looking for caravan partners to Costa Rica from AZ.

We were at the Inglewood RV Park (Mile 68 ¼ Western Highway San Ignacio, Cayo District,Belize, Central America) in 2013 and there were folks headed south to Chile and up from Panama. It is only 15 minutes to the Guatemalan border and is an excellent spot. We met numerous over-landers at the camp site we enjoy north of Tulum and they all were going there or coming from there. We have a 34' 5th wheel and would probably never go beyond Tikal. A number of folks at Yucatan campsite caravanned up to include two French families that had never met before. Both were on the way to Chile.
Reed and Elaine

Hi Al we are crossing in Nogales a couple of weeks into October. We have found someone to caravan with though. We have driven all over Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica. We took a bunch of power tools down to Mexico to use and to sell but did not claim they were to sell. We had no problems. i have heard that if you are moving furniture down there and the ligth at the Border turns red then you will have to pay import duties, but I'm not sure about that. We plan to make it to Costa Rica in about a month, driving for 3-4 hours per day is all. If we were driving a car or truck then we probably do it in half that time and still feel relaxed.

Hasta luego,

Ryan

Hey rydrop
Have you done that trip before?
Thats when i want to go
I came back from costa rica a month ago, i did a craigslist rideshare down to belize from sacramento , hitched a couple boat rides and sum buses and ended up in costa rica.
Only trouble i had was mexican cops tryin to shake me down....but i never gave them anything just smiled and said ......no intiendo
I would really like to drive my dodge powerwagon 4x4 van down there.
I welded a vw van to my dodge ram......looks like a suburban
I would like to bring tools, any idea at borders on how that works? Welding equiptment and construction tools......all used tools not new.
cant figure out how to post pics but theres pics of it on expedition portal
Forum-General modifications " dodge ram/ vw van"
What kind of schedule are you on?
Hasta luego
Al

Hello JornVango, Mexicowanderer, robatthelake, coloradotallman. Thank you very much for the advice! I was not getting notified of these posts so only saw them a couple of days ago. JornV sent me an Excel campground spread sheet which we will bring along-thank you! Tallman thank you Mike Church from Rollinghomes.com posted out caravan request and we have received one response so far.
Wow there is so much information out there and so many people available to drive a day or two together.
Thank you for the great suggestions along with the 'clarify schedules and protocols'
I will post again as we firm up plans.

Warmly,
Rydrop!

You'll find even more RV'ers headed south at

Rancho San Nicholas RV park headed toward Guatemala.

Tip - make a sign and stick it under a wiper: Guatemala Bound

OK, enough of the non-advice already - other than Jon V. Here's a good blog with lots of campsite co-ordinates: SongOfTheRoad.Com - sorry no clicky. And, look up ExpeditionPortal.Com and check under the "Forums" section for "Adventures In Progress". Lots more travelers doing your thing under that site than on this site. Also, check with the Mike & Terry Church guide "Camping In Mexico", - if you wait at the border or on the first few stops into the Baja you may run into a number of Overlanders heading to the same destination. Lastly, if you spend a few nights at the OverlanderOasis.com just south of Oaxaca, you are sure to run into people heading south. Personal Message me (PM) if you need. Tallman.

Most commonly heard caravanning argument / comment...

"But You Said!"

Printed is the only way to go. I hate to rain on your parade but the alternative is a hell of a lot more traumatic (and possibly costly and inconvenient).

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
School of hard knocks caravan tip. Establish a set of "rules". Written. Things that must be adhered to. Attractions. Time limits. If someone loses a transmission what is the other member(s) going to do? No it isn't pleasant hashing this out but it is necessary.

Yes and Always make Everyone in the Group be aware that it is their responsibility to have enough of the required Currency for each Leg of the Trip!

The US Dollar is Not as Universal as some may think!

School of hard knocks caravan tip. Establish a set of "rules". Written. Things that must be adhered to. Attractions. Time limits. If someone loses a transmission what is the other member(s) going to do? No it isn't pleasant hashing this out but it is necessary.

If you'd been a few months earlier, we could have joined you ... That doesn't help you now of course.

That being said: we just returned from a 5 month road trip through all the countries in Central America. If you're looking to join up with someone because of safety, we didn't feel that was necessary. You'll meet many other 'overlanders' along the way and you can join up for stretches of the trip. We also met several families traveling with their (young) children.

We didn't feel threatened or unsafe at any portion of the trip. Yes, we avoided some areas like Michoacán and for example the area between San Cristobal and Palenque; but we met several overlanders who did visit these regions while we were traveling, so it's up to you to determine what risk you're willing to take (based on other's advice; and what the US state dept. website and some guide books recommend).

Always drive during the day; preferably early morning; and reach your camping spot by early afternoon.

Send me a message if you want an Excel file with a bunch of camping options throughout Central America, or download the new "iOverlander" app which will be released to the Appstore and Google Play shortly as far as I know (we met the developer in Central America, as he and his wife are on his way currently to Argentina)

Jorn

P.S. our trip report is at www.vango.be (in English)