Driving to Latin America/South America? | Squat the Planet

Driving to Latin America/South America?

jbx

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Gypsy,

I recently drove from Oregon to Nicaragua and all things considered it wasn't bad. The free highways in Mexico are really sketchy but there are pay highways that are amazing. If you get on one don't think that after the first toll you're done paying. They have toll booths every 50 miles or so and it gets expensive. There are no enforced speed limits on these highways that I ever noticed. There are occasional dirt "roads" that lead back and forth between free highways and the pay highways near the toll booths. I only found out about these roads near the southern end of Mexico but did get to use them once and saved ~$8USD. I paid for insurance when I crossed to border and got my visa but I'm not really sure it ever would have mattered. Got pulled over a number of times at police/military checks, which are frequent through Central America, and normally if you just keep handing papers to the cops with words written in English and just pretend you don't speak Spanish they will eventually let you go. Had no trouble in Mexico though. Went into Guatemala at Tapachula and it's just typical border town. When we got into the town some men pulled us over and said they were "immigration" and they needed our passports. LIES! The scam was fairly obvious so after pulling over enough so they would stop blocking the road I just hit the gas and sped around them. They're tenacious though and were actually holding onto the side view window and standing on the running board of our 1990 van. They jump off eventually. Keep your windows rolled up, people will reach in and grab anything they can. The police in Honduras shook us down about 10 times. I'd recommend keeping a sizable stack of $1's to bribe cops with. Even Mexican Peso's will do if they're drunk enough. If I had to do it over again I probably wouldn't drive but it was fun. If you have any more questions let me know. jb.
 

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