July 10, 2007

The choke-hold of semis at the chaotic Pan-American border crossing between Honduras and Nicaragua, was a stark contrast to the soothing scenery that had preceded it.

It took us about two hours to drive from the tiny village of Yuscaran - where we had spent the night – to the border.

The highway was quiet, but there was enough traffic that we didn’t feel alone. As we climbed through the mountains, we passed forests of skinny pine trees, cattle ranches and a few fincas. It was cool enough that I was wearing long pants, the first time I had done so during the day in months.

In the town of Danli, which is just before the border, we stopped first at a modern strip mall to pick up lattes from a high-end coffee chain, and then at a decent-sized supermarket to pick up some groceries.

On the approach to the border, there were dozens and dozens of semis parked along both sides of the highway. Closer to the buildings, the truck traffic became so thick we were forced to stop, no paths left open to inch forward.

Predictably, we were swarmed by shady money changers and shifty guides as we turned the engine off.

The mechanics of crossing the border went like this:

1) Go to the Honduran immigration shack and pay the exit fee ($3/person)

2) Go to the Nicaraguan immigration shack and pay the entrance fee ($7/person)

3) Purchase the Nicaraguan vehicle insurance ($12)

4) Register the van with the Nicaraguan police

In total, it took about 40 minutes to complete the above steps. We then had to wait another half hour or so for the wall of semis in front of us to shift (frontwards, backwards, sideways) so that we could squeeze by.

Given the initial confusion we had reluctantly agreed to use the guy who sold us the Nicaraguan vehicle insurance as our guide throughout the process. We tipped him $5, which we concluded at the end had been money well spent.

Almost as soon as we crossed the border we could see that Nicaragua is a country that is extremely down on its luck, even in comparison to the conditions in Guatemala and Honduras.

This, of course, is borne out by the statistics, which conclude that almost half of Nicaragua's 5.67 million people live below the poverty line, and that it has the 3rd lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere.

Key Facts & Figures:

Honduras

-Exit Fee: $3/person

Nicaragua

-Vehicle Insurance: $12
-Immigration Fee: $7/person

-Tip for guide: $5