On not using handlers at the borders

[nanagosa4]

I am driving back to the states tomorrow from Costa Rica and having had a terrible time coming down at the borders using handlers my strategy this time is to not use them. I had got alot of good advice from the hubb on how not to repeat what happened on the way down, and I do want to thank everyone for all their advice.
My simple questions here is if I'm not going to use handlers at C.A. crossings does this mean I have to wait in those long lines of trucks till I get up to the customs, or can I just drive my motorcycle up to the head of the line, park it and start the process of:
migration, Passport out, customs vehicle out,
proceed to next border, park and, migration, passport in, and then customs get bike permit and pay ( I assume this is where they want the photo copies of everything as well) and I'm on my way....
Any simple advice on how to deal with the long lines of vehicles when approaching the borders, or add ons to the procedures that I may have missed would be very much appreciated, again thanks for the previous help as well.
I will be posting on my site freedomthrumovement.blogspot.com the return trip if anyone wants to see how it all goes going back.........

[Martin Ellis]

Hi
Yeh just come down Central America and those borders are hell,As for getting to the front of the line of trucks Sqeeze down between them ,its expected.Its then your problem starts as you are surounded by "Guides" mony changers and hustlers who want leave you alone untill you choose one.Then its finding where to que,joining it, eventualy getting to the front and then being gabled at through a glass window at what may or may not be Spanish . Then find out where the next que is . I tried getting through the Hondurus bordor on my own coming in from Guatamala,doing OKish untill Customs .Its not there, its in some city 160k away and as i had come through immigration i had to travel with a customs official (con man) on on the back of the bike to some shit backstreet office to clear the bike. About 80 dollars that cost me . My advice is yousè a guide But i wish all the luck in the world MARTIN

[PocketHead]

I can only imagine how valuable knowing Spanish would be in this situation....

[nanagosa4]

Thanks for the advice. Just knowing I can go to the front of the line and start from there is a big help.
On my spending too much $'s at C.A. border crossings post of a few weeks ago when I came dow I got a lot of good responses and advice on that one too on how to handle the border crossings, you might want to check it out. This time I'm just going to go it alone with no handlers and try to do it in order. Passport stamped out at immigration, then bike checked out at aduonis (customs), go to next border, immigration, Passport gets stamped in , go to adounis (customs ) and get bike permit for country and give them copies of everything. No handlers and hope this strategy works, I'll let you know how it goes in about 10 days or so. Hoping for 40 or 50 weather in the states for a few days so I can get to Michigan before Christmas. Good luck all, and thanks for the help..... Seasons Greetings!

[Sjoerd Bakker]

You CAN do it.
Allways go to the head of the line.The trucks are waiting for a bunch of commercial document processes, totally unrelated to tourist crossings.
Use the busier crossings where both countries will have the aduana facilities. Then the process is always in this sequence
Migracion get tourist card
Transito get vehicle processed
Fumigacion, get bike fumigated- some borders no need
Aduana check of documents for all needed stamps ,signatures and luggage inspection
Each step will involve stamps, paperwork, maybe some fee and officials putting a fancy signature on your documents.
Be parient , ask where to next.