Then we hit the road and made it to the border by 10:30 AM. We cancelled our Guatemalan temporary import permit, and got our passports stamped to leave Guatemala.
Then we crossed over to Honduras and were sent over to customs to process our ambulance.
At this point, we were under the impression that the preparations had been made, that customs was already informed of our pending arrival, and all we would have to do is explain that we are the ones bringing the ambulance, and present our letter from the Santa Teresa hospital regarding the ambulance donation. We were hoping for a quick flourish of paperwork, and in a half hour we would be on our way.
Instead, the customs official told us that he could not process our request. He did not have authorization or the forms to handle the import of an ambulance; that this border crossing was nothing more than a "Paso" without full services. So we asked instead for just a temporary import permit that would allow us to bring the vehicle in on a temporary basis and then work out the details of the permanent importation later. He had the authorization for that, but he wouldn't do it because it wasn't our true intention to import the vehicle on only a temporary basis.
In one sense, he was very helpful. He let us use his cell phone to call Growers First to ask for direction and clarification. But in the end, the thing we most needed--permission to drive the ambulance into Honduras--he would not give us. He told us our only option was to come back on Monday and get an army escort to Puerto Cortez where they have all of the services, or go back to Guatemala and try to cross again at El Florido or Agua Caliente. That would mean a 4-5 hour drive back through half of Guatemala! At this point the team was very discouraged. We had picked this route because it was the flattest route that avoided mountains and windy narrow roads. If we had to go back, that would mean taking on mountains in the ambulance. For about an hour we considered our options: (1) leave the ambulance here and proceed into Honduras on our own; (2) go back to Guatemala and donate the ambulance there where we already had contacts who would love to take it; (3) follow this agent's suggestion and go to El Florido. Growers First also suggested we go to El Florido based on the feedback from the agent.
Finally, with a lot of reluctance, we decided on option (3) and drive all the way back to El Florido. We got back on the road, and re-entered Guatemala. Regarding the vehicle, the Guatemalan officials just printed another piece of paper for us to allow us to travel around since we had cancelled our permit, but were not allowed to cross into Honduras. Once we were in Guatemala again, it was a pretty quiet, solemn time for a few hours. We finally made it to Chiquimula just before sundown and found a hotel with secured parking to spend the night. We had a good meal together and caught a raffle performance in the town square.
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