Day 29 - Second Attempt to Cross the Border into Honduras

Saturday, August 2, 2014 - We got up very early to leave Chiquimula, Guatemala, and take on the mountains between there and the border crossing at El Florido.  We were on the road by 6:30 AM, and at the border by 8:00 AM.

We got our passports stamped as we left Guatemala, and confirmed that there was nothing else required for the vehicle.  Then we started the Honduran process again.  Now we are at the "full service" Honduran border crossing that the agent in Paso Corinto told us to go to.

This time, we did not mention our intention to import the ambulance to Honduras on a permanent basis.  We asked for a temporary import permit to travel through the country as tourists in an ambulance.  But the Honduran officials were suspicious of our story.  They asked for details about why we were traveling in an ambulance.  It seemed at one point that they were going to proceed with our permit.  They started inspecting the vehicle to confirm the VIN number and asked for all of my documentation.  I had everything they asked for:  passport, driver's license, vehicle title, vehicle registration, cancelled Guatemalan temporary import permit.

But after they carefully reviewed all of our documentation, they told us that they could not proceed because we had cancelled our temporary Guatemalan import permit in Corinto, and not here in El Florido.  We explained that we were now here at El Florido based on the direction of their customs official in Corinto who told us that he could not process our request.  We put them in touch with Growers First staff here in Honduras to provide additional explanation and also clearly understand why they would not let us through.  Their issue was that the agent at Corinto did have the authorization to issue a temporary import permit, but he didn't do it.  Why not?  If he did not give the authorization, and if we are traveling in an ambulance, then there must be some reason why they should not give the authorization either.

Finally, after about 4-5 hours without making any progress, we decided that it we would not be able to get the ambulance through on Saturday.  We realized that this might be the last time that three of us would see the ambulance, because Megan, Nijiko and Axel all had to leave on Sunday.  We took one last photo together of the ambulance before parking her in the back.  The team took a "colectivo" van bus from the border to Copan Ruinas, where Growers First arranged a reservation for us at the Iguana Azul hostel.  We arrived there a little discouraged at our string of bad luck and continued delays in getting the ambulance to its final destination.

At least we got lucky again:  we were stuck at an amazing place, and with a great place to stay:  Iguana Azul at Copán Ruinas, Honduras.  We got some snacks next door at Casa del Café.  The local horses just outside were a little curious about us.