Drive U.S. to Panama
 

I am going to drive from the U.S. to Panama beginning in Jan. 2011. This trip is to celebrate my 60th birthday in March of 2011.

This is a trip I have been planning since my wife and I returned from five months of backpacking through South America five years ago. (Our last big trip was two years ago: seven weeks in India plus 16 days in Bhutan.)

Tentatively I am planning on being gone for 150 days, to sell the vehicle in Panama, and fly home. My wife will do Mexico City and surrounding area plus Panama with me. My brother will do one of the other Central America countries with me. The remainder of the time I will most likely be on my own.

Please forward any information you may have on a similar trip, web pages to investigate, maps one should use, equipment, type of vehicle to travel, paper work required, dollar budgeting for the trip, bird guides, etc.

So far I have searched Fodors & Lonely Planet.

Thanks,

TWAontheGO

You might want to check out http://99daystopanama.com/ - looks like a good website and I enjoyed the book. I think you'll run into problems trying to sell your car in Panamá - the taxes/fines might kill that idea.

My photos with travelogue/blog links are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

All my recommendations for Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras are there. Good luck!

have done this several years ago

www.go-panamerican.com good info

For CA weather best Dec-April go then

Not legal to drive down and sell your car

as a tourist in Panama...

We sat next to a gentleman on the plane who drives down to Guatemala each year with a car attached to a pickup and sells both in Guatemala. Maybe each country is different and you could backtrack.

You might want to check www.dangrec.com
for a blog about driving the entire Pan-American highway.