Hello. I've been living in Costa Rica for 5+ years and am planning to return to the USA. There is an issue because I have a 20 month old female pitbull which the airlines will not allow to travel. The lowest quote I have to bring her home with us is $3000+ including our additional travel and shipping costs, and it includes long flights and a 40 hour round trip drive for us to pick her up in the USA or $8000 door to door. I've been assured that it's safe for her to be shipped this way, but I'm still concerned for her.
Alternative to this, my girlfriend and I could drive to the USA. It's a 60 hour drive plus maybe another 10 hours for border crossings compared to a 40 hour drive, so only 30 hours more, and we save around to $4000 in shipping and flights. We could purchase a car for $4000 instead. 4000 km or 2500 miles should run under 100 gallons of gas at the fuel economy of 30mpg I'm seeing on some of the $4000 cars listed on encuentra24. Multiplied by average fuel prices across the countries through which we will be traveling, this is roughly $400 in gas. I added up all of the border entrance and exit taxes for 2 people and I believe it was $52 not counting Mexico. I'm not sure what entrance and exit taxes will be for Mexico, but I've heard $20, so adding $100 for entrance/exit taxes at border crossings and $500 for 7 nights of hotel at $70 / night, it's roughly $1000 total to drive not counting the cost of the car. It might the best option for us and I have many questions.
I have heard you must purchase car insurance for Central America, and I'm uncertain of the best way to do this. Should we contact an insurance agency in the USA and attempt to insure the car for the whole trip? Should we attempt to purchase here in Costa Rica? Should we attempt to purchase over the phone or internet through insurance companies in each individual country in advance? At the border? How much should we budget for the car for insurance / border crossing fees through each country?
Are there any costs or issues associated with bringing the dog across the border if we provide all proper health / vaccination documentation and information? Will her pitbull breed be an issue at any location? Should we be prepared to be more generous with the border agents / fixers because we are traveling with a pitbull dog? I plan to filter to find hotels which accept pets, then call hotels until I confirm the accept pitbulls. After hearing they accept pitbulls, I will send them a picture of our dog asking if she can stay with us to receive a written confirmation from each hotel that it is approved.
Which route should we take? I have crossed the Costa Rica Nicaragua border at Peñas Blancas many times by bus, and I am familiar with Nicaragua as far north as Managua, but I have never been to Leon. We will probably stay the first night in Granada or Masaya, but after that I'm not sure. Should we cross into Honduras at Guasaule or Esteli / Frontera Los Manos? One brings us toward Tegucigalpa, the other toward San Lorenzo, El Salvador, Guatemala, toward Tapachula, Mexico. And then further up should we go by Teotihuacan / Arco Norte toward Monterrey
/ Laredo or go the coast toward Tampico / Matamoros / Brownsville? If we took the route through Tegucicapla, I'd like to take the opportunity to see Tikal and Palenque. I'm not sure what are the best things to see close to an efficient route. Playa El Esteron, Ruta de las Flores, Lake Ilopango, Copan, Jeannette Kawas National Park, Punta Sal, Cusuco National Park, Lake Yojoa, Antigua / Pacaya, Atitlan, Semuc Champey, Quetzaltenango, Chichicastenango, Livingston, Ruta de las Flores or any other nice locations or playas we will pass close by - it would be wonderful to visit even 10-20% of these. If we drive 8 hours a day, the trip should take about a week. We could add a few extra days, but probably couldn't stretch the trip to two weeks. Dogs are not allowed in National Parks in Costa Rica, and I would presume there might be similar laws in the other Central American countries, but I'm hoping we can find a few dog friendly places to stop.
I know it's an enormous trip, but leaving the dog is not an option for either my girlfriend or me, and shipping the dog does not seem to be a great option. I'm hoping this will be overkill, but in case they are kept, I've calculated that we could need up to 16 copies of documents for our car / dog / travel details. This could be 100-200 pieces of paper. I know it's a serous trip, but I'm highly experienced traveler having visited 48 countries over the past 10 years including extensive travel in Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the past 5 years. Both my girlfriend and I are fluent in Spanish and we have time to prepare our itinerary, purchase insurance / etc, and book hotels.
I'm asking for any advice broad or specific. I'm reading as many blogs / websites about people who have made similar journeys in the past, and youtube has also provided some good accounts of border crossings and travel along the Pan American highway. We are still probably a few months away from making this trip but I've been getting deeper into the details trying to decide if it's a legitimate possibility.
Thanks all, and happy traveling!
