RVing in Central America

[Rolling_Rolling]

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 of Mexico. Now that we have nearly completed our trip and covered 8 countries in Cental America, we would like to share our experience with you.

If amyone out there is thinking of Rving down here please feel free to ask us a question.

The main thing once you leave Mexico and head south is your vehicle , we stored our large 5th wheel and purchased a Lance truck camper soley for this trip as a small RV is needed down here.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Julea & Alan

[bighatnohorse]

qtla9111 wrote:
I thought cassette toilets, according to their websites, could just be dumped in a toilet. I know that one would have to use discretion when choosing a place, like maybe a rest stop, public toilet, pit toilet, etc. We have been thinking about putting in a cassette toilet.

They can.
I was hoping that the original poster would respond with their first hand experience that they offered.

But after the biggoted:

Not a chance in the world I'd take a risk and go to Central America.

comment, they probably won't bother.

[Tequila]

Where do you think refried beans come from?

[qtla9111]

I thought cassette toilets, according to their websites, could just be dumped in a toilet. I know that one would have to use discretion when choosing a place, like maybe a rest stop, public toilet, pit toilet, etc. We have been thinking about putting in a cassette toilet.

[MikeJinCO]

Our plan(What good is a plan if you can't change it?)is to take out the toilet and put in a casssette porta potti. Hopefully it will fit in our wet bath, if not new plan. The black tank will just change into a second grey tank for the shower. We should be able to dispose of a 4-6 gallon tank at fuel stops. etc. We had a cassette in our rental in New Zealand and it worked well there, of course every town has a set up for it.

I just checked into storage and apparently it is easy for long term in Costa Rica and possibly in Panama. A friend I used to work with lives and works in Panama City these days. I'll get her to look into it for us.

[tony_lee]

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.

---------

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.

[mlts22]

Correct me if wrong, but I've read about a modified pit toilet being used by some RV-ers. It is a modified pit toilet dug well away from any creeks/streams. Once dug, it is then used for black/grey water, with sawdust put on top to mitigate the odor. When ready to head out, the soil gets put back. Supposedly any nasties in the water will be quickly turned into compost by the local bacteria.

Never have done this, nor have any plans to, but it does make sense to me in a place where the nearest dump station is hundreds of miles away at minimum.

[crandle]

I think most RVers in Central/South America do what is called a "Bush Dump" well away from populated areas and not near a water supply. Do it when you do not have too much in the tank and the local bugs will thank you and dispose of it in short order. Common sense and courtesy are the keywords.

I have not been down there but I have talked to several people who have and that is what they do. I mean, monkeys******in the woods and it is not like there are hundreds of RVs travelling down there.

[bighatnohorse]

Rolling Rolling wrote:
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 of Mexico. Now that we have nearly completed our trip and covered 8 countries in Cental America, we would like to share our experience with you.

If amyone out there is thinking of Rving down here please feel free to ask us a question.

The main thing once you leave Mexico and head south is your vehicle , we stored our large 5th wheel and purchased a Lance truck camper soley for this trip as a small RV is needed down here.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Julea & Alan

Yes.
What are you using for black tank disposal?
I've heard that a black tank "cassette" disposal is the preferred process in central / south America.

I've also heard that the big tour coaches with built-in bathrooms have black tank disposal sites.
Have you used any of those disposal sites?

[MikeJinCO]

On shopping, when flying from Tampico to Cancun this year I think the most popular treat in Mexico City are Krispy Kreme doughnuts, boxes of them being carried onto the airplanes.

We just bought a second truck and camper and are starting to set it up. Truck is a '99 Ford F350 SRW and camper an older Bigfoot 25C9.6. Wanted a smaller rig than our huge dually and slide-out Bigfoot we winter in. Current plan ,always subject to change, is to spend 6 months getting to Panama, store it there and come home to the mountains of Colorado, then fly back down to continue south. This will turn into a 2 to 3 year project we hope.

Obviously the setup for this is quite different due to not many electrical hookups, few dump stations and 220v 50hz power in some countries. A whole new level of self contained for us.

[robatthelake]

The Only comment that I can make about RV travel in Foreign Countries is to approach each Day as an Adventure!
There is much to see and do and above all to learn about this Wonderful World and the People who inhabit it!
Living in isolation with a closed mind is just plain wrong.

Incidentally We have been in Mexico for almost Five Months this Winter and have met Only Happy Positive People so far! We don't speak the same language but for whatever reason We All get along fine!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Troll a big shiny, double jointed platinum lure through a school of Jack Crevalle, and not expect a "hookup"? Pobrecitos Canadianes Rainbirds learned this the hard and bitter way. I was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint on the steps to a big medical center in the USA. The multiple security cameras caught everything. The Richmond California Police ID'd the perps and arrested them. Did I get my wallet back? No! Did I get my money back? No! Did my dislocated shoulder and cracked rib get healed because the perps got caught? You must be dreaming.

Some of you must live in some kind of a weird dream world. I was assaulted because I WAS AN INVITING TARGET. Capiche? A senior citizen hobbling with a cane. Will I go back to the hospital? Don't be silly. Of course. What happened was a freak chance happening. It has nothing to do with the perps "getting caught". There are 10,000 more out there to take their place.

[briansue]

Only True Mosnowman wrote:
Cartels activities and lack of the ability to defend one's self I am a bit reluctant.

Cartels are drug smuggling gangs that fight among themselves - fight against the police - fight against the army - and seem to be losing quite a few of their troops over the years. They do not bother tourists nor are they interested in tourists. The only tourists we know of who have been killed were in someway involved with drugs. Is there crime in Mexico? Absolutely. Is there crime in the US? Without a doubt. How do you defend yourself in a movie theater in CO when someone walks in and shoots half the people in the place? Personally - we have never had any need to "defend" ourselves anywhere.

[Tequila]

I notice in your sig you list a bulletproof oil and egr cooler. Obviously for Mexico.

[bighatnohorse]

Only True Mosnowman wrote:
Help me out here...how safe is it to motor through Mexico these days? I have heard that part of the trip may be the most dangerous? Also no guns allowed correct? Sounds like a great adventure but with the Cartels activities and lack of the ability to defend one's self I am a bit reluctant. Tell me why I shouldn't be?

Very safe.
We returned to Phoenix last week after 64 days and several thousand miles of truck camping in Mexico.
My wife speaks fluent Spanish and I had her listen to the Mexican radio news every day.

Most of the news issues that "we" heard were about local, education and social issues.
No, zero, nada about kidnappings, murder or theft.

This may truly surprise you.
Mexicans tend to be very conservative in my opinion.

Example: We were Escuinapa, Sinaloa doing some shopping. It was very warm and we wanted a beer to quench our thirst.
None of the local hotels or restaurants served beer. We could buy beer in the local market or walk 22 blocks to the nearest bar.
This Mexican town was nothing like the Gringoized beach party towns.

While in El Fuerte, Sinaloa I noticed kids and children out after dusk. No fear and no violence.

Consider: Given the number of Costco's, Walmarts, Sam's Club, Office Depots, Radio Shacks, Auto Zones, McDonalds, Subways and other US retailers doing business in Mexico, how really dangerous to you think it can be?

Phoenix is a different story. We weren't back in Phoenix more than three days when news reported a woman hijacked and an officer gunned down.
And the violence stories continued to rack up every day.
This is crazy!
I felt much safer in Mexico than Phoenix.

I think that Americans have a really distorted perception of Mexico.
Those of us who know better think it might just be better that the false perception remains in place so that we can enjoy the delicious slice of life in Mexico.

[Tequila]

Only True Mosnowman wrote:
Help me out here...how safe is it to motor through Mexico these days? I have heard that part of the trip may be the most dangerous? Also no guns allowed correct? Sounds like a great adventure but with the Cartels activities and lack of the ability to defend one's self I am a bit reluctant. Tell me why I shouldn't be?

Well, craap happens, but it does in the US as well. I have had no issues. The problem is that if something does happen here, it is a lot harder to resolve. That is why I intend to invest some bucks on a GPS tracker an anti hijack device. If you are concerned maybe use a caravan the first time. Good way to learn the ropes and stay safe and see if its for you.