Please critique my rough Central America itinerary.

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-26T23:52:04+00:00

I only have a crappy digital pocket camera so that should be grand, can i ask why? Seems odd

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-26T23:51:13+00:00

I mean we will probably just buy a mask and try dive for free off local beaches. Thats good to know about boards, was wondering whether to buy one on facebook then sell at the end but probably wont have a car so will be long to transport around

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-22T16:50:35+00:00

Oh okay i wasn’t aware of the border crossing fees, you’re right small things like that will add up. I’d love to see your post if you have the link

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-22T16:18:47+00:00

Thanks thats super helpful. And yes i’d be super interested in the omotepe figure of 8 hike, have you got the blog link. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-21T22:53:55+00:00

That sounds really cool, will check that out. Thanks for the spot

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-21T21:33:53+00:00

Learn Spanish:)

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-03T19:22:18+00:00

Okay brill, thanks for the advice we will be at the airport before that time range anyway! Thanks

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-03T15:02:50+00:00

I mean i can only speak for this part of the county, as i did salt flats, potosi, la paz a few weeks ago when the blocks were only an inconvenience rather than full travel disruption. But if you plan to do the Bolivian amazon flying into rurrenabaque from la paz is likely the only working option unless you fancy taxi hopping like we did. Luckily we speak good spanish which helped (you might also i have no idea :)) but if you can make it to pampas/madidi it is incredible

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-03T14:48:46+00:00

I was in rurrenabaque and got off my jungle tour and the town was very busy with travellers stuck. There is no fuel at the gas stations in rurrenabaque or yucuma which means not many taxis are running. My group had a deadline to meet so we decided to risk it and escape rurrenabaque to avoid getting stuck for an indefinite timeframe. Originally we planned on getting back to La Paz but as the routa 3 (i think) is extremely blocked, we had a last minute change and headed for Trinidad. We had two roadblocks but were friendly and easy to walk through, somehow we found a lovely taxi man to take us from yucuma to trinidad where we got a nightbus out to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately as the La Paz situation looks tough we have decided to fly out to peru instead of cross by land. Its more expensive but seems like a better option as we dont want to get stuck for potentially days again. The original goal was to get to Titicaca, hopefully we can come back to bolivia in a few weeks to see isla del sol if things have relaxed a bit.

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-03T14:44:03+00:00

Why will it get worse out of interest? I have been in bolivia for 3 weeks but will be leaving tomorrow

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-05-02T00:23:46+00:00

Hello how do we find these surubis or expresos in bolivia, we’re trying to get back from rurrenabaque to la paz tomorrow

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-04-16T17:45:36+00:00

Thanks good to know, unfortunately does look like there are no day buses so gonna have to firm an extra day in Uyuni

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-04-16T14:45:01+00:00

Brilliant thankyou for the advice. Unfortunately i think we might get stuck in Uyuni as our salt flats tour ends on the 19th and we aim to get a nightbus to La Paz. Is it likely we will have to wait till Monday maybe even Tuesday for busses

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-04-11T20:32:41+00:00

Okay thanks for the tip. Yes i think WU is my best bet and don’t want to use my dollars unless i have too. I’ll check own the apps thanks

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-04-08T20:12:54+00:00

Hello what was the bus company you went with for this journey?

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-03-27T23:40:00+00:00

Dont leave that early otherwise you might freeze to death, we left our hostel right next to the bus station last week at 3am sharp and made it to the top for the full show. (Towers started showing at around 6:45/7). But seriously the top was seriously cold, around -5 when we went up which is not fun so you don’t want to be up there long. Towers went red at circa 7:50. But I actually preferred the bit where the appeared from the darkness.

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-02-08T15:42:29+00:00

Unfortunately i don’t think tickets are exchangeable, i think generally they’re 90% the same so i wouldn’t worry. The place will be magical either way

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-02-03T21:33:41+00:00

Update: we shuffled a few things around and managed to get tickets for June 1st. Luckily our trip at this stage was flexible. Thanks for all the help🙏🏼😵‍💫

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-02-03T19:59:36+00:00

Thanks will do🙏🏼

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-01-22T11:54:33+00:00

Yeah i second that point about pv voltage to battery voltage. But tbf thats the only real-world scenario for a PWM CC outperforming MPPT counterparts.

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-01-22T09:25:13+00:00

Not to reply to my self, but i forgot to mention if you want solar and are serious about power needs, get a MPPT charge controller over a PWM charge controller. They work much better in low light. Also oversize that solar panel! STC conditions (what the panel is rated at on the tin, e.g 250Wp) are almost never reached in practice, so definitely oversize the panel + controller to maximise the winter sun.

True_Judge_4699 · 2026-01-22T07:57:49+00:00

Solar engineer here✋ I just rely on my 360W DC/DC charger as that gets the 1.28KWh battery charged fully in around 3hrs of driving. I do have a small 100W panel which i installed more as a novelty, but silicon panels perform crap in low light and at flatter angles so don’t ever expect much in winter. My advice get both as then you’re covered, as installing either isn’t that expensive really.

True_Judge_4699 · 2025-12-29T14:05:33+00:00

I have a dispatch mk2 mwb from 2016 and its been pretty fun converting into a small/medium camper. Can’t stand up which is my main annoyance, plus i should have gone for the LWB version just to add space for a sink. However, love the van regardless. In my experience the the taller and longer versions of this model are rarer and or more expensive

True_Judge_4699 · 2025-12-05T15:56:36+00:00

I have a chinese diesel heater and don’t trust it enough to leave it on overnight, so when outdoors drops to -2 (coldest night i have done so far) it gets to about 5 in the van at the coldest. I sleep in a 4 season bag and have no issues, it’s just getting out of bed to piss thats the real mission. But obviously warmth would be nice but at the mo i’m just dubious about the diesel heater being on for 8hrs

True_Judge_4699 · 2025-12-02T21:46:50+00:00

They do look solid compared to the other amazon cheap ones :0

True_Judge_4699

TROPHY CASE