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Those who love cigars know that Honduras is one of the world’s best places to make them. After all, this Latin American country has been a prime tobacco-growing location for centuries, and its cigar industry boomed again after 1959, when many longtime Cuban cigar makers fled the Castro regime for neighboring countries - including this one.

No wonder that Honduran cigars - including those from La Fontana, Camacho, Carlos Torano and La Libertad - sell better than any others in the United States, with the exception of the Dominican Republic.

But how many of us know much about this rich, fascinating country? Like the other Latin American countries which might be said to form the world’s “cigar belt” - Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Mexico - Honduras’s past affects its position as a producer of fine tobaccos - and just possibly its future.

Honduras is, first of all, a proud and epic country: the Mayan Empire, during its classic period (150-900 CE), built cities near the present-day site of Copan, bequeathing a set of ruins that beguile archaeologists and inspire visitors.

Christopher Columbus “discovered” this country - already rich in lived history - on his fourth voyage of 1502, and even the story behind the country’s name is romantic. Columbus, it is held, on reaching the Bay Islands near present-day Honduras’s coast, whispered the words “Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras”: “Thank God we have emerged from those depths.” “Honduras” means “depths,” literally and metaphorically.

Honduras was run by the Spaniards until 1821, when it, along with the other Spanish American provinces of the Spanish Empire, gained independence. Border disputes with other Latin American countries, especially El Salvador, have led to intermittent fighting through the years, and the country has suffered under bouts of political oppression, particularly during the 1980s (when extrajudicial executions, torture and “disappearances” became frequent, albeit not as common as in neighboring Nicaragua).

Honduras remains a developing country, especially after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (which also destroyed much of Nicaragua): according to then-President Carlos Roberto Flores, the superstorm destroyed half a century’s worth of economic gain and developmental progress in less than a week. Seventy percent of that year’s crop died - a small loss for smokers, who depend on the country for its sublime tobacco, but a barely-survivable one for the nation’s small farmers.

But the country did survive. In recent years it’s even boasted an annual growth rate of seven percent - one of the best in Latin America. (Still, half the population remains in poverty.)

Along with the cultural and personal strength that allowed Hondurans to survive such a disaster, the country is also strong in another kind of resource: ecological ones. In less than fifty thousand square miles, it contains over six thousand species of plants, two hundred kinds of reptiles, and seven hundred bird species. In the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve - added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites in 1982 - it boasts one of the world’s great rainforests.

These areas may hold the key to greater understanding of evolutionary and biological history, or to new drugs. Like several other Latin American countries which depend largely on farming, yet are blessed with ample ecological resources which must be maintained, the country has faced and will continue to face a difficult balancing act in deciding how to use, without exploiting, its environmental riches (which include the soil in which its excellent tobacco is grown).

Given tobacco’s importance as a cash crop - it gives Hondurans something to sell to the United States, and it also gives them a certain leverage with other Latin American countries, as tobaccos of all types flourish in its soil - it’s not surprising that Honduras is not following in the anti-smoking footsteps of, say, Brazil.

Percentages of smokers are still relatively high (in the low thirties for men, a rate comparable to that of the US) and public smoking regulations are fairly light (you can’t smoke on the bus or in the hospital, basically). Perhaps this is one tobacco-producer that smokers should consider seeing firsthand. After all, with its considerable natural beauty and light regulation of smoking, this could be a cigar lover’s paradise!

CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

International auto shipping to Brazil is done almost exclusively by boat. The ships that leave Detroit carrying cargos of compacts, SUV’s and pick-up trucks go down the Mississippi and out through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to the shores of Brazil where vehicles are offloaded for transport inland. The interior route is either by boat along the Amazon or by carrier overland.

Brazil, in shear mass, is the largest country in South America and almost as large as the entire continental United States. Its national language is Portuguese and it was established by Portuguese and Spanish merchants who were sailing to America with cargoes of supplies, weapons and slaves. These Europeans mingled with the native people of the continent and the inhabitants today are a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and Indian blood.

The cities of Brazil are modern and cosmopolitan. International auto shipping is prosperous because there is a healthy demand for American cars and trucks. The population is densest along the eastern coast, where Rio de Janeiro is located, and along the Amazon. The trade routes that are used for the journey have been established since the early 18th Century.

Imported cars from Asia and Europe can also be found in Brazil. The overseas international auto shipping route is the same one taken by Columbus five hundred years ago. The Atlantic current that carried the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria still flows past the Azores and across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Ships laden with Mercedes, BMW’s and Italian sports cars travel to Brazil daily and provide the population with a taste of European flavor that their ancestors would have appreciated.

Asian imports are less common but Toyotas, the best selling car in the world, can often be found in Brazil. The opening of the Panama Canal in the early 20th Century opened up new shipping lanes that international auto shipping companies use to go from Asia or California to the eastern shores of Brazil. This route has been available since the invention of the automobile but has only recently seen heavy traffic. Before 1970, all automobiles in Brazil came from either the United States or Europe. It has only been in the past thirty years that imports from Japan have made any headway in South America.

International auto shipping from the United States began in the 1920’s and has grown ever since. International auto shipping has become a multi-billion dollar business in less than one hundred years and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. With the development of new technology and automobiles that don’t burn gasoline, the industry is poised for another industrial revolution. International auto shipping companies will soon have fleets of hydrogen powered vehicles transporting thousands of new electric or solar cars to destinations around the world. The future looks promising and the environment is becoming more of a concern for the auto makers of tomorrow. Brazil is a nation that is preserving its natural beauty while developing into a modern economic power. Hopefully the United States will learn to do the same.

Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of
International Shipping
services, and
Auto Shipping
Local as well as International Moving

So you’re thinking about shipping something overseas and you have absolutely no idea how to begin. What should you do first? Who should you call? Does an international shipping company handle everything for you or do you have to make some decisions yourself? If you don’t know the answers to these questions you classify as an international shipping dummy and this article can help you.

The first question is, What is the item or items that you need an international shipping company to ship for you? Answering this question will go a long way towards helping you select the proper shipping company for you. Manufactured goods, food products, animals and even people are all shipped to other countries by boat, plane and truck every day. So which method is best for you and how do you go about setting it up?

The beginning of your answer comes from doing a little research. The best place to find a list of international shipping companies is on the internet. Go on line, put the words international shipping into the search box and you’ll get a list of companies that can help you. Check the website for each one and you’ll find that most have a departure and arrival search function that can give you modes of transport, exit and entry ports, and approximate price estimated by the weight of the shipment.

If you are moving live animals or perishable foods there are some extra steps that you need to take in the selection process for a shipping company. You may have to use that communication instrument known as the telephone to call an international shipping company or two and ask if they can handle a cargo like the one you have to ship. Not every shipping company will move live animals or food so you need to very clear about the nature of what you want shipped.

The next question you need to ask is whether or not the international shipping company will ship directly to the final destination and if they’ll pick it up at your current location. Often shipping rates that are quoted by internet or phone only include the port to port shipping and not the pick-up and delivery. It’s important to know if door to door service is offered because your shipment could end up sitting on a loading dock or in a clearing house if you don’t make the proper arrangements.

Taxes and entry requirements are issues that an experienced international shipping company can help you with. Always hire a company that has experience shipping to the destination country that you are going to. Each country has its own rules for imports and knowing what they are ahead of time will save you countless headaches when your shipment arrives in port. Customs officials tend to operate faster and more efficiently when they are dealing with an shipping company that they are already familiar with.

If you are an international shipping dummy or even if you already have experience shipping overseas it’s a good idea to hire a professional who knows what they are doing. This is the best advice that we can possibly give you. Don’t try to do it yourself.

Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of
International Shipping services, and
Omega Shipping Local as well as International Moving.

International shipping company can be expensive under any conditions. Today, with the cost of oil going up almost daily, business owners and managers need to seek out more effective strategies for transporting their goods and services overseas. Scheduling, bulk shipments, ports of exit and entry, and outsourcing are all cost effective solutions in specific situations. If you are running a business that utilizes international shipping on a regular basis you should familiarize yourself with all of these options.

Proper scheduling of your shipping company pick-ups and deliveries can help you determine a fixed cost and avoid unnecessary expenses. If your shipping company picks up multiple packages in the same week or day that are going to the same destination then those packages should be combined into a single item. International shipping companies like Fed-ex and UPS charge you every time that they visit your office. If you are doing business with one client in another country who you need to ship multiple items to, prepare a bulk shipment and ask your client to have a distribution system at their location to send individual items to the proper departments. You’ll still pay for the weight but you’ll save on the pick up and delivery charges.

Ports of exit and entry can be the cause of significant difference in prices for international shipping. Door to door international shipping service involves a combination of sea, land and air shipment methods that can be changed to be more cost effective. If you are using an international shipping company like Fed-ex, UPS, of DHL you may not have options for exit and entry ports but if you are arranging shipping yourself, as you would with a large cargo of manufactured goods, study the route carefully and make sure that your port of entry is as close to the final destination as possible. Overland transport is where most costs are incurred in the international shipping process. A good rule of thumb is to lengthen the sea route so you can save money on the truck route.

Outsourcing is an increasingly popular way of doing business that can save you money or even eliminate completely the cost of international company. If you do a lot of business in another country that involves the international shipping of manufactured goods, check into manufacturing them right there. Often the cost of labor in the target nation is lower than it is at home. This situation can offer you double savings because you’ll eliminate international shipping costs and lower your labor costs. If you contract out to an existing company with their own employees you can also save on benefits like health care and pension funds. It may sound heartless but that’s not stopping your competitors from doing it.

Information on international shipping, outsourcing and managing costs is available on the internet and through your local Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau. The world is getting smaller and companies are finding new and creative ways to be more productive and profitable. Being aware of how to do this can be the difference between success and failure.

Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of
International Shipping services, and
Omega Shipping Local as well as International Moving.

International moving from country to country can be tedious and exhausting. It can also be an adventure like no other. Moving into the United States from a European nation was once upon a time a common occurrence and the main reason why America grew so rapidly in the 19th and 20th Century. The intake centers at Ellis Island on any given day would have Italian, Irish, German, Russian, and Spanish immigrants lining up to find a better life for their families and a market for their skills.

After World War II, international moving into the United States began to slow down. Hitler’s defeat and the loss of so many native troops created a need for Europeans to stay home and rebuild. The re-establishment of Israel offered a chance for many displaced families to go home to the land that belonged to their forefathers and begin to heal from the atrocities of the war. International moving took on a different meaning as the new Israeli people were moved in massive groups to the land that housed Jerusalem.

The 1950’s and 1960’s saw a gradual decline in international moving to the U.S. as new countries were established and the Soviet Union tightened its grip on Eastern Europe. The civil rights movement and the Vietnam War created feelings of disunity and fear inside the United States and an international distaste that brought European migration almost to a halt. The number would continue to be low until the mid 1980’s when Europe once again went through a change, the fall of the Soviet Union.

International moving into the United States in the 1980’s and 1990’s was different than it had been before World War II. The immigrants coming in from former Soviet areas of Eastern Europe were trained in the use of technology and conditioned to longer work weeks and stricter conditions. Germans, Czechs, Russians and Poles came to American in droves and brought skills and work ethics with them. International moving once again helped America grow.

There is no question that the country that has benefited the most from international moving is the United States. For two centuries people brought their hopes and dreams to the shores of Ellis Island and in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty prepared to enter a new land of opportunity. On September 11, 2001, two planes flew over that same island and changed international moving to the United States forever.

The destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11th was a horrific tragedy that immediately attracted sympathy and support from around the world and condemnation for the cowards who perpetrated it. It also caused the United States, for the first time since its inception in 1776, to seriously regulate the flow of international moving. The past decade has seen tightened security at airports and shipping ports, limited and almost non-existent new visas issued, and a general suspicion of anyone entering the U.S. with a Middle Eastern accent. The country built by immigrants, the melting pot, became almost inaccessible to new arrivals and that is where it still stands today.

Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of International Moving services, and
Omega Shipping Local as well as International Moving.

Trade routes through Europe have been the object of conflict for centuries and have changed drastically and often because of the constantly shifting borders and governments on the continent. It is only recently, since the formation of the European Union and the earlier fall of the Soviet Union, that international shipping routes have been established to go to all nations in Europe. Free trade and a single currency, the Euro, have assisted greatly with this process.

International shipping to Europe from the United States is done either by sea or by air. The majority of manufactured items that are imported into Europe arrive by boat at its many seaports. The North, Mediterranean and Baltic Seas are all major international shipping routes that service dozens of countries. France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Greece are all importers of American products and have harbors and entire cities dedicated to the seafaring trade.

To reach other countries that are away from the coast, trucks and railroads are utilized in the international shipping process. Ships dock at one of the major harbors and are offloaded onto the dock for customs inspection. Duties and tariffs are paid and then the containers are loaded onto a railcar or truck trailer for the next phase in the journey. This is the part of the process that has always been difficult in Europe and has now become much easier. A ship that lands in Marseilles or Belfast may be carrying a shipment that is scheduled to be delivered to Hungary, Romania or the Ukraine. This journey will require the crossing of up to six international borders before the truck or train will arrive at its final destination.

In the past, the destination countries listed were part of Eastern Europe and inside the Soviet Block, or Iron Curtain as it was popularly known as. International shipping to these destinations, if not forbidden completely, was discouraged and often harassed by Soviet officials. Exorbitant fees which were basically extortion money were paid and there was never a guarantee that your shipment would arrive intact if at all.

Today, Europe has a Union, is mostly made up of republics and has a uniform currency, the Euro. International shipping is thriving and seaports are now available in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea to service formerly inaccessible nations. Taxes and entry requirements are standard for most of Europe and you can actually get accurate quotes before your international shipping company leaves its port of origin.

Great Britain, although not officially part of the European Union, is the largest importer in Europe of American goods and services. The shipping port of Belfast in Northern Ireland is the busiest seaport in the world and the gateway to the West for most of Europe. If you are planning on doing some international shipping to Europe from North America you will most likely go through Belfast on your way. Once your ship docks and has been offloaded, hire a European International shipping company to move your cargo across the continent. Their knowledge and experience will save you headaches and money.

Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of
Shipping services, and
Omega Shipping Local as well as International Moving.