RVing in Central America
Hi There all your Rvers I wanted to put a post on here about going south with your RV. When we started to plan our trip to Central America I found little information on here with the exception o...
Forum Discussion
One thing to check is whether you can leave your vehicle behind while you fly back home for a few months because on first entry, you often get a three-month tourist visa and three month temporary import permit. Argentina give you 8 months (usually) TIP and 3 months tourist visa and Uruguay give 12 months TIP and there are no problems (usually) flying out and leaving the vehicle behind.
Brazil has given up the TIP system, but has shortish tourist visas and so far, there is no definite answer as to whether you can leave a vehicle and come back with a new tourist visa.
Other countries - Bolivia, Chile(?) don't allow you to leave your vehicle behind at all and we met people who were stuck there for several months waiting for parts and having to extend visas and TIPs to stay legal.
Two reports of people overstaying the TIP in Peru and being threatened with having their vehicle confiscated for being just a couple of days overdue and having to make difficult backroad escapes through unmanned borders.
Not really a problem (and US has similar rules) as long as you are aware and don't take too much notice of all the reports on the web saying you can do what you like. You can't. Conversely, you can't always rely on the official advice either. Know of two travellers who asked permission to leave their vehicle behind in Argentina - one to go home for a month, and the other to cross a border to view a tourist attraction. Both were refused while hundreds of others who don't ask have no problems.
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Black and grey water disposal. No reason to think the rules are different to what they are at home. Last vehicle had a portapottie so it wasn't a huge problem to dig a hole and bury the black water, or use a public toilet or campground toilet. We did strike a very few proper dump points, but so few that our current vehicle - Bigfoot with large black tank - will not be as convenient. Previous owners had a gallon jug cut so it fitted over the black tank outlet and where necessary just emptied the black tank a gallon at a time and did it every couple of days.
Got to remember that you will often be boondocking in reasonably close proximity to lots of other foreign travellers and they won't take too kindly to other travellers making a mess. Just dumping it on bare ground would never be a sensible option.
Brazil has given up the TIP system, but has shortish tourist visas and so far, there is no definite answer as to whether you can leave a vehicle and come back with a new tourist visa.
Other countries - Bolivia, Chile(?) don't allow you to leave your vehicle behind at all and we met people who were stuck there for several months waiting for parts and having to extend visas and TIPs to stay legal.
Two reports of people overstaying the TIP in Peru and being threatened with having their vehicle confiscated for being just a couple of days overdue and having to make difficult backroad escapes through unmanned borders.
Not really a problem (and US has similar rules) as long as you are aware and don't take too much notice of all the reports on the web saying you can do what you like. You can't. Conversely, you can't always rely on the official advice either. Know of two travellers who asked permission to leave their vehicle behind in Argentina - one to go home for a month, and the other to cross a border to view a tourist attraction. Both were refused while hundreds of others who don't ask have no problems.
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Black and grey water disposal. No reason to think the rules are different to what they are at home. Last vehicle had a portapottie so it wasn't a huge problem to dig a hole and bury the black water, or use a public toilet or campground toilet. We did strike a very few proper dump points, but so few that our current vehicle - Bigfoot with large black tank - will not be as convenient. Previous owners had a gallon jug cut so it fitted over the black tank outlet and where necessary just emptied the black tank a gallon at a time and did it every couple of days.
Got to remember that you will often be boondocking in reasonably close proximity to lots of other foreign travellers and they won't take too kindly to other travellers making a mess. Just dumping it on bare ground would never be a sensible option.
