Spanish to English

What about a basic list of words and phrases, and the
english translation ,that would be very handy for non-Spanish speakers trying to cross Central and South American borders for the first time?

A printable form the size of a folded over business card? Really basic things that are essential – like – migracion, aduana, copias, entrada, salida, tramitadores(ugh!), quanta, aqui, a few basic phrases like “where do I go next”?, “how many days is it good for”? "Is insurance required"?

Just a quick- BORDER SPECIFIC - reference without having to paw through a book full of other non related things. I know I was lost the first time I faced a border knowing no Spanish – pretty much still am.

Anyone, Spanish speakers familar with CA borders, care to help compile a SMALL list of easy to use basic stuff that maybe if we are real nice we could get Grant to host on the HU site?

I keep reading horror stories about travelers having a tough time and getting ripped off at borders. I have some of my own. Any help at all would have been very welcome.

This would not be a "how to" guide but help in understanding signs or what you are told. Or does something like this already exist??

__________________
Jim

Hello. My girlfriend and i have been travelling thriugh C.America for the last few months and have crossed every boarder except Panama. The experience has been quite simple, although quite tiresome crossing from El Salvador to honduras. I speak VERY basic spanish and most of the time cannot understand what people say to me. I discovered that the boarder officials pick up on this and usually find someone to help my through all the beaurocracy. I spent 3 1/2 hourd in Honduras and was assigned a lovely lady who walked me through the whole process. In Nicaragua, an official made sure i crossed with no problems and the kids were very helpful, didn't ask for a penny. Today i crossed into Costa Rica and paid a guy $5 to help me out, but in the end i'm really not sure if his "help" made things any easier. All the crossings are the same, first you have to exit the country your leaving. This means Imigration and the police cancelling your bike permit. Then you will probably get fumigated , sometimes a small fee attached. Then you will give a guy a final receipt showing your bike has been checked out before entering no-mans land. Then you have to go to imigration of the country your entering. They stamp your pasport and send you on your way. Go to Aduana and be prepared with your passport, title and license. You will probably be asked for photocopies of each, so carry some with you to save time. Pay another fee and drive until someone stops you. Give him the stack of papers you just received and he will take what he needs and send you on your way. Continue until the next guy stops you and proceed the same way until your left with a permit and a few receipts. There's usually a police check within a few k's of the border, so be prepared with your passport, permit and a big smile. If you run into any problems at the boarder , ask the officials to help you and they will. They're really not interested in dealing with you much longer than they have to. Oh, it helps to be cheerful and crack the ocasional joke once and a while too.
Have fun!

Hey Mr Ron,

Have you been asked for a Carnet on any of your border crossings?

Cheers,
Justin

Park your bike w/gear as close to the gun-toting military guys as you can.

just drop the word huevon a few times in chile and you will be the most popular guy in the room. that is unless of course the transference on your bike never really went through and you really arent the owner......

Hi

We will be up in Panama hopefully at the end of March and then heading north to the US.

In your opinion, what would be the better Central American borders to cross or the ones to avoid?

Cheers

__________________
Mike


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Se necesita seguro OR es obligatorio el seguro vial?=Is insurance required?
I don't recommend you ask tramitadores this question, as they might sell you any piece of paper for 50$. Ask oficials. They won't let you leave anyways, without it.
por cuantos dias es valido?=for how many days is it valid? (asked in the correct context)
Adonde voy ahora?=where do I go next
estamos listos?=are we set/ready
puedo salir hacia [destination country here] ahora? Can I go to [destination country] now?
If they "Si" you, get on your bike and and rev it up. Sometimes you have to show all the important papers before leaving. passport, vehicle permit (the one you should have done by now), sometimes just a stamped piece of paper and so on...when the guy lift the wooden or metal bar. Step on it!
titulo=vehicle title/registration (original papers from your country)
Permiso de el vehiculo ("la moto" in this forum)/permiso vehicular = vehicle permit
licencia de conducir=drivers license
migracion=the guys who stamp you passport
aduana=the guys who fixes your vehicle papers
policia=the bored guys doing nothing, sometimes required to inspect your vehicle
Buenos dias=good morning, before 12:00
buenas tardes=good afternoon, after 12:00 but before 18:00
buenas noches=good evening
Señor and señora are good things to say
"señor oficial" or "señora oficial" are better and are much apreciated
señorita is offensive in some countries, not in CA though
te invito a cenar esta noche, quieres ir? = let's dine tonight!
not so usefull on border crossing but very usefull once you've made contact with the local flora
adios=good bye, also usefull when seeing an interesting looking [whatever attracts you here] going by. Add a smile to that phrase and you are sure to get one in return.
These countries are the homeland of flirting, so practice!
Mr Ron commented on this, but it's worth repeating.
Finally, the universal language of smiles can help A LOT!
Sometimes it doesn't but sometimes you smile at the correct person and you can reduce border crossing time to 10 minutes. (Have had this luck 3 times, so it's not usual) But they of course treat you better, and help you more, if you smile.
If you don't know for sure who someone is (their border status) just be friendly. The guys with homemade (id/oficial-looking) things hanging around their neck are the tramitadores and don't smile at them unless you want "help". These are the same guys cropping around your vehicle once you hit the border (some don't carry homemade carnets).
Someone just looking bored close by the cops might be the guy who runs the border, so smile at him!
SMILE!