I'm in Belize, life is good

I’m spending my first days in Belize reacquainting myself with neighbors and friends. I brought a few small gifts for my good friends here. Specialty coffees, golf balls and tees, and a few other things I could stuff in my truck. The problem was finding everything. I have unloaded most of the truck and put it inside the large studio apartment I am renting from Bob and Martha. They have a great place to stay that feels more like home, unlike most of the places I have been staying at the last couple of weeks.

Bob and Marthas' place

I haven’t seen Hipolito since we arrived at the Belize border, but I’m sure he’s OK. After all, this is home to him, with all the family members around. I’m sure he misses his family back in the States, but with all the family members down here, its’ got to keep him busy. I think he is scheduled to leave tomorrow but I hope for his sake, he stays a little longer. The flights out of Chetumal leave around 8AM, so if he’s out of here tomorrow, I won’t see him again until June.

I want to thank all of you for your best wishes during our travel. A few of you left comments on the blog, and that also gets e-mailed to me, so I read them all. I just can’t reply unless I have an e-mail address, which the blog doesn’t always provide.

I’ve had some internet connection problems out here in Consejo, but hopefully they are just temporary. Tomorrow is Sunday, which is Bocce Ball day. We will be out at 8AM playing Bocce Ball with neighbors from the Shores and nearby communities. Bob and Martha have two courts set up right now, but sometimes have as many as four courts set up when the snowbirds are here. The snowbirds have all gone home or are planning on leaving soon, so it won’t be quite as busy tomorrow on the Bocce court.

The days are beautiful here, with the temps in the 80’s and 90’s during the day and 70’s at night. There has been a constant breeze blowing through the last few weeks and that keeps the temps down. The sea is a little choppy, but it is a beautiful turquoise green.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day with Bocce Ball in the morning, a little golf in the early afternoon and a bar-b-que at the contractors’ house in the early evening. Life’s tough, but someone has got to do it. The only thing better would be if Mischelle and the dogs were here.

Day 11 - I can see Belize, or is it just a dream

A new day begins and I’m still here in Mexico, waiting for Hipolito to return back to the hotel, from Belize. He has used up virtually all of his vacation time, just trying to get here. If he heads home as scheduled, he will be leaving Sunday. I’m sure this is not the vacation he had planned. He was planning on completing some work at the home he is building, but I think that plan is on hold, for now.

After ten days on the road, both of us had done fairly well with eating the food and not getting Montezuma’s’ revenge, but it’s sort of playing Russian roulette, the longer we stay in Mexico. Hipolito caught the bug yesterday and had stomach trouble all day. It probably wasn’t a fun day on the road for him. I got a touch of the bug today, but at least I’m in the hotel.

It’s rough being here in the hotel, looking a quarter mile down the road and seeing Belize, but not being able to get there. Hipolito had planned to return by 8AM so we could get a good place in line to get our pedementos taken care of and the move over to the Belize side to get assessed duties and taxes on the trucks and goods. From what Hipolito has said, this can be an all day process. But, it is now after 9AM and there is no sign of Hipolito. But all I can do is wait, and wait.

I had hoped to be at our property, so I could watch the piles being driven, but that day has come and gone and now I don’t know where they are in the construction schedule. I’m sure John has it all taken care of, but that is the reason I wanted to be here in the first place. I thought I had planned plenty of time, but now I’m sorry that I didn’t push to leave in March, as planned, rather than April, when we finally left. I guess I’m just getting frustrated with the length of time it has taken us so far, and not knowing where we stand now.

It’s 9:30 and Hipolito shows up at the hotel, ready to cross the border. I pack up my things and away we go. We drive all of a block and a half and get in line to have out trucks inspected and the pedementos canceled by the Mexican government.

Finally, it's now 11:30AM and I cross the Mexican border into Belize. I don't think I have ever been so happy about nothing. But I am across the border, and they speak english.

Now I have to go through all the customs requirements on the Belize side of the border. Not a problem, after what we've been though. I get the truck fumigated, for what I don't know. I figure whatever is in Mexico can fly, crawl or whatever to get on the other side, but it's another fee. Then I'm off to get my truck and belongings into Belize, pay the duties and taxes, and I'm home free.

After eleven days in Mexico and the US, virtually all the money I had brought is gone, and I still need to get my truck, and all the goods inside, out of hock. So I head over to the freezone casinos to hit up a ATM. To my surprise, the Princess Casinos' don't have ATM's. I find that really hard to believe, but I still need cash, so I head into the Belize Freezone. The Freezone is just a bunch of shops, casinos, gas stations, and a couple of banks. Unfortunately, not all of the banks have ATM's. I finally find an ATM and get the cash to get me, my truck and all its' goods into the country of Belize.

I head back to Belize customs, where they assess my truck, camper shell and loaded goods. The duties and taxes for my '90 Toyota truck and camper shell is $218US and all the goods inside are only $87.50US. It cost me less in duties and taxes than it did for all of the paperwork, bribes, tolls, and documentation just to get through Mexico. Something is wrong here.

It is now 1:30PM and I am now in Belize and almost home free. I drive by the work site and the pilings have yet to be driven. And that's OK with me. It looks like they're ready to go, with the site all laid out for the pilings.

Pip and Jasons' house on the right, our lot on the left.

Our graded lot

This has been a LONG trip. But I'm here now, and ready to go. I'll look up my contractor tomorrow and see where we stand. I'm on Belize time now!

Day 10 - Is today the day we reach Belize?

It’s a new day and we are full of hope that Belize is on the horizon. We sleep in a little late, because we spent some of the night tossing and turning due to warm air in the room, and to give the mechanics a little more time to work on the truck. After we get up, I finish some work on the blog, adding pictures and commentary, and then head out for breakfast.

After breakfast, we head over to the mechanics to see the outcome of their work. Unfortunately, they are still working on the truck and it is now 10:30AM. The hope we had for reaching Belize today is slowly beginning to fade. The fuel pumps are in but now they need to put everything back together and start it up. The gas needs to be put back in the tanks, about 20 gallons, so that takes more time, and the siphon hose is not that big.

Finally, the truck starts and we are on our way. It’s now a little after noon and we still need to pick up the boat in that small town where this all began. It’s still 3-4 hours to Chetumal, so we hope we can get there in time to get our pedementos cleared by the Mexican officials. It’s going to be close.

And of course, there is construction on the road we are traveling, so it slows us down by an hour. It’s going to be real close. We are not going to drive faster to reach the border, just to make sure Hipolitos’ truck will make it to the border. We arrive in Chetumal right around 4:30PM, but we still need to drive to the border, in Santa Elena.

Is it still possible we could cross the border into Belize, today? Not with the line that has formed at the border crossing. We get to our visa cleared but we are then informed that the pedemento office is now closed and we will have to return in the morning. It’s going to be another day in Mexico. This is starting to old, and I want out of Mexico, now. Tomorrow will be day 11. Not what we had expected when we left California, ten days ago.

So we check into a hotel at the border and wait for morning to cross into Belize.

And just as we think everything from here will go smoothly, Hipolito gets a call that his uncle has passed away, and he needs to be with the family in Belize. He will return in the morning and we will attempt to cross then. I have to wait until he returns, as we are both on the same pedemento and both of us need to be there so we can clear Mexican customs, together. He has a Belizean passport so he can cross now, without the truck and boat, and come back later. Will we cross into Belize tomorrow? Hipolito says yes, but I am beginning to have my doubts.

Day 9 - Trouble lies ahead

We could see the light at the end of the tunnel, Belize was within a days drive. We got up and out the earliest we had been on the whole trip. We would be at the Belize border around 1PM leaving us plenty of time to cross over and get out of Mexico.

But the best laid plans of mice and men can change at a moments notice. Thirty miles or so out of Escarcga, the boat Hipolito is pulling, blows a tire. I see smoke coming from the right side tire and called Hipolito on the walkie talkie and told him to pull over. Hipolito had a spare tire for the trailer, but no rim. So, he took my truck to try and find someone who could mount the tire on the existing rim, in the middle of nowhere. When I say a small town, I mean a small town. These are all farming towns and only a few people have cars. The auto shops and part stores are virtually non existent. But luck was with us, and we found someone to change the tire, and we were on our way. Or so I thought. Hipolito got back in his truck, and as he tried to start it, he could hear a problem with the engine. It wouldn’t start for nothing. He’s now under the hood of the truck, tracing out the problem. Not good news, but it was still early, so we kept the faith that it would be a simple problem that he could fix, and we would be back on the road in no time. Wrong.

Hipolito is the head mechanic at the AT&T construction and repair yard, my former employer, so he knows his stuff. And in the middle of nowhere, you need his experience to fix problems that may pop up. And this was one of those times. So switching hats, Hipolito becomes a mechanic once again. And he thought he was on vacation.

After a half an hour, he comes to conclusion that not enough gas is getting to the engine and starts looking at the fuel pumps on both gas tanks as the culprits. The gas here in Mexico is of questionable quality, so fuel filters are a must. But even then, they get dirty fairly quickly. And the fuel pumps are next in line after the fuel filters.

So, Hipolito jumps in my truck and it is off to find a fuel pump for a Ford truck, in the middle of nowhere. I stay behind to watch the stuff that we had to leave behind. It’s hot and humid and time seems to creep by, even though Hipolito is only gone for an hour or so. Of course, the auto parts store, if that is what you can call it, doesn’t have the exact part, but does have a fuel pump of some sort.

It’s under the truck he goes, to install a makeshift fuel pump so we can be on our way. We’ve now been stranded for a couple of hours and our hopes for getting to Belize today are slowly beginning to fade.

Finally Hipolito comes out from under the truck and we pray that this fix works. He slowly pulls away, boat in tow. The first obstacle is a long, gradual uphill. Hipolito guns the engine and away we go…for about a quarter mile. The fuel pump is not getting enough gas to the engine and it struggles under the load of the plywood and the boat. He pulls off to the side of the road and we are stuck again.

We have a few of the local teenagers show up to see what’s going on, and they seem nice enough, but just a little nosey. We decide for the safety of our stuff, that someone should be with the trucks at all times. These are poor areas and we don’t want to leave any temptations.

But time begins to work against us and it now getting later in the afternoon and we are no further along than before. Everyone has left the area around the trucks, and it’s now just me and Hipolito. We decide to see if one of these small towns has a motel or something, but it is very unlikely. As I said, these are SMALL towns of no more than a hundred or so. We both jump in my truck and away we go.

As luck would have it, as we were heading to the local town, a tourist road assistance vehicle came along (imagine that in Mexico) and offered whatever help he could. Of course, he didn’t have a spare Ford fuel pump, but he offered to push/pull Hipolito back to Escarcga, 30 miles away, and knew of a mechanic who could correct the problem. By the time we got back to the truck, not even ten minutes later, there were already people hanging around the truck and boat.

We took the offer of assistance, and my truck hauled the boat back to the nearest town where we found a family willing to watch the boat for us while we went back to town for repairs.

At first, the roadside assistance wanted to push the truck back to town, but after bending the tailgate, we decided it would be better to pull it, rather than push it. So I grabbed some rope, tied it to the truck and away we went. Once in town, he pulled us to the mechanic, who happened to once live in San Jose, California. Hipolito was satisfied that he was a qualified mechanic and had all the proper tools to diagnosis the problem. His mechanics would work until 10PM trying to correct the problem and would start again at 8 AM if they could not fix it that night. It was now almost 9PM, so we left the truck and went out to find a room for the night.

We took the suggestion of the roadside assistance gentleman and stayed in a nice place in the heart of town and only a short distance from the mechanics’ garage. Only bad thing was no air conditioning and the bathroom had no screen on the window. Bad for us, great for the mosquitoes. We struggled to sleep with the sheets on, but it was so warm we had no choice but to sleep with the covers off. Not good. The mosquitoes had their feast of Chinese and Belizean food (Hipolito and I) and we woke up with bites all over the place.

But it had internet access (I stole an unsecured connection because it was faster), so I was happy I could update the blog and check e-mails. Tomorrow was another day, and hopefully the truck would be ready to go early, so we could be at the Belize border by 1PM.

Day 8 - A good days' travel

So, another day of travel begins as we leave Cardel. I was glad to get out of that motel and not look back. Not only was it small and extremely noisy, but when we got a look around the neighborhood outside, it was overcast and smoky, with some kind of power or manufacturing plant spewing out black smoke at a rate I had never seen before.

Bypassing Vera Cruz, we took the back roads, as we head off towards Villa Hermosa. We were looking at an 8 hour drive but with the early start, we figured it would be no problem.

We were soon on the toll roads and making good time, now that we didn’t have to slow down at every small town. We were in Villa Hermosa ahead of schedule, so we decided to press on and try and make it to Escarpaca, hopefully before dark. Unfortunately we were back on the small roads, going through the small towns again. That meant more speed bumps.

Crossing a bridge outside of Villa Hermosa

About an hour outside of Villa Hermosa, we decided it was getting dark and we should find a room for the night. As we had pulled over to get gas, we noticed they had a small truckers motel that was open next door, so we got a room and settled in for the night. At this point we were about 350 miles from the Belize border and only about a days’ drive away. It was a good point to stop. The rooms were big and although it was a truck stop, it wasn’t that noisy. We had drove over ten hours today and were making good time.

Day 7- The drive from hell, or maybe to hell

Morning arrives and we are out of the motel by 8AM. Tampico lies ahead and it is Easter Sunday. We hope the roads will be less crowded, but that’s not the case.

Hipolito and Juan

Easter is a big time in Mexico and all the families head to the ocean for spring break. Now the holiday is coming to a close and everyone is headed home to the interior. Lots of traffic.

View of Tampico

The drive around the Tampico area is just as people had indicated, crowded, so we avoided the central city and took routes that went around the outside of town. The roads around town are in horrible shape and there is road construction everywhere. I’m sure at some point it will be OK to drive through town, just not yet. It was in one of these construction areas that a rock was thrown up into the air and landed right on the passenger side front window. And of course it broke the window. I had planned to put a new window in before I had left, after all the truck was 19 years old, and it was the original windshield, but decided I didn’t have enough time, and the window was only lightly pitted. I’m sure glad I waited. I would have been really pissed if it was a new window. At least it is not in the drivers view.

The drive from Tampico to Vera Cruz is a beautiful drive, but every small town has multiple sleeping policemen (speed bumps), and that really slows the drive down. With Hipolito pulling the boat, we would come to almost a complete stop at every bump. And with all the traffic, it would just back up behind us. Then the problem was, everyone wanted to pass the slow traffic. They would sit on the back end of my truck like a bumper sticker, constantly looking for every opportunity to pass. It got old real quick. Everyone was always jockeying for position. I would pull over and let them pass, so they only had to pass Hipolito and his boat. In a matter of minutes, I was right behind Hipolito, once again. And just as quick, they would pile up behind us. It went on like this for hours. I could hardly wait for this part of the drive to end.

Finally, we ended up on the Vera Cruz coast, driving along a beautiful, but crowded coastline. The Mexicans here sure know how to have a good time with the family. The hotels were full and they had LOTS of campgrounds right on the water. It looked like lots of fun and I would loved to be able to join them.

We sat down for lunch, in the late afternoon, at a restaurant overlooking a small lagoon, about an hour or more from Vera Cruz. I, of course, had to have fish, Vera Cruz style. What a meal! The fish was so fresh and the Vera Cruz topping was the best I’ve ever had. A couple of cervesas and I was in heaven.

We still had plans to make it to at least Vera Cruz, or further, but the sun was slowly setting and we needed to be on our way. No more driving in the dark, or so we thought. The drive heading to Vera Cruz was a winding coastline drive, along the lines of Malibu, California. But once again, it was beginning to be the drive from hell. I can’t believe that someone would endanger their family’s life, just to get home fifteen minutes earlier. Once again signs and road markers are just a suggestion, that nobody follows.

We pulled over at a lookout, that Juan, our traveling companion had said was a beautiful view, overlooking the bay, but it was getting too dark to really enjoy the view. So we stayed a few minutes to let the traffic pass us and then got back on the road. Juan was out in front of us by a couple of minutes, as we struggled to keep up. After about ten minutes on the road we see flashing lights on the side of the road and it was our friend Juan having a conversation with the Federal Police. Not the ones you want to have a conversation with. There was nothing we could do, so we drove on to the next offramp and waited. About 20 minutes goes by, and we finally see him drive right past us, motioning for us to keep moving on. By this time it was 9:30 at night, it was dark, and we had just driven a couple of roads from hell. Hipolito and I discussed our original plans, and how we were not going to drive at night, and here it is again, dark, and we’re out driving unfamiliar roads. We made a decision to find a motel and call it a day, and maybe catch up with Juan at the next stop. But he was pushing to make it all the way to Villa Hermosa, which was another 3-4 hours away. No way were we going to make that drive in the dark. So the place we had stopped to wait for Juan had a motel and we just decided to stay there. It was only 250 pesos, about $20US, so what the heck, we just stayed there.

What a dive! The room was small and I’ve seen cruise ships with bigger bathrooms. And with all the truck traffic going by and the U shape of the motel, we probably would have done just as well sleeping on the street. The noise level was so loud, I couldn’t even sleep, although I was dead tired. I think I was more tired when I woke up.

Day 6- the journey continues

I knew today would be a long day, but I didn’t realize how long. It started as the day began, at a little after 12AM. .Hipolito and I went by the line forming on the road,. towards the customs entrance for transmigrantes. The line was already down the street and across the stoplight from the entrance. We almost decided to camp out in line and sleep in our trucks, but decided it would be better to get a good nights rest in a bed and get up early and go get in line at that point.

By the time we were able to get to sleep, it must have been around 1AM. The bunk beds we were sleeping in, were not that bad, just not home. Hipolito tossed and turned and finally woke up around 3AM and said “lets go get in line, just to make sure we’re not too far back in line”. We wanted to cross as early as possible so we could, hopefully make it past Tampico before dark.

So out we went, getting to where the line had been forming the night before. Only now, the line was gone! Did they let everyone through? Oh shit, now what!

So we started driving toward the customs entrance and saw they had moved the line over near another entrance and the line now had grown to over a hundred cars, trucks and buses waiting for customs to open at 8AM. And we were at the back of the line.

So we parked our trucks, and tried to find a way to sleep until 7AM. With my truck so jammed full, there was virtually no space anywhere except the drivers seat, and even that was tight for space. So I did the best I could, and fell asleep for a couple of hours, in the shape of a pretzel. When I did finally wake up, I was stiff and sore and probably should have not fallen asleep in the truck.

So now that I was up, I thought I would take a couple of pictures of the line that had formed, for the blog. Wrong. A customs’ security agent came over, quick as the flash went off and informed me that there was to be NO PICTURES around the border area. So what did I do? What else. I waited until he was gone, and took a few more pictures. You would not believe the things I saw in that line. Virtually everyone there was going to Central America. Not only that, they were all towing cars, car parts or more. I saw school buses towing school buses, school buses towing cars, trucks towing cars, trucks towing trucks. And most of the trucks were Toyota trucks, like mine. There must have been a hundred Toyota trucks, truck beds, doors, hoods, etc. No wonder I can’t find another Toyota truck like mine for sale. They buy them all and ship them to Central America. I know why, because they last forever. But I was really surprised with the school buses. They didn’t look that old, but they were from schools around the country.

Everyone there was waiting for the 8AM border opening. We met a few that were headed to Belize and they had all made the trip several times before, so we thought we would hook up with them, so they could show us the best way to go and where to stay along the way.

8AM came and went with no activity at the border crossing. So we waited. And waited. Now 9AM came and went and still no movement at the border crossing. What’s going on? Finally the security guard came by again and told us that management had not planned on opening the border crossing today and it would not open until Monday. That’s not right. What about the hundreds of people now lined up at the transmigrante entrance? Finally the contacted the Brownsville office and arranged for two officers to come over and open up the border for transmigrantes’. They finally opened the border around 10:30AM, almost 2 ½ hours late. So much for making Tampico by dark.

As the line began to move, we slowly moved forward and around 11:30AM we were able to cross the US border into Mexico. Now the fun begins. Just like the airports in Mexico, you go up to a stoplight and press a button. Red light or green light.

I hand the lady at the Mexican border my “transmigrante” paperwork and she actually presses the button for you. She takes my paperwork and inserts it into the machine and then turns to me and starts explaining the process… in Spanish. I only speak a little Spanish and my best line is “ uno mas cervesa, por favor”. I don’t think that line works at the border. Anyhow, she wouldn’t give me back my paperwork and kept trying to explain RED light. Now after a few false starts, I finally got the Mexican word for red (and that’s about all). And just like the airport, I’m thinking, oh, shit. Not that I’m smuggling drugs or guns, but I knew that would mean a delay and our plans for Tampico were quickly disappearing.

So, over in the red zone holding area, we see more of the same people we were standing in line with earlier. Seems that red was the color of the day. Now we wait for our name to be called so they can search our vehicles. Hipolito was just as unlucky as I was. So we wait….and wait. Finally, our names are called after two hours of waiting. PLEASE tell me they don’t want me to unload the Toyota truck. That would be another day just unloading and loading the truck again. The inspector grabs the “pedemento”, which is the Mexican version of the bill of lading, and starts looking at my truck. She asks me about Pampers and if I have any inside. I explain in my best spanglish that we have no kids and don’t have any Pampers. Mexican contraband. I don’t know why, but Pampers is a big thing in Mexico. She opens the shell of the truck and moves some things around, sees the bicycle, writes something on a piece of paper, hands it to me and motions with her hands to a building 100 yards away. I look at the piece of paper and it has 150.00 written on it with what appears to be the word “bicycle”. I’m thinking to myself, there is NO WAY I’m going to pay $150 for duties to pass a bicycle through Mexico. The bicycle is probably not worth that much. I then find out, the $150 is in pesos, or about $12 US dollars. OK. But I’m only passing though, and I have to show that I have the bicycle in my possession when I leave Mexico, so why do I have to pay duties? But for $12, I need to get this show on the road, so I pay. Now they want $11 to pay for the inspection. It’s beginning to feel like a shake down.

I now have my receipt for the bicycle which I show the inspector. She gives me back my “pedemento” and I am on my way. Well at least 100yards closer to Belize. I pass the guard station, only to be stopped again, to have my truck fumigated. And another five dollars.

I pull into the parking lot so I can get my visa. At the window, I find it is another $25 for my visa. Then back out to the parking lot to get my Mexican insurance from a broker who has a stand there. And you guessed it, another $20.

It’s now almost 2:30PM and we are finally on the road. That lasts for about one mile. We need to exchange American dollars for Pesos. I can remember when dollars were taken everywhere, but now they are only taken in the biggest tourist towns. I exchange $400 into Pesos and we are on our way. We hook up with a Belizian, Juan, who makes this trip 4 or 5 times a year, and he will guide us through Tampico.

An hour or so down the road we have our first stopping point, which is a customs inspection station. I give him my “pedimento” and a fifty Peso note to help expedite the paperwork. He glances at the pedimento, sees the fifty peso note, gives me back my pedimento, and I am on my way in no time.

It’s now getting close to 5PM and we are less than 50 miles inside of Mexico. Three hours of light remain, so we press on. Tampico is now out of the question. But at least the roads are in pretty good shape and we are moving along at 70 miles an hour.

We are on the road to Tampico, and it’s starting to get dark. We press on, trying to get as far as we can, but not wanting to drive in the dark. The towns around here are few and far between, so we decide to stop at the next town. Unfortunately, that town is still a bit of a drive. So, as much as we don’t want to drive in the dark, we need to in order to get to the next town. It’s on this narrow road that I find the reason we don’t want to drive in the dark.

Cars and trucks are passing us and the “No Passing” signs seem to be just a suggestion, not the law. Same goes for the speed limit and the double yellow lines. Even the buses pass on a double yellow line, on a hill. It’s here that we witness our first near miss. A car passes us and 4 other cars, right near the crest of the highway, just as another car is coming from the opposite direction. The roads have steep drop-offs to the side and this car has no where to go. It was only by inches that he misses meeting his maker. And even worse, a couple of miles down the road, he pulls into the gas station. A hair raising experience, just so the guy could get to the gas station one minute earlier than the rest of us.

That was it. We pulled into the next motel to spend the night. We are an hour out of Tampico and will try and pass through it in the morning. The motel is a nice quiet place with not much around. The room costs 580 pesos, but at that point he could have charged us double and we still would have paid.

Day 5 of the long journey

We finally got our "transmigrantes" permit today and are set to leave tommorrow AM. The line is already forming tonight to cross the border, but we decided to stay at the transmigrantes office overnight and get an early start tommorrow. We didn't want to sleep overnight in our trucks waiting in line, and the transmigrantes office has several rooms with beds, so we decided to get a good nights sleep and hit it early.

Our customs broker has 4 rooms, with two bunk beds set up in each room, so people can spend the night(s) if they are having trouble getting their permits. Some are taking cars across (and the paperwork has to be complete and error free) but for some reason the paperwork isn't right, so they must wait before they can cross the border. They can stay at the customs brokers' rooms free of charge, until the paperwork is done, usually not more than 3 or 4 days. It may not be much, but it is a bed and it's free.

The customs brokers' had put stickers on the truck to indicate that we are transmigrantes, so hopefully we won't get hassled that much on our drive through Mexico. Now we just need to get across the border. I'm including the information on the customs broker to help others if they need to move a car and possessions across Mexico. They have made it very easy.

Transmigrantes "ROCIO"
Office number 956-592-1259
e-mail- transmigrantestx@aol.com

This will be the last post until we reach Belize unless I can find internet access in Mexico (or I get stuck in Brownsville again). I'm sure I will have a lot to blog about and I should have some new pictures to post.

Day 4 of the long journey... and getting longer

Well, our plans to enter Mexico today hit a large snag. We arrived at the customs broker just before noon, expecting to get our "transmigrantes" permit, but found out that the customs offices in Mexico close today at 1PM, due to Good Friday...even though it's Thursday. Go figure. Our customs brokers have an inside connection to the people on the Mexican side of the border, and they even called over there to try and get us across, but Hipolito has a stack of plywood in his truck, and they want to inspect it before they will allow us to cross the border. That takes time, and they couldn't complete the inspection before the 1PM closing, so they informed us that it couldn't be completed today. And tomorrow is Good Friday, and they will be closed all day on Friday. So Saturday morning we will finally attempt to cross the border.

It will be another wonderful day in Brownsville, Texas. Oh, so much fun.

And on top at that, we also found out the Belize border will be closed for transmigrantes on Saturday, Sunday and Monday due to Easter. So after being stuck in Texas for a couple of extra days it looks as though we'll be stuck in Mexico for a couple of extra days. Maybe we'll spend it Vera Cruz on the beach.

Day 3 of the long journey

We made it to Brownsville, Texas, in 3 days! What a drive. After endless hours of watching the flat scenery of Texas, we are about ready to cross the border into Mexico. I'm ready to get out of Texas, but a little apprehensive about the drive thru Mexico. We were planning on driving through it in three days, but I think we will now plan for four days in Mexico and not push the driving too much. Better safe than sorry. That should put us at the Belizian border on Sunday, Easter Sunday. Since we can't cross the border on Sunday, I guess we will explore Chetumal, Mexico. And there is always the Casino.

I'm pretty sure there will be no web access in the hotel/motels that we stay at in Mexico, so this may be my last blog for a few days, but I may be wrong. Internet access is almost as important as a cellphone, so some hotels may provide access for a cost. Maybe I'll find an internet cafe'. It's is going to be an interesting couple of days, that's for sure. Lots of stories for the blog, all good I hope.

Thanks to all of you reading the blog and all of the well wishes for driving thru Mexico. I take that to heart, and will do my best to make it through safely. Details will follow, I hope.

Day 2 of the LONG drive

It's the end of day 2 of the long drive. My traveling partner ended up getting into Tucson around midnight, so by the time he got settled down, it was after 1AM. I was determined to get an early start, but Hipolito was tired from the drive, so I let him sleep in a couple of extra hours while I had breakfast and gassed up the truck. Only, he still wasn't quite ready to go, so once again, I headed out earlier than him, so I could get to the next motel before dark. We kept in contact by cellphone, so I would know where he is along the way.

I arrived at Fort Stockton about 4:30pm California time (6:30 local time) and got checked into the motel. Hipolito was about 3 hours behind me and was, again, going to arrive late. It looks as though he will be here around 11PM local time.

Our next leg is from Fort Stockton to McAllen, TX. Another 9-10 hour drive or more. I don't know what happens if we arrive late, but Hipolito said the customs broker is open 24 hours. We will also need to find a place to stay because I didn't make advance reservations for this portion of our travel, just in case anything had changed, plus I didn't know which border crossing we were planning to use. We really need to get an early start if we want to cross into Mexico early Thursday morning. As it is, I really don't know if we will make it across the Belizian border by late Saturday. If we don't, we will be stuck at the border until Monday. Not what I want to do.

The terrain going from Arizona to Texas is the same, bland. It's mostly flat with some mountains in the far background, but not much to speak of. Maybe that's why the speed limits are so high. In California, the speed limit is mostly 65 mph (110km hr), but in Arizona and New Mexico it's 75mph (130km hr) and in Texas (which always has to be the biggest), it's 80mph (140km hr). Now that's moving. The little Toyota doesn't like doing 80 but 75 works out OK. Plus she's fully loaded.

Arizona landscape

New Mexico landscape

Texas landscape

I know, it's the same picture all three times, but the view is the same in each state, flat and boring.

In Arizona and New Mexico they also use photo enforcement, which are just like the red light cameras they use in California, but here they use it on the open highway to catch speeders. They put these things all over the place, like at the bottom of the grade or just before the grade, so they can catch people who like to gain speed before going up a hill. And you won't know you've got a ticket until you open some strange mail from Arizona or New Mexico a month or so later. Nice.

It's time to pack up the computer and go to bed. And Hipolito has just arrived.

On the road again.....

It's official... I'm on my way to Belize. It will be around 3000 miles to get there from Camarillo, CA, and I've figured it should take us six days if all goes well. Hipolito, my caravan compadre, got a late start, so I headed out earlier than he did, so I could try and get to the hotel before dark. I left Camarillo around 11:30AM and arrived at my first stop, Tucson, Arizona, around 8:30PM. It took about the time I expected, but the drive can become boring after driving all those hours.

Phoenix skyline

Hipolito is about 2 hours behind me, so he should be arriving soon. The problem with the truck being so jam packed, is you can never find anything you need on the first try. I'm still trying to hunt down my cell phone charger, and I'm sure it's right there somewhere. I guess I'll have to look tommorrow when the sun is up.

The next stop is Fort Stockton, Texas. It's about a ten hour drive from Tucson, so it will be an early start.

A late April fools

After making plans to leave on Friday, April 3rd, the plans have changed again. Hipolito has again, encountered trouble with his truck. I might feel a little apprehensive about traveling thru Mexico with a truck that is trouble prone, but Hipolito is the garage mechanic at AT&T, so he knows how to keep the truck running, even if we do run into trouble on the road. So, I'd rather give him a couple of extra days to clear the trouble here in the States, than on the road in Mexico. Waiting a couple of extra days was not that much of a problem. I have a few extra days built into the schedule, to handle any unforeseen troubles (I'm planning in Belizian time). I just need to be there by the 14th. I had to change all of our road reservations, but that wasn't too much of a problem. But with Easter around the corner, I want to make sure we are in Belize before the holiday.

The little Toyota was packed to the roof and ready to go. It looked like a low rider truck, it was so low in the back. I was planning to have a trailer hitch carrier, but the back end of the truck would of only had a few inches of clearance from the ground, so I nixed that idea. I just need to figure out how I'm going to load the bike. I won't leave that behind.

I just hope the weather is not a factor in the drive. Texas weather changes so much during the spring. And in southern Mexico and northern Belize, the heat and humidity have kicked in and driven the temperature to 85-90F, with the heat index reaching 105-110F. And I have no air conditioning in the Toyota. It's gonna be a hot drive, I can see it already.

The lot is ready to go.

Our contractor has sent new pictures of our cleared lot. After having many pictures of the property these past few years that just shows the grass and trees growing, it's seems strange to see it so barren and grey. The lot, with its large grassy area, looked beautiful with the water in the background.

But now, it is time to pick out exactly where we want the house to be. Do we want a large front or back yard.

Looking south

Looking southeast

Looking north, towards the road

The contractor also included a few from our neighbors' lot. They are moving right along with the foundation work and the walls should begin to go up next week.

Am I ever going to leave?

Well another delay has pushed back our departure date to April 3/4th. My caravan partner, Hipolito, has encountered some automotive trouble and wants to make sure everything is OK before we set out on our trip. I still hope to arrive around April 8th.

The delay has allowed me to finish the main area of our bathroom, along with a few other chores I needed to get done, before I leave. I'm quite happy with the way the bathroom has turned out and I will start on the shower area when I return from Belize.

The Toyota truck is serviced and ready for the long journey. I still have an issue with a small oil leak, which we can't seem to track down, but it's not enough to delay the trip. The dye in the oil hasn't disclosed where the leak is, but I am going to give it a day or two more, just so I can try and get the leak fixed.

The list of items headed down to Belize in the truck keeps growing. I need to get out of here before there's no more room in the truck. And, I may have to unload all this stuff at the border for inspection.

False start

After a few weeks of planning, I planned to start my drive to Belize on Tuesday, March 10th.


No, wait. Now, after the new problems developed on our neighbors' lot, that date has been moved back to March 28th.


Delays again? OK, this time I am really going to leave on March 31st. Construction is to begin April 6th... or so.


Now what! Oh, it's Easter week on the sixth, and the contractor has prior obligatons. I guess even the contractor deserves a few days off.


This is it! I'm leaving on April 2nd, no matter what....maybe.


I've sent the original truck " pink slip" to our customs broker in Texas, so all of our paper work should be good to go when we arrive. I hope to be at the border by Aprl 4th or fifth so we can cross over into Mexico early Monday morning. I would really like to be through Mexico in two days but the reality is that even if it did take only two days, we would arrive at the Belizian border too late to cross over. We would still have to get the truck and all the contents inside, cleared by the Mexican officials that handle "transmigrantes". The Belizian customs would also need to be there so we can pay our duties and taxes.

So the drive though Mexico will last three days if all goes well and we don't get lost along the way. That should put me in Consejo by Wednesday, April 8th. The construction is now scheduled to begin April 14th....Belizian time.

The clearing of the lot begins

After all the minor delays, the clearing of the lot has begun. The tree stump is gone, the layer of topsoil has been scraped down to the marl and pushed towards the back of the lot.

Once the lot is leveled, we will make the final determination of where we want the house to be located. So far, the grading has gone well, with no problems. Our building contractor is starting to bring in the fill dirt that will be needed for the beginning of the work although I'm sure a lot more fill will be needed. The fill runs around $60US per load of about fifteen cubic yards, delivered to Consejo.

The foundation work has begun on Pip and Jason's lot and it looks as though it is moving along. I am looking forward to seeing their house go up because it will give me an idea of how well we are doing and if we are on schedule. Scheduling starts to become an issue due to the beginning of the rainy season in June.

In the last picture, you can see the walls of the cistern being built. Due to a miscalculation the original cistern design, it was smaller than Pip and Jason had wanted, but John has modified the design to allow for more water storage. The water supply at the community has trouble with water pressure, so I don't know how much it can be counted on. Rainwater storage is critical. I have a great study on cisterns and their upkeep and would be happy to pass it along to anyone who might be interested. It is in pdf form, so I'm not sure how I can post it on the blog site. If you're interested, just e-mail me or post a comment. In the mean time, I will try to find a way to post it online or add the web address.

We are still waiting for the final plans but are not in that much of a hurry at this point