Mmmm...coffee beans. I was in the canton of Perez Zeledon in the south west which is where the bulk of the coffee production is nowadays. The beans were just starting to harden and turn red towards the end of my stay, and I was able to come away with a few tall cups worth of coffee fresh off the plant. It may have taken me twice as long as the Ticos to fill a bucket, but my god coffee just doesn't get any better.Originally Posted by WU9G
Met a gringo when I was traveling up the coast who was from Florida. He had made that drive just a few months back and said that other than Honduras, it really wasn't too bad. Unfortunately it's pretty much the best way to get your car down there if you're wanting to relocate. It's a very expensive nightmare trying to import cars not purchased there, the duty alone can run you 30%-50% the sticker price of the car at purchase.
Thats what I was thinking would be the best option these days.
I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.
But that's not true instant photography. It's the whole radio/VoIP argument in another hobby.
I'm fascinated by this camera. It seems like a very compact option, and *looks* fairly durable, especially when folded up. Would you agree with that? Do you think it would be a good camera for traveling in Central America?
They are very rugged and pack away nicely.
The problem is that they are experiencing a mainstream resurgence and prices are absurd. Above that a lot of them have a common problem of a dry rotted plastic coupler in the back of the camera. They are fixable, but be prepared to pay about $125 for a working SX-70.
I recommend a guy that sells on ebay by the name of "FastCat99". He is the guy who repaired my SX-70 and recovered it with new baby blue leather. He is very reputable in the SX-70 world of repairs.
http://stores.ebay.com/polaroidcamerasfromfastcat99
Interesting.
In 1975, the hot spots were Nicaragua and El Salvador. The Sandinistas were just revving up their latest "final offensive" and the locals were nervous. They finally got rid of Somoza (a really bad guy) in 1979. We were there just before they took over. THAT was a border crossing to remember.
El Salvador was just starting to boil over. That's one crowded place, there's people everywhere. It was pretty unnerving to see kids (17-18) dressed up in army unis holding uzis by the trigger on street corners. The place was still tense after the so-called football war which was really about Salvadoran immigrants flowing into Honduras. In addition, the oligarchs knew their time was limited but that didn't stop them from trying to control everything.
Guatemala was pretty stable at the time, their problems didn't erupt until later and we were there for that too. I still remember the look of horror on the face of the drawbridge keeper at Lago Izabol when we told him we'd been bouncing around the Peten for a few days and tried to drive to Tikal, site of the Mayan ruins. "There's COMMUNISTS out there!" We didn't see a single commie. Did a pretty good number on the VW bug though with the terrible roads.
Anyway, the reason I wouldn't drive there now is Northern Mexico. It's simply not safe. The old unspoken dictum that you didn't fuck with the gringos is out the window now. Any hint of a car problem up there, and you WILL get rolled.
I'm surprised the person you met had an issue in Honduras. If he didn't go to Tegucigalpa, It's just a few hours across Honduras on the Pan American highway. Now if you try to cross borders outside their "hours", it can be a big hassle and expensive. Teguci was quiet then without much in the way of gringo influence. That all changed during the contra silliness of the 80's.
We had multiple people try to buy our car down there for the reasons you cited. The problem is they used to put the car papers on your passport, so they'd bust you at the airport if you tried to leave the country without the car.
My Dad's 85th birthday is tomorrow and he is still in good health. We are trying to arrange a trip to Guate in January of next year one last time, this time by plane. Sarah's never been and wants to go. I hope we can make that a reality.
Did you look under the bed?
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
We thought there were commies in Managua. Turns out it was just big parrots dropping mangos on the corrugated aluminum roof of the pension where we were staying.
You ever notice that where ever Janet goes, civil unrest, military coups, or some other kind of instability follows? Just sayin.....................
A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory
RIP ALBI-W3MIV RIP RUSS-W5RB RIP BOB-VK3ZL
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