customs Archives - Iron Roamer

Crossing the Border into Bogota Colombia Via Avianca Air Cargo

This was an unusual border crossing into Colombia as my motorcycle was entering via Avianca Air Cargo. I know I said in my last post that I was using Girag Air Cargo, and I did, but they in turn contract Avianca Air Cargo to fly my motorcycle to Bogota Colombia. It had me thinking though, why couldn’t I just use Avianca? I’m not sure. I haven’t read anyone using Avianca before, just Girag. Anyways, what is done is done.

My Entry into Colombia

My entry into Colombia was pretty basic. I flew from Panama City to Bogota Colombia via Avianca Air, passed through Immigration and I was in.

From there I took a “taxi” to the Hotel Golden near the airport so I could walk to get my motorcycle out of Avianca Air Cargo.

Now I put taxi in quotation marks because I made a rookie mistake. I thought I had made arrangements for the hotel to pick me up. When I got off of the plane they weren’t there. I ended up standing in the airport thinking about what I should do next. All I had was US money and I had passed the exchange booth on the other side of Customs and couldn’t see another one around me. As I was standing there a man approached me and said, “taxi.” Without thinking I said “yes.” I have never done that before as I know what that means. But before I got my thoughts together I was being escorted into a parking lot and an unmarked car. Oh well. I figured I would just go with it. The driver took me to my hotel and I ended up paying him $20 US. I am guessing way more than I should have. It was late now and I just wanted to go to bed.

Avianca Air Cargo

The next day I walked from the Hotel Golden to where Avianca Air Cargo was. Except there was a fence around it and the entry point was guarded. The guard told me to go into the building and register. I have marked this number 1 on the map.

At the counter they wanted my passport and checked me in. I then went back to the gate at #2 and the guard carded me through.

From there I walked to Avianca Air Cargo. The first entrance I went to was the wrong one for me and a staff member directed me around the corner up to the third floor of the building that I marked as #3.

No one was at the desk in the lobby but I noticed that the door into the offices was not locking properly, so I walked in ha ha.

Language became a problem as no one spoke English. We had to rely on my Spanish! Eventually we got it sorted out and they found someone that spoke English. He gave me a bunch of papers and said to go to Customs at #4 on the third floor and they would sign the documents. When I was done, come back and get my motorcycle.

Customs

Off I walked to Customs.

The same guard had to card me through to the elevators to get to the third floor.

When I got up there, this is what I saw.

Not knowing where to go I asked the security guard. He pointed me to one desk. When I got there he directed me to the desk you can see in the middle of the picture with the white haired man and woman sitting at it.

The woman at the desk asked for my papers and then told me to leave ha ha. I just walked to where the picture was taken and just stood there looking at her ha ha.

Eventually, she waved me over and went through my documents. The officer didn’t speak English but luckily the woman you see in the picture jumped in and interpreted for me. What the officer wanted was a scraping of my VIN number off of my motorcycle. Ahhhhh …. my Spanish just doesn’t extend to things like that ha ha.

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Soooooo back downstairs I went. The guard had to card me out of the building and back into the fenced compound where I went up to the 3rd floor of Avianca barged my way through the door that was suppose to be locked and went over to the woman who had been helping me. She got the English speaking guy and I explained what Customs wanted. He explained it to who appeared to be a warehouse supervisor. He was not happy.

Down we went to the warehouse where I had to check in, leave all my belongings at the desk, be searched, and wear these metal covers over my runners. Soon a tractor wheeled in my motorcycle all wrapped up in plastic and netting.

The workers uncovered part of it, took a felt pen to my VIN and then put a piece of tape over it and scratched an impression of the VIN onto the tape and put the tape onto a piece of paper.

Back to Customs

With my VIN impression in hand I was back to the gate where the guard carded me out and carded me to the the elevators and back to the third floor where I went back to the officer. She looked at the impression and then passed me onto a woman you can see at the far end of the photo along the same row of desks.

She took forever to fill in paperwork both manually and in the computer.

Meanwhile, who walked in but Carlos who I met at Girag. It was like an old homecoming ha ha. His English is poor but still better than my Spanish. We just talked while the officer was filling out the paperwork. Once in awhile he had to interpret for me.

Eventually my paperwork was done.

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Back to Avianca Air Cargo and the same routine with the Guard and the woman on the 3rd floor. The English speaker was there and he said to go downstairs and wait for my motorcycle. Down I went.

Eventually it was my turn to pick up.

Finally. Four hours later.

Hotel Golden

With my motorcycle and I finally into Colombia and reunited, I went back to the Hotel Golden. Now this hotel isn’t the nicest, but it is within walking distance to Avianca Air Cargo. And it is inexpensive. The area isn’t that great either. But is seemed safe. It reminded me a bit of an old run down English village. I had booked 2 days there just in case it took that long to get my motorcycle out. So I had a day to kill before heading into downtown Bogota to explore.

My Location for October 18 and 19, 2017

Crossing the Border at Penas Blancas into Costa Rica

Little did I know as I packed up to leave San Juan del Sur that crossing the border at Penas Blancas into Costa Rica was the most frustrating border crossing to date.

It turned out my studying was of minimal help and even Google Maps was, and is, out of date.

Leaving Nicaragua

I arrived at the Nicaraguan side of the Penas Blancas border crossing and was confused right away. The building I was looking for wasn’t there. Well … it was … but I guess they must have redone it because it looked nothing like the picture I had studied. Now it had all glass walls on the outside. To make matters worse, there were no signs on where to go.

So, of course, I ended up going into immigration to enter Nicaragua! And I had to pay $1 US to do it ha ha. I was soon directed to the back of the building labeled #2 in the picture below. There is a door for immigration and one for customs that are not signed. Of course I did things backwards and went to customs first.

Once at the back, the customs officer wanted a form. What form???!!! I was told to go outside and look for a police officer to get the form. The police officer could be anywhere outside!

I walked around aimlessly looking for a police officer. Finally I found one at a shack at the far end. It is labelled #1 on my picture below. However, don’t count on a police officer being there again.

He gave me a form to fill out. I was being badgered by fixers outside, and it was hot, so I went back inside the air conditioned customs/immigration building to fill out the form.

Now you would think a completed form was enough. But oh no … I had to go back outside and find the police officer again to have him sign it. Then I also had to find a customs officer outside to sign it as well. Once again, they could be anywhere outside.

I headed back to where I saw the police officer last. He wasn’t there. I walked around the parking lot and across the street looking for a police officer.

Following me was a fixer who wasn’t saying much. No badgering like most of them. He told me to follow him and he located a police officer in the parking lot.

This police officer was not the friendliest and didn’t speak English. He asked me a couple things in Spanish which I didn’t understand. The fixer translated for me and the officer signed my form. I now had to find an immigration officer. At this point I was hot and frustrated and agreed to hire the quiet fixer.

The fixer, with me in tow, looked around for a customs officer. We finally saw one getting off of a bus parked in the lot. He walked with us to my bike where he looked at my VIN and looked in one of my paniers before signing the form. Back to Customs I went.

Finally, after providing them with copies of my documents, Customs approved the form and stamped my motorcycle permit to exit Nicaragua.

Since I ended up doing things backwards, I now needed to go through immigration in the same building at the back.

I handed the immigration officer all my documents and she wanted $2 US and didn’t have change! Back out I went again looking for a money changer. They are everywhere so that wasn’t difficult.

The fixer wanted $10 US for his trouble. Pretty pricey, but at this point I didn’t care. I just wanted out of there. Off I went to tackle the Costa Rica side of the border.

Entering Costa Rica

As I approached the Costa Rican side of the border I was sure hoping things would go smoother.

The first thing I needed to do was go through fumigation at the fork in the road labelled #3 in the picture below. However, when I turned down the road I was told by the “fumigator” to turn around and go down the other road. When I did that, an immigration officer said to go back to fumigation! Here we go again. With hand expressions I told the immigration officer that fumigation had sent me this way. Finally he smiled and waved me through. Phew. Onto the next hurdle.

The immigration building was as I had studied. Finally!

I waited in line inside the building labeled #4 in the picture below, only to be told when I reached the immigration officer that I needed to fill out a form. At least she gave me the form and didn’t send me outside searching for a police officer.

With the form filled out, immigration stamped my passport and it was on to the first customs.

Yes I said the “first” customs. It was right across the street.

I have labelled it #5 in the picture below.

Here I handed in copies of all my documents along with the originals. THe customs officer gave me 2 forms to fill out and said I also needed a copy of the passport page where immigration stamped it. Next door a woman said she would copy it for me.

After filling out the forms the customs officer gave me a document and I was onto the second customs building labelled #6 below.

Once again my studying DID NOT pay off. I went to the building where others before me had went but it was now vacant! I had no idea where to go. I did see a new building down a path towards the main road and walked down there. At the first entrance I was told to go to the next entrance.

I knew motorcycle insurance was required in Costa Rica and the booth for that was on the right as I entered the building. $30 US later I had insurance. The main booth in the building was the second customs office. I have no idea why there are two customs. Perhaps I could have done everything at this office. I don’t know. Anyways, I handed the customs officer my passport, insurance, registration, the first customs document and everything else I could think of. After a lot of data entry onto his computer he handed me a temporary import permit for my motorcycle. I was finally done and riding to the beach at Tamarindo!!!!

My Route for August 8, 2017

Crossing the Border From El Salvador into Honduras at El Amatillo

It was time to cross the border from El Salvador into Honduras at El Amatillo. I had actually been wrestling with the decision. Many riders cross here and some even do the border into Nicaragua on the same day. The Argentinian rider I met at the Gautemala/El Salvador border recommended this too. I knew I didn’t want to do two borders on the same day. Quite the opposite.

I was wrestling with how much time to spend in Honduras. I really wanted to see a bit of the country. Roatan was high on my list but way up north. I even had an invitation to stay at a place in Honduras.

On the other hand, I only had 30 days left on my C4 permit. On the C4 permit you have 90 days to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. That wasn’t much time and I had a lot I wanted to see in Nicaragua. I could try to get an extension in country but I heard that that was a real pain to do. Or I could go into Costa Rica and then come back into Nicaragua for another C4 permit. But I wanted to go home for a couple weeks while it was still summer. Ahhhhhhhhhh …. what to do.

I decided to skip Honduras, except for a night at Choluteca. It was a hard decision in many respects. Perhaps one day I will see Roatan on a cruise.

San Miguel

The first step to crossing the border was getting close to it. I had a really relaxing ride to San Miguel, El Salvador.

Once there it was time to study the border I would be crossing around the pool with a beer :-).

I like to study so I know what to expect and can visualize the buildings and steps. Just takes the anxiety out of the crossing. I heard that this and the next border were the toughest I would experience. So I really wanted to be ready for them.

#1 Cancel El Salvador Entry Permit

After a night of study I was ready. As I got closer to the border I saw a gas station and pulled in. A man came running up to me. He introduced himself as Orlando. I thought maybe he was just a friendly local. I didn’t realize I was close to the border. He said he helped lots of Canadians cross the border. It was then I realized he had an ulterior motive. Soon another couple guys showed up. For a donation they would help me cross the border. I said no thanks and left.

It wasn’t that easy though as they followed me on a motorcycle.

Here is the overview of the border and the places I needed to stop.

#1 was a booth where they cancelled my motorcycle entry permit into El Salvador. The following border pictures I have taken from other blogs that I studied.

As soon as I stopped I was surrounded by fixers saying I needed their services as it was the hardest border to cross and I couldn’t do it on my own. Orlando was there too. He chimed in once in awhile to say that if I hired him everyone would disappear. I told everyone no and to leave me alone. They didn’t.

The Customs Officer approached me and said no I didn’t need any help. Luckily I was prepared for this onslaught and knew I didn’t need their help.

The Customs Officer checked my bike and directed me to the booth where another Officer cancelled my entry permit. I knew I needed copies and a photocopy store was right next door to the booth. I got 5 copies. Orlando was following me all the way and said I only needed 3. I knew that but like to have more just in case.

As I arrived back at my motorcycle my “groupies” were waiting for me. This time they wanted money for guarding my bike. I said no. The thought crossed my mind that maybe they did something to my bike. But it started fine and I rode off.

#2 and #3 Immigration

It is 2 and 3 because I made a mistake on the map 🙁 There is actually only one thing to do.

At the fork in the road keep left and you reach the El Salvador immigration office.

The window I had to go to was at the far end. So I rode under the canopy and parked right at the end.

I lined up, handed in my passport, the woman stamped it and that was it!

#4 El Salvador Permit Check

I left the El Salvador Immigration office and started to cross the bridge when another officer stopped me. He wanted to look at my cancelled motorcycle entry permit. I showed it to him and he waved me on.

#5 Honduras Immigration

Across the bridge was the Honduran Immigration and Customs building.

Upon entry to the building on the right is immigration. The officer took my passport, as well as my photo and fingerprints.

I then paid $3 US for a tourist permit.

That was it for that window. Now for the hard part.

#6 Honduran Customs

Across the hall is the Honduran Customs window. This is where it got frustrating. Patience is needed. I lined up and waited and waited.

While waiting I met a nice Mennonite family from Costa Rica.

I also met a family from Illinois. He was a retired US Armed Forces member. They were in a Nissan Pathfinder. He said he had been waiting 40 years to do this trip down to Argentina. We had a nice talk.

Now …. as the system works I would see these people several times during my processing.

The Customs woman was quite nice but didn’t speak any English. This presented a bit of a problem as my Spanish was ok for everyday conversations but not for this.

I handed her my passport, drivers license, registration, and cancelled El Salvador entry permit, along with a copy of each. I waited and waited as she filled out forms.

In the meantime, the Mennonite family was sent off to make photocopies and returned. She looked after them and sent them off to the bank. The Illinois family returned from being sent to the bank. She looked after them and they got their entry permit. Meanwhile, the Mennonite family returned again and were sent to the photocopy place. She continued with me until they returned with photocopies. They then got their import permit. This is what I had to look forward to.

Eventually, she got my paperwork done and directed me to get copies. The copy place is just beside the building at #7 on the map.

Back I came with my copies.

When I arrived back she informed me that my next step was to go to the bank down the street but it was now closed for lunch! Now what? Turned out this was great. She could do everything there. Why they can’t so that normally beats me.

I needed to give her $40 US and she didn’t have change. Of course I didn’t have exactly $40. Fortunately, there were lots of money changers around. She came out of her booth and found one that would change a $100 US bill at no cost.

She took the $40 and filled out a lot more paperwork.

After awhile she handed me back a bunch of paperwork including my motorcycle import permit. That is what I had been waiting for. I asked her if that was all and she said yes. As I took the paperwork, she started saying something to me that I didn’t understand. I apologized and she tried again but I still didn’t understand. Eventually she got frustrated and motioned for me to leave. I was hoping what she had to say wasn’t important.

#8 Checkpoint

A ways up the road is a Immigration checkpoint. The officer wanted a copy of my import permit. I never made a copy of it. Maybe that is what the woman was trying to tell me. But I had asked her about copies and she said no. Of course my Spanish isn’t that good.

After a few minutes I discovered that the Customs woman had made a copy of the import permit and had stapled it to another document. YAY! The officer at the checkpoint took it from me and I was off to Choluteca Honduras for the night.

My Route for July 16, 2017

My Route for July 17, 2017

Crossing the Border at Las Chinamas from Guatemala to El Salvador

I was feeling a bit better now, still a sore throat, but after 2 weeks in Antigua it was time to cross the border at Las Chinamas into El Salvador.

As I was getting ready to leave, I could feel some anxiety. After 2 weeks I had gotten comfortable in Antigua. My daughter said that for most it takes 2 years to get comfortable in a place. But I guess when you have been traveling for a year, hopping from place to place, 2 weeks is a long time. However, as I started to ride, the anxiety disappeared.

It was a long ride to the border at Las Chinamas from Antigua. I had thought about staying a bit closer but didn’t find anyplace I liked.

Las Chinamas Border Crossing

I spent the night before I left studying the border as I normally do. This relieves any anxiety I may have and helps me recognize where I need to go.

There were 7 steps to cross the border. The first 2 were on the Guatemalan side of hte border.

Guatemala Las Chinamas Border

I rode up to the border and went under the canopy to the middle of the building. I was immediately approached by money changers who I just ignored for the time being. At the middle of the building there are glass doors. Right inside to the right is immigration. They stamped my passport and gave me a small piece of paper that I tucked away so I didn’t lose it.

The 2nd step was to go to Customs to check my motorcycle out. I continued through the glass doors to the other side of the building. The Customs office is to the right at the end of the building. There the customs woman took my passport, drivers license, motorcycle registration and my motorcycle entry permit. After a few minutes she walked with me to my motorcycle, removed the sticker from mGy windshield, and headed back to her office. A few minutes later she handed me the cancelled entry permit and I was done!

All along a money changer had been lurking around me. When I got back to my motorcycle I pulled out the few Guatemalan money I had left and he gave me $10 US in exchange. The currency for El Salvador is US dollars.

El Salvador Las Chinamas Border

The el Salvador side of the border wasn’t quite as easy.

I crossed the bridge and on the other side was flagged down at a small building on the right.

Here I would do steps 3 and 6.

After waiting for a bit a man came out and handed me a form to fill out. It was all in Spanish. I figured out most of the stuff but left a lot blank. I then handed the form back to him with my Passport, Drivers License, and motorcycle registration with a copy of each.

After a long time, he came back with everything and checked my VIN. He had completed a new form with all the information I had given him. He kept asking “electronico” but I had no idea what he meant by it. Eventually he just stopped asking ha ha.

Another man came out and I followed him across the street to complete step 4. I didn’t have to do much for that. He sat at his computer and was entering data from my documentation. He asked if I had a copy of my cancelled Guatemalan entry form to which I said no. He made a copy for me. Like the guy before he asked “electronico.” I had no idea what he was asking for. Finally a gentleman showed up and said “e-mail.” AHHHHHHH ok … now I get it. I printed my email on a form, signed a couple of things and I was done with Customs.

Step 5 was Immigration which was pretty easy. It was just down from the Customs office.

Another Motorcyclist

As I was heading back to my motorcycle at the small building by the bridge, A young guy with a big smile came up to me and put out his hand. I was a bit taken aback until he spoke in English and said he was riding too. Turned out he was from Argentina and riding a Chinese bike to Mexico from Argentina.

We exchanged some info about my upcoming borders and road conditions. He suggeted I do the 2 borders in Honduras on the same day as they were a pain. He said it would make a long day but worth it.

It was pretty cool meeting another biker. I haven’t met as many as I thought I would. When I got back to my bike, sure enough, there was his.

Last Steps

I was almost done crossing the border. I handed the guy at the small building my stamped passport and the form completed at the Customs building. He checked it and said that was it!

I got on my bike and about 25 metres up the road I was stopped. It was hardly worth putting my helmet on. The immigration officer there looked at my passport and took that small piece of paper I received from the Guatemalan Immigration. NOW I was free to go!

Ahuachapan

I planned on stopping at Ahuachapan for the night where I had booked La Casa de Mamapan hotel. It wasn’t too far from the border.

When I booked it I said I needed secure parking for my motorcycle. The secure parking was the lobby of the hotel!

The problem was getting my motorcycle in there. There were several steps to get through the door.

The people at the hotel made a ramp, but part of the ramp was just a piece of wood the would give way every time I gave some gas to get over it.

Finally, a group a boys who were watching all this, came up and lifted the rear of my motorcycle over the piece of wood and onto the ramp made of a long piece of wood. A little gas and I was through the door and into the lobby.

For the rest of the evening people were coming by and looking at this huge motorcycle in the lobby of the hotel ha ha.

There wasn’t much to see in Achuachapan. I found a Bank of Nova Scotia to get money. And ran across a cool crepe place where I ordered a couple of strawberry smoothies. Then called it a day.

My Route for July 10, 2017

Crossing the Mexico Belize Border at Chetamul

Crossing the Mexico Belize border at Chetamul would be my first real border crossing. The others did not involve checking myself and motorcycle out of one country and then checking us into another. I had done the research and today would be the real deal. Here is what happened.

Mexico Border

As I approached the Mexico border there were trucks and cars in line. There were no signs, but having done my research, I knew that the place I wanted was at the far end of the border complex. I labelled it #1 on the photo.

So I went around the cars and trucks and headed further down. I saw the building I wanted and pulled up to the window. The customs officer took my passport and asked for 500 pesos as an exit fee. I was a bit suspicious and asked if I could pay at the bank. I knew I had to go to the bank anyways to check my motorcycle out of the country. He said yes.

I pulled into the parking lot labelled #2 and headed into the adjacent building. As I entered the door I saw Banjercito. The clerk at the bank was really helpful and spoke a little English. I gave her the Temporary Import Permit and a copy of the registration for my motorcycle, along with my passport and my tourist permit. After a lot of paperwork and signatures she came out to my motorcycle and took a picture on the VIN. Back inside she gave me the $400 US cash I had paid as a deposit for my motorcycle to enter the country way back in Tijuana and I was done. EASY! Now it was the Belize border.

Belize Border

As I left the Mexican border I knew the next stop was fumigation of my bike. My research had told me that it was just at the entrance to the Belize border labelled #1 in the photo below. But it wasn’t.

Soon after leaving the Mexico border there was a newer building with a tunnel like a car wash that a vehicle was going through. I put an arrow where the fumigation is now in relation to the border crossing. I pulled around the “car wash” and parked to the side. A man game out and sprayed my tires with a hose attached to a generator. For that I paid 50 pesos. I didn’t have any Belize dollars yet. Good thing they accepted pesos.

The plan was to enter the free zone after the Mexico border and before the Belize border to get some Belizean dollars from an ATM. After the fumigation I approached the free zone and saw that it was really run down and I had to pay to get into it. I decided not to go. I had pesos and US dollars so I hoped that would work.

As I entered the Belize border a guy flagged me into the parking lot I have labelled #1 and into the far building I have labelled #2 in the photo.

Once in the building the first step was to fill out a Belize entry card. Then wait in line at immigration for the officer to check my passport and card. That was easy. Behind the immigration booth I saw another booth with a sign that said “Motor Vehicles.” That must be the place to check in my motorcycle.

The great thing about Belize is that they speak English! That made this process much easier.

I gave the woman behind the counter my passport, entry permit and motorcycle registration. She completed a lot of paperwork with carbon copies. Old school! Then stamped my passport and entered my motorcycle information on it. She handed me my motorcycle import permit and asked me to meet her at the booth outside I have labelled #3

As I walked back to my motorcycle the man who had flagged me over approached me and said I needed to pay a 150 peso Belize tourist fee. Huuuuuummmmm. I paid it and he gave me a receipt. It must have been legit I guess.

I road over to the booth where the customs officer was waiting for me. She checked the VIN to make sure it was the one on my registration and then I was free to go. YAY! I was in Belize.

Motorcycle Insurance

Motorcycle insurance is mandatory in Belize. As I left the booth the insurance building is on the right. I labelled it #4.

The gentleman inside was nice and we talked about my trip. Obviously, he had dealt with motorcycle adventurers before. The insurance for 2 weeks was 46 Belize dollars. They took credit cards so that is how I paid.

I did it! I crossed my first border. An easy one I know, but good practice.