MizBrown

My Sony battery charger arrived today without problems. This is one of a number of packages I've received here that weren't stolen, lost or mutilated. People might have different experiences with big city post offices, like Philadelphia (postal employee hoarded two years worth of mail, a check lost when mail was dumped in the corridor and not put in individual boxes), NYC (no packages arrived my first year there -- most likely stolen by people in the building), or with Managua.

I thought I'd describe my personal experience with the Nicaraguan Postal System. Short answer is it's sometimes slow, but it gets here in ten days to a little over a month.

In case, anyone else wants to see if they can get packages in the mail, too, rather than have to pay extra for Nica Box or trips to Managua to pick up things at the Customs Warehouse, mostly, this is the way I order things to be mailed here.

1. I have a PO Box/APDO here -- and that is far easier for English-speakers to get right. My guess is some things may go missing because the sender is sure someone in the Nicaraguan Postal System can read English and/or doesn't quite get all the nuances of the address by directions (Claro doesn't and has me in one barrio for one bill and another for another, but I get them electronically so it doesn't matter).

2. I pay for tracking in Nicaragua, though friends have sent me mail that wasn't registered and it got here okay, too, but if I'm paying, it's going to be Priority Mail Express, generally around $10 or $15 more than the next nicest service. Another grade tracks inside the US but not in Nicaragua (limited tracking).

3. When the item leaves the US, I tell the women at Correos that I'm expecting a package (yo estoy esperando una caja, if I'm remembering correctly). I sometimes do this when I order but explain that it's going to be two weeks to a month.

4. When the item clears Nicaraguan Customs, it's a day or two from Jinotega. There is no such thing as a note in a PO Box for anything other than the annual APDO Box bill. My Correos folks have even stopped me in the street to tell me I had a package. They've gotten someone else's number from me and called her to tell her she had a package. Most of the time, I go in and ask, starting a day or two after the item cleared Customs.

5. Paying the customs and tax fees at a local bank is more convenient than paying in Managua. I have been asked on two different occasions if this stuff is for me or am I going to sell it, and I'm just buying single lenses and a couple of adaptors at a time. If you have someone mail five or more identical cell phones, expect to be questioned a bit harder. Seeds and medicines seem to be problematic without a bit more paperwork than is required for camera gear (though at this point, anything with lithium batteries can't be mailed in the US, have no idea about China to Nicaragua imports).

Seems like if the box is high value ($300 up), Aduana sends a bill for IVA and Customs. Some of the smaller boxes which didn't have lenses in them were no charge (like today's). Take the bill to Lafise, pay it, get the receipt, come back, and pay Correos its processing fee (not that much). Sometimes, the Correos office employees will ask you to open the box in their presence -- more earlier than now.

I had a weird one where B&H had a different box weight on the invoice than the box actually weighed, so Customs wanted me to bring the invoice to Managua for an accounting (can't remember now whether the weight was over or under). We compromised by reading it to them over the phone and by me paying $124. The box showed up in Jinotega the next morning. Either higher or lower than the box invoice weight could be a problem (B&H also goofed that order in what it sent me as the tracking number, so it was trainee day or something). If something is missing, the buyer will probably blame Aduanas. If something wasn't on the invoice, then it could be contraband. Anything in the package has to be listed (Medrano Express, now defunct, had problems with people not involving all their items being shipped in bulk boxes and getting fined by Customs).

The first two or three years I was here, I could import up to $500 worth of stuff on one cedula every six months without paying duty and taxes. At this point, only family packages can be sent duty free, up to $500. I'd suggest having family members with the same last name be on the return address. Some items seem to come in duty-free still (most camera gear that's not a lens or a camera body, books).

Mail to the US is slower than mail from the US most of the time. Fed Ex is better for any thing that has to be in the US quickly (and I go to Managua to send that).

I suspect that most problems with the mail are not postal or customs employees stealing, but either machinery eating a package (has happened to me and I got one of my books and one of someone else's books) or mail being left where some passer-bye could take it.