Charity and customs...

I just called FedEx to ask them if they had more information on the three boxes with charity for the Chavalos and Escuela #1 where some of Granada's poorest kids go to school.
This company is just great. I wouldn't recommend sending anything for charity to Nicaragua as it is incredible how difficult customs are in releasing the goods, but IF you do send things, this FedEx is definitely the way to go.
(I shipped some items with TNT, and there was no communication whatsoever. The goods never arrived either.)

Anyway, on Thursday, the three long awaited boxes will arrive here in Granada!
After paying  the extra import taxes that customs tagged onto the school supplies and the cheap flip-flops!
I wonder if taxing charity is customary in other countries as well, hope not!

My bet is that those nice people who sent all these charity goods will think twice before they spend $1100 on shipping and weeks of nerve wrecking suspense if/when they will see the goods delivered and at what price!

Gracias, aduanas de Nicaragua!

When I imported a small box with plastic key tags with a $30 value a month ago, they added $130 (yes, you read that right!) import taxes on it. When I told them to just send it back, they told me that they don't do that, they will burn it. My reply was "Great, that way nature will benefit from their ridiculous rules as well when they contaminate the air with the chemicals from the plastic." 

We had to go to Managua in our truck twice before they found the box and had the taxes calculated. 

2 times $35 in gas. Talking about pollution of this great country!

I also told them that if they would have charged $15 or even $20, I might have actually paid, but it is so much cheaper for me to order a new batch and have them brought by a guest. No shipping charges, no hassle with customs, no lost time and no excessive gas expenses. The result is that now, they will never collect any import taxes from me again. We have found a better solution, thanks to our guests good will!