You Will Have To Pay The Tax: How to get through the airport in Managua with minimal hassle.

  How can I put this? Pack as little as possible. Then pack less.

 I've heard tales of people going through the Managua airport with ease, however, that has not been my experience. If you have anything slightly out of the ordinary someone will find some way to give you the run around. My family and I have been hauled over to what I like to call, 'The Tax Room' for a spear fishing gun, a cat, and a drone. There are spear fishing tours here in Nicaragua but never mind that. Inspectors eyes light up on sight of such an instrument, here it comes..."you don't have proper documents, you will have to pay the tax." Upon bringing in my cat with all the proper documentation, which I paid for and checked thoroughly, I was asked to come into the back room and told that I would "Need to pay the tax". They also wanted to take my original documents because they couldn't make a copy due to their copy machine being out of ink. They didn't get these docs. but it took a fair amount of time, convincing, and aggravation to finally get an, "O.K. Leigh, you can go." On our last trip in my husband tried to bring in a Go Pro drone. He had searched for information on whether or not he could bring one into Nicaragua but information was hard to find and apparently he didn't look hard enough because, guess what? Drones that fly over 30 m. are illegal in Nicaragua. Again the inspectors eyes lit up. Seriously, they get pleasure out of this, I'm sure. "You cannot bring this into the country, it is illegal. We will hold it for you until you leave" Our other option was to have it shipped back at the cost of around $400 uninsured. If they lose it, which is a 50/50 chance, you have paid someone to steal your item. We decided  my husband would fly back to the U.S. that day and ship it back to Canada from there. There is a daily holding fee at the airport for confiscated items and no guarantees it will be there when you return. Consequently, I was lectured at the hotel where I was staying about being more prepared and not booking last minute, since I needed extra nights while my husband was off to Florida. Gong show, it was a gong show. Note: calling them liars won't help your case, in the instance that you too are a mom who's had enough of peoples' crap in the middle of the night.

  Electronics are something that they love to tax so bring as little as possible, you should be ok with your cell phone but if you don't need your lap top or portable speaker, leave it at home. Pack only what you need for clothing and enjoy the beautiful beaches and rich culture, it's worth it. They tried to tax me on my camera but I think my face told them to lay off this time, and I was able to pass.

For travel photography prints go to society6.com/wanderlandstudios