| | Nov 30, 2008 - Truck Saga Continues! | The saga continues! Here's an update about the shipping of our truck. When we last wrote, our shipping agent sent a person down to the town where we entered Ecuador, or so we thought, to get a form that we needed. We have since found out she only talked to a friend who worked for the customs agent at Huaquillas, the entry town. You might also remember that, according to Lonely Planet, this is the worst border crossing in South Amercia. The friend was not able to get the form that we needed.
So, on Thursday - yes, Thanksgiving Day - we got up at 3:00 AM, and drove to Huaquillas with 2 members of the shipping agent's office. This was a 500 km round trip (about 310 miles). The purpose of the trip was to leave Ecuador, then re-enter so that we could get the correct form. BUT, after we "checked" the truck out of Ecuador and went to "check" the truck back into the country the customs office at Huaquillas said that they didn't have the form that the customs agent in Guayaquil wanted! He said we had to go to another building about 2 blocks away - in the middle of a market. After an hour or more of processing, we finally got the new official form.
Before we processed the truck out of Ecuador, we had to go through Immigrations to get an exit stamp on our passports. After we got the correct form for the truck, we went back to Immigration to get the entry stamp on our passports. The officers there said we had to enter/exit Peru before they could reenter us into Ecuador since it was across the border. We said, but we didn't go into Peru - that we just needed to get the truck ren-entered. Finally, after a lot of explanation, we got our passports stamped back into Ecuador, and drove back to Guayaquil.
We were getting excited - on Friday, Ed drove our Hilux to the port for it's official inspection before loading into the container. He then actually WATCHED the loading of the truck! There was still lots of paper work to be done, but we were excited. We were thinking the paper work would be finished, and the container with our truck would be loaded on Saturday to go out on Sunday.
To celebrate, we went to the movies for a Saturday afternoon treat. While at the movies, our shipping agent called. BAD NEWS! Friday evening, the anti-narcotics agency selected our container for inspection. The inspection was set up for Saturday morning - but the port personnel who would open the container don't work Saturdays. So, the ship sailed on Sunday WITHOUT our container!!! It seemed to be bureaucracy out of control.
To say the least, we were upset, depressed, and just generally bummed out. To let you know where we are in the process now - tomorrow (Monday 12/1) the anti-narcotics agents will have the container opened and have their inspection. Ed plans to go to the port for the process. Once we pass that inspection, the container will be loaded onto a ship to set sail on Thursday 12/4. Once we have our paper work in hand, we'll fly to Panama. We're hoping to fly out on Friday. Specifially, we need the bill-of-lading (B/L). Panama will not allow non residents to enter the country without a round trip ticket, or a means to leave the country. We'll be using our B/L to prove we'll be driving out of the country, so we can't fly into Panama without that document.
Our next critical time crunch is in Nicaragua. Our shipment from Paraguay is due in Nicaragua Dec. 9th. Driving from Panama City, Panama to Nicaragua is only about 650 miles, with a lot of mountain switchback 2 lane roads. Also, once the truck container hits Panama, it has to be "fumigated" and held for 3 days. So, our timing is getting critical. Next up is our trip to the states on Dec. 15th!
We will keep you posted.
So we're still in need of prayers! Pray for a successful inspection tommorrow by the anti-narcotic agents. Pray for the truck's departure on Thursday, and our departure on Friday. Also pray for a quick retrival of the truck in Panama, and a safe journey to Nicaragua.
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