cavebiker
Active Member
I walk in the building behind someone. A guard at the entrance ‘wands’ the guy in front of me. I’m next. I just pull out my big switchblade and hand it to the guard. The guard says something ending with “amable” (kind) and puts the knife in his shirt pocket.
I talk with a receptionist and tell her what I want to do. She tells me I need to get a copy of my passport, motorcycle title and motorcycle customs papers, all in Spanish. I get it. She points me across the street. Across the street is a CocaCola factory, a Nissan dealership and a gas station. I ask a guy at the gas station, he points me across the street to some electronics parts store. The parts store points me back across the street. (What?) I walk across the street again and down a residential alley. Lo and behold I see a house with a hand written sign (Photocopies) Unreal!
I knock on the door and a super nice couple makes me 2 copies of my 3 documents, bada bing, bada bang….
The copy building:
Back at the aduana office I pull a number from the reel. When it’s my time to go up to the counter I tell the clerk what I want to do. I get a solid assurance I can do it. I hand her my copies and pay the one dollar per day for the amount of days I want the extension, just like salcar said. She is ready to finalize everything. Now she has a puzzled look on her face and rattles out something I didn’t understand. The clerk stands up and goes to talk with some other people. About 10 minutes later she comes back and points to my customs papers. !!!!! The people at the border typed in 2007 for the date of my crossing into Nicaragua. It should be 2008!
Ok, the aduana office needs to contact the border crossing post that screwed up my papers and get a confirmation that they messed it up before I can get my extension. A manager tells me I have to come back tomorrow and that she will call me at the hotel when it’s all ready. The clerk refunds me the $30 dollars I paid. I go marching off happy knowing I will get this done eventually.
I walk through Managua for over 2 hours until I’m sure I’m on the highway leading to Masaya. There I flag down a taxi to take me about 4 or 6 kilometers up the road to where I know a bus will be running back to my hotel. There I tell the driver to stop at a bus stop. I pay him $2.50 and wait for a bus yelling “Masaya, Masaya, Masaya”
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A little info:
The bus ride from the hotel to Managua, about 25 miles costs 75 cents. A bus ride in town costs 13 cents. Taxis in Latin America are cheap but there are no meters. Asking the price ahead of time pretty much assures that you will pay double. The way I do it is ‘guesstimate’ what the price will be while having the exact cash in hand when the taxi stops. While opening the door to let myself out I hand the cash to the driver while thanking him, never looking at him. This has always worked for me and the cost of the taxis are about the same as a good tip alone in the US. Did I say I like taking public transportation in Latin America…….
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I’m back at the hotel. I knew it was too good to be true that I would receive a phone call from the aduana office telling me everything is ready. I just plan to return to Managua the next day and wing it. At the hotel another couple arrived by van from the state of Washington. They also want to stay a month here. I tell them of my situation. They soon realize they are in the same boat as us. They need to get an extension on their customs papers for their van. I offer to guide them through the process in Managua to get an extension.
The next morning I walk out to the highway with Peter, the guy from Washington. We hop on the first bus yelling “Managua, Managua, Managua” I know just what to do. We get to the customs office in record time. Next we walk over to the copy building to get copies of Peter’s documents. Peter forgot his van title. Oh well……
I walk into the customs building and hand over my switchblade to the guard. He gives me a big smile and puts the knife in his shirt pocket again. I go over to the manager’s office who has been helping me. She says she is just waiting for an email from the border post where I crossed into Nicaragua for a confirmation of their mistake. Peter and I talk for about 2 hours before I get the word that the email is in and everything is good. I wait for another 15 minutes for the manager to have my new customs papers typed up. She then tells me everything is set and that I just have to wait for the Director General of Customs to sign it. He gets in at 3:00 PM, only 3 and a half hours from now. Peter and I go off marching through Managua in search of some food and an internet café. I want to let Heidi know what’s up and that depending how long this takes I may end up staying the night here.
An hour later we find internet. Another half hour we find a string of restaurants along the shores of Lake Managua. After peeking in a half dozen restaurants, Peter and I finally find one where the music is playing at a tolerable volume. We have a nice lunch looking out at the lake. Peter is an interesting guy. He and his wife retired ten years ago and bought a large motor cruiser to sail between Alaska and Mexico. They went cruising every year for ten years. Now, after selling the boat they are on their first overland trip of Central America.
A little after 3:00 we are back at the customs office. Ten minutes later the girl hands me with a big smile the new corrected customs papers. I tell her I now need to get a 30 day extension. She goes off to talk with someone about this. Later she comes back telling me that I can’t get the extension until 1 or 2 days before my papers expire. I thank her a thousand times (Mil gracias) Peter and I go off in search of a bar…..
Life Is Good……………..
I hope you enjoyed my little story……..
I talk with a receptionist and tell her what I want to do. She tells me I need to get a copy of my passport, motorcycle title and motorcycle customs papers, all in Spanish. I get it. She points me across the street. Across the street is a CocaCola factory, a Nissan dealership and a gas station. I ask a guy at the gas station, he points me across the street to some electronics parts store. The parts store points me back across the street. (What?) I walk across the street again and down a residential alley. Lo and behold I see a house with a hand written sign (Photocopies) Unreal!
I knock on the door and a super nice couple makes me 2 copies of my 3 documents, bada bing, bada bang….
The copy building:
Back at the aduana office I pull a number from the reel. When it’s my time to go up to the counter I tell the clerk what I want to do. I get a solid assurance I can do it. I hand her my copies and pay the one dollar per day for the amount of days I want the extension, just like salcar said. She is ready to finalize everything. Now she has a puzzled look on her face and rattles out something I didn’t understand. The clerk stands up and goes to talk with some other people. About 10 minutes later she comes back and points to my customs papers. !!!!! The people at the border typed in 2007 for the date of my crossing into Nicaragua. It should be 2008!
Ok, the aduana office needs to contact the border crossing post that screwed up my papers and get a confirmation that they messed it up before I can get my extension. A manager tells me I have to come back tomorrow and that she will call me at the hotel when it’s all ready. The clerk refunds me the $30 dollars I paid. I go marching off happy knowing I will get this done eventually.
I walk through Managua for over 2 hours until I’m sure I’m on the highway leading to Masaya. There I flag down a taxi to take me about 4 or 6 kilometers up the road to where I know a bus will be running back to my hotel. There I tell the driver to stop at a bus stop. I pay him $2.50 and wait for a bus yelling “Masaya, Masaya, Masaya”
-----------------------------------------------
A little info:
The bus ride from the hotel to Managua, about 25 miles costs 75 cents. A bus ride in town costs 13 cents. Taxis in Latin America are cheap but there are no meters. Asking the price ahead of time pretty much assures that you will pay double. The way I do it is ‘guesstimate’ what the price will be while having the exact cash in hand when the taxi stops. While opening the door to let myself out I hand the cash to the driver while thanking him, never looking at him. This has always worked for me and the cost of the taxis are about the same as a good tip alone in the US. Did I say I like taking public transportation in Latin America…….
-----------------------------------------------
I’m back at the hotel. I knew it was too good to be true that I would receive a phone call from the aduana office telling me everything is ready. I just plan to return to Managua the next day and wing it. At the hotel another couple arrived by van from the state of Washington. They also want to stay a month here. I tell them of my situation. They soon realize they are in the same boat as us. They need to get an extension on their customs papers for their van. I offer to guide them through the process in Managua to get an extension.
The next morning I walk out to the highway with Peter, the guy from Washington. We hop on the first bus yelling “Managua, Managua, Managua” I know just what to do. We get to the customs office in record time. Next we walk over to the copy building to get copies of Peter’s documents. Peter forgot his van title. Oh well……
I walk into the customs building and hand over my switchblade to the guard. He gives me a big smile and puts the knife in his shirt pocket again. I go over to the manager’s office who has been helping me. She says she is just waiting for an email from the border post where I crossed into Nicaragua for a confirmation of their mistake. Peter and I talk for about 2 hours before I get the word that the email is in and everything is good. I wait for another 15 minutes for the manager to have my new customs papers typed up. She then tells me everything is set and that I just have to wait for the Director General of Customs to sign it. He gets in at 3:00 PM, only 3 and a half hours from now. Peter and I go off marching through Managua in search of some food and an internet café. I want to let Heidi know what’s up and that depending how long this takes I may end up staying the night here.
An hour later we find internet. Another half hour we find a string of restaurants along the shores of Lake Managua. After peeking in a half dozen restaurants, Peter and I finally find one where the music is playing at a tolerable volume. We have a nice lunch looking out at the lake. Peter is an interesting guy. He and his wife retired ten years ago and bought a large motor cruiser to sail between Alaska and Mexico. They went cruising every year for ten years. Now, after selling the boat they are on their first overland trip of Central America.
A little after 3:00 we are back at the customs office. Ten minutes later the girl hands me with a big smile the new corrected customs papers. I tell her I now need to get a 30 day extension. She goes off to talk with someone about this. Later she comes back telling me that I can’t get the extension until 1 or 2 days before my papers expire. I thank her a thousand times (Mil gracias) Peter and I go off in search of a bar…..
Life Is Good……………..
I hope you enjoyed my little story……..
