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Watch the replay of the Livestream interview with Michele. She drove to Panama with a friend and two dogs.
Many who drive to Panama make the trip in about 1-2 weeks. But Michele used the road trip as an opportunity to explore, so her trip took 8 1/2 weeks.
You may wonder why drive to Panama? Here are some reasons:
* Adventure!
* Economical way to get you, your pets, your car, and some household goods to Panama
See their itinerary below the video.
These are the stops along the road trip:
San Felipe, Baja California
Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja California
San Ignacio, Baja California Sur
Bahia Concepción, Baja California Sur
Loreto, Baja California Sur
La Paz, Baja California Sur
Los Cerritos Beach, Baja California Sur
Mazatlán, Sinaloa
La Laguna, Nayarit
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guanajuato, Guanajuato
Cholula, Puebla
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
Morro de Mazatán, Oaxaca
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
Comitán, Chiapas
Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala
Apaneca, El Salvador
San Salvador, El,Salvador
Choluteca, Honduras
Masaya, Nicaragua
Bagaces, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Uvita, Costa Rica
Boquete, Panamá
Interesting video. Sounds like quite the adventure. Makes me glad that I moved my car down here by ship (roll on roll off). It cost me only $3500 to ship it from Houston to Panama City although rates have probably increased since 2021 when we moved. You also cannot ship it with any personal goods stored in the vehicle. The other costs for the customs brokerage, storage fees, and other miscellaneous fees here in Panama City were minimal (about $700). The only mistake that I made was that I didn’t yet have my permanent pensionado visa so I had to pay the 20% import duty. Could have kept it in storage until the permanent visa came through but the trade off between renting a car and paying for storage did not make sense.
The car runs fine here (American built Honda) although people should recognize that 91 and 95 octane in Panama corresponds to 87 and 91 octane in the U.S. as they use a different octane rating system. While we were waiting for our car we rented a car locally here and it was a U.S. import with high mileage and it ran fine as well. As far as car repairs, we found through friends a good local mechanic and have had no problems there although no major repairs required as yet, just standard maintenance. I note that two repair shops here (one in Panama City which did the inspection for the car insurance and one in Coronado which does our repairs) have had no problem reading the on board computer that does all of the car diagnostics. One surprise was that the Panama dealerships for Honda will not perform repairs (even an oil change) on your car if you did not buy it from them, although they will sell you parts. But I am told that might be a blessing as their work are very costly.
How do I access the contact info for William including the route he took driving down. I am not able to locate the link in the video
The route is in the description of the video.
We are on your tour now and will be driving back with a dog and am watching the dog video! How do you find the helpers to cross boarders? Thank you!
Mary, The helpers will find you. Several people will offer their assistance