Yet another successful overland border crossing! 🎉
This time, we were crossing from Costa Rica into Nicaragua, and—because apparently we enjoy making international travel unnecessarily stressful—we had two little details looming over our heads.
First: the infamous Nicaraguan Pre-Arrival Immigration Form.
Nicaragua says travelers are required to complete a two-page Pre-Arrival Immigration Form—in Spanish—and have it approved seven days before arrival. Sounds straightforward, right?
Except…we couldn’t find the darn thing anywhere on the official website.
After some digging, we finally located a downloadable PDF. Great! We spent a good hour filling it out, made the required copies, and submitted it by email as instructed.
Except the email address didn’t work.
We tried again.
And again.
And again.
Undeliverable. 😂
At some point, we decided that perhaps we had done everything humanly possible and would just show up at the border and hope for the best. What could possibly go wrong?
Second: cash. And not just any cash.
Both Costa Rica and Nicaragua require various taxes and tourist fees to be paid in exact U.S. dollars. We had some $20 bills with us, but the fees are $1 here, $4 there, $8 over there…
And apparently, they do not give change.
Ever.
Even though the people ahead of us would have also paid in U.S. dollars, meaning the officials should theoretically have accumulated enough smaller bills to make change from a $20.
But logic and international border crossings don’t always travel together. 😉
And to make things even more fun, the U.S. bills have to be crisp and pristine. No rips, tears, excessive wrinkles, or bills that look like they’ve been through a washing machine.
So, while we were in Monteverde, we found a bank that handles currency exchange and stocked up on a stack of beautiful, crisp, small-denomination U.S. bills.
We were READY.
Paperwork? Sort of.
Cash? Absolutely.
Anxiety? Fully funded.
And then…
The border crossing couldn’t have gone smoother.
First, we discovered that the Costa Rican exit taxes could be paid online with a credit card.
So, those carefully acquired crisp little bills?
We didn’t need all of them.
We’ll save them for another day. 😉
Then came the moment of truth with Nicaraguan immigration.
The border agent never once asked for the Pre-Arrival Immigration Forms we had spent all that time filling out, emailing, re-emailing, printing, and making copies of.
Not once.
Nada.
Zip.
Zero.
Apparently, our carefully prepared paperwork was about as necessary as bringing an umbrella to the desert.
We did, however, need those pristine little U.S. bills to pay the Nicaraguan fees. So at least something we obsessively prepared for was actually required.
And just like that, we were officially in Nicaragua and off into the sunset. 🇳🇮
Well…almost.
There was one little surprise.
The immigration buildings on the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan sides are about one kilometer apart, which meant walking under the blazing sun with all of our luggage in tow.
Fortunately, our light backpacks lived up to their name and didn’t slow us down too much. Still, it was a bit of a sweaty welcome to Nicaragua!
Immigration Officer Riding Shotgun
For this crossing, we used an international shuttle service called Easy Ride, which arranged transportation for us from Costa Rica all the way to Granada, Nicaragua.
Once we crossed into Nicaragua, we changed cars and drivers, but the new driver met us right at the immigration building and took care of the next leg of the journey.
And this is where things got…interesting.
As we were going to the car, our driver spotted a woman standing along the side of the road. He exchanged a few very friendly words with her, and before we knew what was happening, she opened the car door and climbed in shotgun.
She was wearing a “Nacional Policía Inmigración” uniform.
Um…what? 😂
We looked at each other like, Are we now being detained? Did we accidentally bring the wrong paperwork? Is this what happens when your Pre-Arrival Immigration Form doesn’t work?
Turns out…
She was his girlfriend.
She had just gotten off work at immigration, and our driver was giving her a ride home.
So, after spending days worrying about Nicaraguan immigration officials, forms, fees, and border procedures, we ended up casually chauffeuring an actual immigration officer across Nicaragua with us.
You can’t make this stuff up, but we made it.
Another border crossing conquered. ✔️
And once again, proof that sometimes the best travel strategy is to prepare for absolutely everything—and then discover that none of it matters.
Except maybe the crisp $1 bills. Those were legit. 😉
