Mexico: aboard “La Bestia”, the cargo train used by the Canary Islanders.
Indice
They reached the islands on August 9, where they took the opportunity to finish fitting out the ships and recruit some Canary Island sailors known for their skill and knowledge of the waters. Finally, on September 6, Christopher Columbus’ expedition set sail for the eastern coasts of Asia.
On October 12, 1492, after a 36-day voyage, the sailor Rodrigo de Triana sings from the top of La Pinta the long-awaited “land in sight”. But it was not the Asian continent that they set foot on, but a new world. Christopher Columbus had changed the course of history.
Moreover, many Canary Islanders ended up embarking on the voyages that would eventually lead to the founding of cities such as Buenos Aires in 1536, or Santa Marta, Caracas, Montevideo and Havana, where their influence is still palpable today.
The dangers of crossing the Darien Gap for
We drove the three Americas from south to north, so we started to discover and explore Central America in Panama. If you are interested in how we shipped the container van from Colombia to Panama without a port agent click HERE and if you are interested in the border crossing guide read on.
The first step is to go to Panama Immigration to get our passport stamped with the exit of Panama, and then go to the customs building or booth to deliver the Temporary Vehicle Import permit, once this is done we can cross the bridge to Costa Rica and go to the immigration window to enter the country and get our passport stamped. To process the car papers you must go to the customs window next to immigration, but first you must have the following documents ready: With all these documents the customs agents will give you the certificate of Temporary Importation of Vehicles with a duration of 3 months.
The Costa Rican customs building is on the left hand side on the same road, it is blue. Present the Temporary Vehicle Import Certificate, a photocopy of it and your passport at the window. If you do not have a photocopy of your Temporary Vehicle Import Certificate, you can make it there. Drive a little more until you get to the Immigration building, where the first thing you have to do is pay the Costa Rican exit tax, it is 8 US dollars per person and the payment is made in an office located in the same place. (There is a machine where you can make this payment with your credit or debit card and it is cheaper, when we were there it was out of service…)Then, go to the immigration window with your passport and exit tax payment slip to get your passport stamped.It is time to cross to NicaraguaEntering Nicaragua with the vehicle there are several agents that ask you for your passports to check them, and a few meters later an employee fumigates the van.
Migrants resume their route through the dangerous jungle of the
But beware, the myth is still alive and kicking thanks to the efforts of many “ruteros” who managed to bring it back as a historic route, Historic Route 66, and this is how it appears on current maps. So with all this clear, maps, and the desire to know a country that fascinates us, three friends set out to live the adventure of our lives for a month. It would be unforgettable.
Fortunately and thanks to the commander’s expertise, the landing ended well. Of course, landing in the middle of a monumental snowfall and with a lot of turbulence is impressive. Fortunately, it would be almost a month before we could take the plane back, enough time to forget the bad experience.
We decided to stay downtown, near the Loop (that elevated subway we have seen in so many movies) and from there walk to the various points of interest. By the way, if you rent a car you will see how the price per hour of parking in the blue zone is much cheaper than in Barcelona or Madrid.
If you are following Route 66 you will need a map or a guide that will recommend you the mythical places to visit. We were given the advice before and it saved our lives several times so be cautious and get a fucking map. Cafeterias associated to the route, museums, forgotten gas stations, incredible landscapes, ranches, pieces of desert, abandoned towns… you need all that information if you want to do it right and if you don’t want to end up lost in the vastness of Texas.
This is what migrants who keep crossing the river experience
He has been planning this trip for more than three months and is anxious to be reunited with part of his family living in Miami, Florida. He has spent three days in Necoclí and his economy has suffered. “The prices are exaggeratedly expensive, both airfare and food. Everything you can get here is expensive,” he says.
“Haitians are being humiliated, they are humiliating them and in the eyes of God we are all equal, we all have the same right and we are all going for the same cause,” he said. To prove it, he explained that he witnessed that while lunches cost about 7,000 pesos ($1.79), a Haitian was sold for 20,000 pesos ($5.12). “It is an exaggeration, a lack of respect, an immorality,” he said.
“The (U.S.) dollar is handled a lot, instead of the local currency,” he explains, due to the fact that those who arrive mostly sell their houses and other properties to seek a better life outside their countries.
Would he cross the Darien Gap? “No, no, if I were to leave I would not cross it. I want to go to another country but the situation they (migrants) go through is too strong,” he adds about the potential dangers. “They know they are going but they don’t know if they are going to make it”.