Day two: Drive to Policia National Direccion de Investigacion Judicial. Your agent will give you a map. Park behind the building in a ridiculously filthy looking lot in a rough part of town. It’s safe though, you’re with the police. This is where your car will be inspected. Basically double checking your VIN and engine numbers against your paperwork. Show up here promptly at eight a.m. because they only issue forty permits per day. There were at least thirty cars there the day we visited. After they check you out they will take a copy of your Bill of Lading and tell you to return at 2:00. At two you return to the same area, but a building across the busy road. Park over there (or take a taxi, which would be much easier since you don’t need to show your vehicle this time). The Secretaria General is the office that will give you your official vehicle inspection document. Double check everything. They got our license plate wrong two times before finally giving me a complete and correct document. This took two hours. Next we returned to our agents who rattled off a few more documents and said goodbye, after we paid them of course. The cost for our twenty foot container and their work was $1300. This was on a Friday and they gave us instructions on where to go on Monday in Manzanillo to finish customs paperwork in Colón and load the vehicle. Day three: Loading day. In Colón the first stop is Aduana (09 20.8N, 079 52.7W) to get some paperwork and have your passport stamped, clearing you to leave the country without your vehicle. To get there, as you approach Colón you will see a large overpass/bridge with a Rey supermarket on the other side. Before reaching the overpass take the exit to reach the road underneath. Go right. The first road on the left is to the Duty Free Zone and has a checkpoint. Immediately inside and to the right of the checkpoint entrance is the Customs office. With that paperwork drive down the road to the port entrance on the left. Just down this street to the right are rows and rows of buildings. About the third one down is Barwil, on the second floor. They’ll point you to the offices you need to visit back outside. There are three of them total (all walking distance). One will give you some paperwork which you take to the next one and pay five dollars to receive a receipt of some sort. Lastly get your permit to enter the port. With this done you drive down the main road to the next left. Here is the entrance for vehicles (09 22.0N, 079 52.7W). There is a white trailer with a covered parking area. One of the windows is marked Vehiculos. Check in here, receive some more paperwork, and they will call to see about having somebody come meet you to take you to your container. Once that person shows up you’ll go in, drive your car into the container, and a couple of workers will block the tires and strap the vehicle down. They will take a couple pictures of it, close the doors, seal it, allow you to add an additional padlock, and you’re done. On the Colombian side it’s not really worth it for me to go into too much detail. You could ship to Cartagena or to Barranquilla fifty miles away. In Cartagena there appears to be a number of different ports and our bus ended up at Puerto Contecar. I would highly recommend shipping to Cartagena if for no other reason than that the ports are all very near the city center, about a four dollar cab ride away. Also, Cartagena is a great city to spend a few days. Our agent in Cartagena was Alberto Mendoza of King Ocean (Barwil Agency in Panama gave us all his contact info). A nice guy who spoke excellent English. He was the first stop, and after finishing a little paperwork, we were on our own. After another stop just down the street at the DIAN office where we picked up some paperwork, we were off to the Port. Puerto Contecar is exactly what you’d expect, a large port full of shipping containers. At the front is an office with a number of different windows and offices. The key here was hooking up with Liliana at window #5. There are so many steps involved at this office that it makes no sense to try and explain any of it. Some people we met had been there for four days before having their container released to them. Liliana for some reason took a strong liking to the two of us and made a point of walking us through each step, making phone calls to get things moving, etc.. So if you end up at this port be extra nice to her. She doesn’t speak English, but can write instructions out in English for you. The whole process took us a day and a half. It’s not a bad place to wait around though, with air conditioning and a cafeteria. Patience and a smile will go a long way towards getting you taken care of here. Note: I believe it is mandatory to have Colombian insurance in order to drive in the country. At one military checkpoint we were asked for ours. We didn’t have any and just played ignorant until they waved us on. That was the only time in the country we were asked for it. I’ve heard that others have tracked down insurance agents in the city and managed to purchase a liability policy, but it was a lot of work. Colombia/Ecuador Border Note: Gas is 60% cheaper in Ecuador. The border post at Rumichaca on the Colombia side is just 2 miles from the town of Ipiales. The necessary building is a big brick affair located right in the middle of the road and cannot be missed. First, go inside to the window marked DAS Migracion and have your passport stamped out. Afterwards, go back outside to the DIAN/Aduana windows. Somebody here will take a copy of your vehicle permit and leave you with a copy. That’s it. No fees, you’re done. Just down the street is the Ecuador border post. The road curves to the right where there will be a small booth with a customs officer randomly checking vehicles. He’ll probably stop you just to let you know where to park and what offices to go to. The building you need is the long one story yellow one right in front of you. First step is to Migracion. Just make sure you get into the line for entering Ecuador, not exiting. They’ll stamp you in with no questions asked for ninety days. There is no charge. Next is the vehicle permit. You’ll need copies of your passport (front page and stamp page), DL, and Title. Take these to the office at the end of the building nearest the road as you drove in. The guy here takes your papers, enters the info into his computer, prints out two copies, has you sign them, and gives you one copy to take with you. Five minutes and you’re finished. Cost: Nothing. This was possibly the easiest border crossing we’ve ever experienced. The vehicle permit was absolutely the easiest. Friendly, simple, and free all the way across the board. Ecuador/Peru Border Note: Gas is 50% cheaper in Ecuador. First on the list is immigration. This is also the most difficult part of the day. Not because the officials are hard to deal with, but because the office is in such an unlikely place. However, we’ll save you that problem with the GPS coordinates, 03 29.5S, 080 12.5W. It is about four miles before the town of Huaquillas, along the Pan-American highway but on the northbound side, in a small white building with white tents out front. The officer there will stamp you out and take your tourist cards without saying a word. From there you head into town for the border. The PanAm was blocked off by a market when we visited, and this looks pretty normal, so we had to detour a few blocks around it. The key point is that you want to go straight down the PanAm. You will come to a bridge and know you’re there. On the Ecuador side there is a building on the left marked Aduana. Park in front of it and take your vehicle permit to the officer there. He’ll take it and tell you to have a nice day. That’s it for Ecuador, no fees, no hassle. As long as you know where the offices are. Next to this office is a copy shop. Get a copy of your passport front page, passport exit stamp page, license, and title, for Peruvian officials. Note: There is a persistent guy on the Ecuador side that will try and help you park, help you walk to the office window, help you get copies, etc.. He will also try to get you to pay a five dollar bridge toll, and will show you an official receipt. If you buy this you are an idiot. The guy has no teeth and no uniform. Now, back in the car, across the bridge there is a small Aduana building on the right. Park in front of it, this is your Peruvian vehicle permit. The official here is very friendly, but very slow. He’ll fill out a ledger, a vehicle sticker, and sign your permit with a flourish. It takes a while, but is simple, and free. Back in the car again it is now about two miles straight along the PanAm to the immigration building. The building is a large white affair on your left and can’t be missed. Helpers will approach you here with forms to fill out. These are the same forms the official inside will give you for free. Go inside the building under the doors marked Migracion and find the office with two booths and two officials. One for entering and one for exiting. Get a forms, fill it out, return to the booth, get your stamp in your passport, and you’re done. Cost again, nothing. Back out at the car, Ali told me that a guy had come by with a large power sprayer machine, acting very professional, and spraying our tires. As we got ready to leave a lady wearing a uniform approached me asking for three soles (or one dollar) for fumigation. I was hesitant, but Ali assured me the fumigation seemed like the real deal, so we paid it. That was it for the border crossing. It was all very easy, and very professional. This border for some reason has a reputation as the worst in South America. We honestly have no idea why that would be. Had we known where to find that first immigration office from the start the whole thing would have taken just one hour. And it costs nothing. Peru/Chile Border As you walk to the building there is a main door on the right and a smaller door with an ATM in the middle. Go to the middle door first. There is an officer sitting at a desk there who will give you a form to fill out concerning your vehicle, the owner, and the passengers. Take this form back outside and through the door on the right. Go all the way to the back of the building in the right hand corner. There are desks along the side. Give the form to the officer here. He’ll stamp a few pages and then send you to the immigration officers sitting right behind you in the middle of the room. They will then quickly stamp your passport and send you through the door on the other side of the room. Inside this room is the Aduana officer who will cancel your vehicle permit. Also, after checking that the license plate on your car matches the one written on your form, he will give it one last stamp. Back inside he’ll type a few things into his computer and you are done with Peru. You’ll go through another checkpoint right away where the officer will take one of the copies of the form you’ve been working on and leave you with one final copy. This you’ll need on the Chile side. Just down the road is the Chile border station. This one is more like a series of auto lanes with small offices between them, sort of like a toll booth station. Don’t follow the signs for autos, instead park the car in one of the lanes on the far right. Or just ask any officer wandering around where you should go. First step here is immigration. There is a small brick building between the lanes with a series of windows. Ask at one of the windows for the entrance form, fill it out, and wait your turn for an open window. The officer will stamp you in without question. Next is the vehicle permit. In this same booth is a window right at the front for this purpose. Get the form here, fill it out, and return it to him. He’ll then tell you to get your form that you’ve got from Peru stamped by an officer. You then need to find a customs officer to check your vehicle. They are all over the place. The search is a little more involved than most countries, but is still pretty harmless. A little poking around asking about food, animals, and plants. He’ll then stamp your form which you can then return to the vehicle permit officer. He’ll then give you your vehicle permit. Last step is for your passengers to walk through the border, metal detectors and bag searches, while you drive the vehicle through. At the checkpoint you’ll hand over the form you’ve been working on since the Peru side and you’re done. Arica is just twelve miles down the road where you can camp anywhere along the beach. This is another easy border. Everybody is friendly. The Peruvian side is efficient and the Chilean side goes out of their way to be helpful. No money is exchanged on either side. All their services are performed professionally and for free. Chile/Argentina Border Another border you can’t miss. Blocking the one road into Parque Nacional Puyehue is the Chilean border post. First stop at the ticket booth to receive a ticket with your license plate and number of people in the car written on it. Don’t throw it away. Then continue on to the building straddling the two directions just down the street. Inside you go to the Policia windows first where they will quickly stamp your passport out and take that little slip of paper to make sure they’ve gotten everybody. Then to the other end to visit customs who will stamp your vehicle permit. That’s it for Chile. Free and quick. IMPORTANT NOTE: In Argentina you WILL need insurance. We traveled everywhere without it up to this point, but here it is essential. The first thing out of immigrations mouth was, “Insurance?” before turning us back to Chile because we couldn’t produce it. Then at our first military checkpoint they asked for it again. Without it you aren’t going anywhere. If you don’t have international insurance it is available on the Chilean side but not the Argentine. Here is what we did: After being turned back at the Argentine border we returned to the Chilean side and went back into the office there. Not wanting to alert the Customs officials there that we didn’t have insurance we instead approached the money changer and told him we needed Argentine insurance. He directed us to the girl in the booth, who was the same girl who had sold us empanadas an hour earlier at the cafe next door. Anyway, this girl led us to a nearby house and produced the document we needed. For about thirty-five dollars we purchased a ten day policy. Now, whether this policy is any good or not we have no idea, but it does satisfy the police in Argentina. Back out on the road it is 23 miles through nicely paved mountainous National Park to the Argentine side. Again there is a booth to get a ticket with license plate and number of people. Then another building. Inside you visit the desks on the right first. I believe they say something about Vehiculos. In any event these officials will ask for your vehicle permit from Chile and your Argentine insurance. We tried to talk them out of insurance for half an hour but in the end they sent us back to Chile to get it. These people will stamp your passport and then send you to the other end of the room to visit Customs. Here the officer will enter your vehicle information, print out two vehicle permits, have you sign them, give you one to keep, stamp your ticket, and then check the vehicle. This was a very cursory inspection. In fact all he did in ours was look at it admiringly and tell us how beautiful it was. Back in the car give your ticket to the officer in the booth and you are on your way. This is an absolutely simple process, and if you have proper insurance already it will take under thirty minutes to complete both sides. There are no fees involved. Argentina/Chile Border One lane dirt road, so you can’t miss the border post. Argentina side is simply having your passport stamped and turning over your vehicle permit. From there it is a hundred yards to the Chilean side. Here you first get cleared in with Immigration, stamping your passports back in and having you fill out tourist cards. Then Customs has you fill out a new vehicle permit. Third step is Agricultural inspection. Each person fills out a declaration and then they search the vehicle for contraband. We didn’t give much thought to this and checked NO for all the boxes, but the girl searching the bus did an incredibly thorough job. She found a banana and took away the bag of dog food we bought in her country to feed the strays. She missed other stuff, but overall she was not messing around. I even had to fill out a new declaration and check one box YES. No fees involved and about half an hour to get through both sides. Chile/Argentina Border A very easy border. Just down the road from the town of Chile Chico is the border post building on the left. A new one is being built just a bit further down the road and looks about ready. Anyway, routine check out, stamp the passports, take the vehicle permit, and you’re out the door. Three miles down the road is the Argentine side. A jumble of buildings on the left. Stop at the gate and go inside the nearest one. Here you clear immigration, then customs for the vehicle permit. You will need your insurance form. There was no search of our vehicle this time, and again, no fees. Twenty minutes tops for both. Argentina/Chile Border This is a scenic outpost up in the hills along a dirt road. Stop at the gate and go inside the nearest building to check out with immigration and clear customs. For some reason the customs guard here made a handwritten copy of our vehicle permit and then gave us a copy, telling us it was a very important document. Seems weird since we were leaving their country, but we took it and left. It’s then a few miles down the road to the Chile side. Again, stop at the gate and go inside the building to the right. Same old routine. Immigration, customs, and an agricultural form. Outside we got a very cursory agricultural inspection and were free to go. Maybe thirty minutes and no fees. Note: At this border it is best to try and fill up on gas in Argentina. The station at the small town on the Chile side charges exorbitant prices for gas out of a 55 gallon drum. Also there is no ATM and if you are heading to Torres del Paine you’ll need cash to get in the gate. Chile/Argentina Border At the end of sixty very rough dirt road miles is the Chilean San Sebastian border post. As per usual our passports were stamped out of Chile and our vehicle permit was handed over. Five minutes tops. From there it was a few more miles of dirt to the Argentine side. First off was immigration, who normally asks to see the vehicle’s insurance papers, though this time they didn’t. After getting stamped in we moved over to customs. We handed over the vehicle permit copy that the guard at the previous post had made for us and told us was very important. This guard looked it over, stamped the back of it and handed it back to us. Five minutes here and we were once again on our way. No fees. Chile/Argentina Border Another easy border crossing. Five minutes on each side, no searches, and no requests for our insurance paperwork from the Argentine officials. Shipping from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Hamburg, Germany The process is extremely easy. We wired our payment to the agent, who then issued us our tickets. Then a week or so before the ship was scheduled to leave we met with an agent we were directed to in Buenos Aires, near the port. They took a copy of our vehicle permit and passports and told us to call them three days before the ship to find out when to meet the Grimaldi agent at the port. On the designated departure date we drove to the port (which is very easy to find in downtown Buenos Aires, GPS 34 35.4S, 058 22.0W). There were a total of five vehicles waiting there when the Grimaldi agent arrived. He took our vehicle permits to customs and had them stamped out. We then drove into the shipping area and parked in a line so that customs could drive past our vehicles with an x-ray machine to search for drugs. The agent then took the drivers passports to have the vehicles stamped out. A short while later we were led to the ship where we filled out one simple immigration form and turned our passports over to the captain. After that we drove onto the ship which was just like a giant parking garage except very clean and roomy. Next we were shown to our cabins. The cabin has large bunk beds, a closet, dresser, and desk. The bathroom is small but very clean and nice. Overall we were very pleased with the accommodation. A word about the ship itself. There are only ten passengers and twenty-seven crew onboard the giant ship, so it is very quiet and relaxing. Three big meals are served each day, as well as coffee and tea all the time. So there is no need to bring any food along with you. There are hundreds of dvd movies you can watch in the lounge or on your computer in your room. There is a small work-out room. You can send and receive email, but there is no internet. On deck is about a mile of open space to roam, as well as deck chairs and a small swimming pool perched on the edge of the deck thirteen stories above the water. It’s very comfortable and there is really no need to over pack as everything is well taken care of. Unfortunately the ship is not secure. Our bus was broken into while in a Brazilian port. The ship takes no responsibility, so it is therefore up to the passengers to stand guard over their vehicles while in port. During loading there are dozens if not hundreds of stevedores coming through the ship. Even though we had left nothing of value inside the car thieves broke the lock, climbed in and stole hats and our hubcaps (which we’d removed so they wouldn’t be stolen). Cost for our bus $932.35, cabin for two $3,496.31. Europe We arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany on the ship. Onboard immigration officers stamped our passports and told us we were free to go. We asked about Customs but they said we didn’t need to do anything further. So we drove out of the port with no paperwork whatsoever. While in Germany we contacted Karl-Heinz Nowag at AIU, American International Underwriters, (phone 061 06/1 69 60, email nowag@t-online.de) for car insurance. For roughly $100 USD per month they provided us with liability coverage good for all of Europe and gave us the Green Card that could be used as proof in any country. |
by Church and Church. The Churches book needs a little updating, but they have info on every single border crossing as well as hundreds of campgrounds.