Details

How to transport two people, two dogs and a small quiver of surfboards from Hawaii to Central America requires some fine attention to detail. A single surfboard on a single leg journey from HI to CA on United is $175 per board. It's an additional $175 per dog and that only has us to Cali. (This of course, doesn't include the cost of our own tickets.) For a while we thought we'd fly everything and everyone down there (the dogs are part of everyone) and buy a car when we get there. This is turning out to be a very expensive concept as a decent 4WD vehicle in Nicaragua will cost a minimum of seven to ten grand. The other option of course, is to drive. Besides the inherent danger that seems to accompany this idea, it has become the logical choice. To import a car into the country requires the vehicle to be less than ten years old and a ten percent import tax on its assessed value. After gas and Nicaragua's "assessed value" of the car, it should be cheaper and certainly more adventurous than flying. The dogs will have a better time of it too. So we plan on leaving Hawaii in March, buying a used car in LA and heading down soon thereafter. As of now, this is our plan. I'm sure it will change tomorrow.