If you want to have a package sent over to Nicaragua, you need to know a few things. As a tourist, if you’re completely clueless, you might have a hard time tracking your package. It’s a rather tedious process, and one in which your things might easily get lost amidst all the bureaucracy.

The circumstances: I was waiting for a package to arrive from the United States and tracking it online, I learnt that it left the States December 5 and arrived at the Nicaraguan customs office December 10. But by December 17 my package still had not been dispatched to my friend’s address in the capital city of Managua, which I’d designate it to be posted to.

Increasingly frustrated and anxious because I was supposed to have left Nicaragua 3 days ago, I decided to look up the customs office and request for my package in person.

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The most conspicuous is DHL, located on 6a Avenida Sur 16 but there is another one before that on the same street called International Bounded Couriers (IBC) which is cheaper and allows you the option of not purchasing insurance (which costs about $USD 20) on your package. For a package of 5 kg to Malaysia, DHL charges $USD 280 but I asked for a discount and without much effort, got it down to $USD 210, insurance included (there is no option to exclude insurance). IBC charges $USD 170 for a package of the same weight without insurance.

I’m an enthusiastic amateur photographer and you would think that Guatemala offers a plethora of opportunities for documentary photography. But just yesterday I sent my gigantic Canon 10D SLR camera and similarly big lenses back home to Malaysia because it got too stressful worrying about being a potential target for armed robbers while I carried them conspicuously around town. I haven’t felt free to use them on the streets for the same reason so it’s actually been restricting me from taking as many photos as I would otherwise.

But the main reason isn’t my fear of being robbed. The other thing is that it affects my conscience when I take photos of the local people here. The children tend to ask you for a buck when you take a photo (anything for a buck here, seems to be the mentality) and I don’t like the idea of having to pay to take a photo, or the idea that I’m intruding. I don’t want to be taking pictures of people if people don’t welcome it. So I’ve bought myself a disposable camera instead to document my travels - it will do for now. I still have my writing.

So, unless you’re a very serious photographer, think long and hard about whether you want to bring all your photography equipment along. It’s a pain to carry and to worry about, and sure as hell it burns a hole in your pocket when you have to pay $200 to send it home!