October 2011 - Royal Automobile Club

suitcases, various spares, toolbox, car washing kit,
complete with bucket, not to mention a computer and
printer. The whole lot must weigh at least the same as
the two passengers.
We were never too clear on how we were going to
get from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, but always had it
in mind to drive to Panama. All the way round both the
States and Canada, when asked our plans we were told
unanimously on no account to think about driving in
Mexico, as with drug wars we would have the car stolen
and probably be killed. There were, it has to be said,
some fairly bad stories circulating at the time.
More or less at the 11th hour we contacted the
British Embassy in Mexico, who said ‘300,000 Brits
come to Mexico every year and we only send about 80
back in boxes. Come, but don’t drive at night, leave your
car in a locked garage at each hotel, and be careful.’ Oh
yes, and the same day, my horse won. We took this as a
good omen and on 12 November crossed over into Baja
California, and had a wonderful time in Mexico, as we
did in all of Central America.
Needless to say, at most hotels there were no locked
garages and, due to the inadequacy of road signs, we
frequently drove by night. The tonneau fits fairly tightly
over the rear seat luggage, but from the bulges it is
obvious to all that there are suitcases under it. Yet here
66 October 2011 | Issue 136
we are, over a year later, with nothing having been taken
thus far. The suggestion was that had we been in a
Toyota Hilux the story might have been different. After
all, a very traceable car such as ours would be a poor
choice to take into the mountains and use to ferry drugs
and arms.
Border crossings in Central America are not for the
faint hearted. Despite there being six countries we
managed nine crossings, as we were rejected the first
time we attempted to get into El Salvador - right hand
drive cars are not permitted. You can in fact drive round
El Salvador via Honduras, but next day when entering
Honduras, local knowledge told us this involved
climbing on dreadful roads to over 10,000 feet and it
was a very long way round. So, having taken three hours
crossing the frontier into Honduras, 45 minutes later
with our hearts in our mouths we were back trying to
get into El Salvador by another frontier – fortunately
this time successfully.
In Mexico, at a grubby shed in Tijuana, we bought
some third party insurance and were gobsmacked when
a few days later we received an e-mail from AIG with a
copy of our policy. But for Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras, insurance was impossible, and it was with a
huge sigh of relief that we met an insurance salesman at
the Nicaraguan frontier. Central America was perhaps
photographs: gEoFFrEY hErDMaN, aNothoNY spooNEr Map: MichaEl hill