El Grande Rojo made it across Central America

[smileyd]

Hi Four Wheel Camper friends.

This is Angelina. Some of you may remember me posting a million posts 6 months ago when Dorian and I were fixing up our old used 4wc to drive it across Central America. The advice we got from our 4wc friends helped us make it through our journey.

Well we made through the most narliest adventures. Dorian and I are now living at Playa Gigante, Nicaragua. We plan on living seasonally here and in Costa Rica.

We would love to share our stories with you. Our rig "El Grande Rojo" made it through the Yucatan Pennisula and Guatemala mudslides.

I will inform you on how well our camper held up through the trip once you take a look at our blog. Click on the link below. We would love your responses so I will be checking this 4wc website often.


http://betweenamericas.blogspot.com

On our blog page click on the months on the right side of the page to see older posts. All of Mainland Mexico and Belize.

Pura Vida
Angelina, Dorian and Ivy Smiley

 

[chnlisle]

Holy Guacamole,
The trip of a lifetime. Oh to be young again!!! More Pix!!! and congratulations.

 

[smileyd]

Hi Chnlisle,

It is good to hear from you. Our blog has so many pictures so check it out.

http://betweenamericas.blogspot.com

We met another camper couple in Nicaragua that has visited this site. They had read our El Grande Rojo posts. What a small world it is.

pura vida
Angelina, Dorian and Ivy Smiley

 

[chnlisle]

Wonderful pix on the blog. I can guarantee that Pam won't driving on those roads. We're going to Panama in December so I'll be sure to watch your blog for more news.

 

[smileyd]

Jay,

Are you driving or flying to Panama?? There is a safer way to drive. We thought we were taking a short cut when we drove through the craziest road in Guatemala.

 

[chnlisle]

We're flying. We have a limited amount of time. Pam grew up in Panama and it will be the first time back since she was 13. We're hoping to drive down to Belize next year. Keep the pix and trip reports coming we love them.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Smiley--

Thanks for posting your trip report here and including the link to your blog. I, too, bought a second-hand truck, outfitted it with a second-hand FWC, but started a much tamer adventure here in the States. I am trying to bankroll the money for the inevitable heavy repairs you unfortunately suffered, but I keep buying 'notions' with it instead.

Which brings me to my questions--

+ How much money did you stash for the trip?
+ How do you access it?
+ How do you store|preserve food?
+ How do you make blog entries?


Thanks again for blessing us with your great stories!

Mark

 

[jarnis]

Loved the blog! Central America doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but I found your trip reports and photos fascinating nonetheless. I'll go back to read some of your earlier posts for info about your camper & truck and eagerly await your "review" of both.

JP

 

[SunMan]

I'm guessing your husband is working with the folks at Giants foot??

 

[smileyd]

Response for Mark W. Ingalls post

Mark W. Ingalls,

The answer to your questions are actually compicated...


Money We Stashed
We moved to Central America. We are not going back to the States therefore, we sold almost everything we owned. We lived in a family owned house and now we are subletting it for only $500 a month. So we have a very small income that helps temendously.

We ended up spending about 10,000 fixing up the truck and camper. The camper was really bad when we bought it for only $1500. We worked on it over the weekends for six months. Make sure you bring lots of spare parts for the truck. There aren't many American cars in Central America, mostly Toyota.

We spent about $10,000 driving down. We took pretty much the longest way you can. Many travelers take a much shorter route and spend alot less money. We also stayed at hotels sometimes usually for around $35 to 65 a night. We also spent $600 in Chichi buying art to resale. You can find campgrounds everywhere throughout Mexico for $7 to $25 a night. Although no campgrounds in Central America.

We still have a savings of $15,000 to get set up here in a U.S. Bank plus our $500 a month. There are ATM's in all the big towns. Plan ahead while driving. We hit so many big towns and we didn't always need money yet. We usually took out $600 at a time. Dorian has been working for a free room in a surf lodge for the last two months. That has saved our bank account.


Food Supply
We have a three way fridge in the camper. It was a luxury we enjoyed. Cold beer! I am a vegetarian but Dorian loved having his sandwhich meat too. Dorian says the red meat driving down sucks by the way. We also have a big cabinet in the camper for food. We can show you pictures of our set up if needed. Be very careful eating local food. We both got intestinal infections in Mexico. We usually cooked for ourselves on our outside stove. The grocery stores you will hit driving down will wing you off the American comforts slowly. The milk is kind of wierd. No need to refridgerate before it's opened. ? You can only find mozzerella cheese and some gross processed American slices.

Blog Entries
There are many internet cafes all the way down however, they are very slow and unreliable. I usually would write when I found wireless at a hotel otherwise most of my entries have been later once we got settled in Nicaragua.


Sorry for the long responses. I just incourage you to take this trip. I learned so much driving down. You may pick my brain freely. Overall, I think $7,000 to 10,000 would be plenty. Websites that will help you

http://www.ontheroadin.com
(Mexico Campgrounds)

http://www.99daystopanama.com
(Another couple's blog, they have a book too)

 

[smileyd]

SunMan,

We are not staying at Big Foot although Dorian did grow up with the guy managing it in Newport Beach, Ca. Small world huh

We are staying at Dale Dagger's surf lodge. He is a well-known gringo in Nicaragua who was actually shipwrecked on Gigante in the 70's. There wasn't even any locals living here at the time. He now owns a high end surf lodge here in Gigante and is selling tons of property for cheap.


regards,
Angelina

 

[erod]

nice digs...

 

[SunMan]

Yes Angelina, I'm familiar with Dale and his story. I've been researching land in Nica for quite sometime now. Had a trip planned for this past Summer but had to cancel unfortunately, was going to stay with the folks at Giants Foot.

Have fun down there, you guys sure are living the dream!