Please vote and post only if you personally have visited several Central American countries by personal vehicle. We want to know about YOUR visit, not what happened to a friend, relative or whatever.
Today I experienced the worst crossing I've ever had in 5 years of living in Central America going into Nicaragua.
I have crossed borders probably 50 times or more between Central American countries, primarily Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Until today the largest bribe I have ever been asked for is $1 in Mexico!
My friend from Honduras and I crossed from Penas Blancas in Costa Rica to Nicaragua at about 8:30 in the morning Friday October 9, 2009. The crossing went well until the police decided to dismantle the truck to look for drugs. Drugs that did not exist. Undoubtedly there were other vehicles crossing that likely were carrying drugs or other contraband during the five hours we spent watching 4-5 police agents dismantle my vehicle and reassemble it again all for nothing because there NEVER was anything to find, something that a dog could have indicated in 30 seconds or less. To make matters worse they drilled holes in the vehicle looking for drugs that do not exist and were extremely rude when I pointed out that they were not reassembling the vehicle correctly, to the point of threatening to throw me in jail because I did not want them to cause additional damage to my truck! No apologies were made nor was any attempt made to repair the damage caused by this pointless and unnecessary search. We did not depart the border till 3:30 in the afternoon because of this unnecessary harassment!
I will post a photo of the partly dismantled truck when I have the means to post photos.
Today I experienced the worst crossing I've ever had in 5 years of living in Central America going into Nicaragua.
I have crossed borders probably 50 times or more between Central American countries, primarily Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Until today the largest bribe I have ever been asked for is $1 in Mexico!
My friend from Honduras and I crossed from Penas Blancas in Costa Rica to Nicaragua at about 8:30 in the morning Friday October 9, 2009. The crossing went well until the police decided to dismantle the truck to look for drugs. Drugs that did not exist. Undoubtedly there were other vehicles crossing that likely were carrying drugs or other contraband during the five hours we spent watching 4-5 police agents dismantle my vehicle and reassemble it again all for nothing because there NEVER was anything to find, something that a dog could have indicated in 30 seconds or less. To make matters worse they drilled holes in the vehicle looking for drugs that do not exist and were extremely rude when I pointed out that they were not reassembling the vehicle correctly, to the point of threatening to throw me in jail because I did not want them to cause additional damage to my truck! No apologies were made nor was any attempt made to repair the damage caused by this pointless and unnecessary search. We did not depart the border till 3:30 in the afternoon because of this unnecessary harassment!
I will post a photo of the partly dismantled truck when I have the means to post photos.