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Topic: Status Report on 78 day trip to Panama and back (Read 2 times) previous topic - next topic
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Status Report on 78 day trip to Panama and back
Yahoo Message Number: 89354
We are near San Jose, Costa Rica (Belen) on day 36 of our 78 day trip to Panama and back in the LD.  After 5 days of boondocking, we are in a RV park with electricity (15a), water, WiFi and dump, so we feel we are in the lap of luxury.  We were envied by the other class C RVs for our dual 6 volt batteries for their capacity.  Solar panels would have been nice however.
 Some of the smaller RVs were using their generators twice a day to keep their batteries up, and the large Class A's seem to believe that they need the 110v from the generators to function.  The Wagon Master has commented a couple of times that the generators should only be used when necessary, but that does not seem to impress them too much.

It appears that many of the RVs on the trip have not done much boondocking, and have very little concept of conservation of electricity or water.  In fact, in discussions with a couple of them (one of who had RV'ed for 30 years) they stated that they had NEVER used the showers in their RVs.  They expected to have shower facilities wherever they were.
 Nevertheless, it is a very good group, and we are having a great time.
I can once again recommend Adventure Caravans, particularly for handeling the paperwork and details for all of the border crossings, which are more complicated than we expected.

The CB radio is a requirement for the caravan, so I recommend that (now) option for anyone who might take such a trip in the future.
 The LD has stood up well except for minor problems despite some really rough roads.  The Wagon Master's relatively new Allison transmission went out and parts had to be flown in from the US, but the repair was made in Nicaragua with no problem.
 We have seen lots of Mayan ruins and volcanos on the trip so far.  We are having a great time, and are in no hurry to get back.

Barry and Martha 2001 Red RB, TX Where are we?  http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=122