BELIZE and its borders

The trip in Mexico continued down to Tulum, a warm tourist place with small resorts on the beach and a great spot to see cenotes.  Being one of the best places for cave diving in the world, Pat and Debora couldn't pass the opportunity to dive some of the cenotes.  Pat took his Discover Scuba diving lesson and had his first experience diving in Casa Cenote through some small caves.   Debora also dove here and then did the caves of spectacular cenote Dos Ojos where Pat just snorkeled. They spent 3 days in Tulum sleeping uncomfortably  in the car then left to cross the Mexico/Belize border.

The border crossing was problematic because the immigration officer tried to charge an exiting fee (200.00 mexican pesos per person) that does not exist.  Because Pat had an informative list of necessary border fees and documentation, they insisted for a receipt which the officer failed to provide, stating it was the exit stamp in the passport.  The couple was very persistent in the matter and the officer ended up paying them the money back.  Obviously he knew there was trouble coming, and hopefully it did, because the couple went to the main immigration office and made a complaint to the manager.  But in the process they had to pass by one more corrupt officer in the main immigration office who tried to keep them outside the building where no one else could hear and say that they had to pay.  Debora thought  that behaviour was suspicious and walked inside the building to talk to the manager who was honest and gave them a paper to file a complaint.

Finally they left the mexican crossing and went to the Belize side to get the required car insurance (200 mexican pesos for 7 days) and Debora's visa (US$ 50.00 or BLZ $100.00).   The northern boarder  towns is where you should exchange reamaining mexican pesos for U.S. dollars or BLZ dollars, because other than that you will only be able to exchange at the 1 currency exchange agency in San Pedro or at the border crossing into Guatemala. The US dollar is accepted everywhere in Belize.

At first sight mainland Belize looked very rural.  Its stilted houses are simple, people dress humbly and don't seem to live luxuriously.  The couple's first stop was Belize City, which had been hit by Hurricane Richard just a few days before they arrived, so things weren't looking very pretty.  Although it was only a class one hurricane, the damage was impressive: trees uprooted, street signs bent, plaza sculptures broken, among other things, but the big buildings seemed to be untouched. 

Almost all of the people come from African and Mayan heritage, but there are many Asian residents too.  Driving south, you see a lot of shacks with thatched roofs and no glass windows.  But Punta Gorda and especially Placencia, where tourism is on the rise, have big hotels, mansions, luxurious residencials, and more under construction.  These towns seem safer for tourists than Belize City.

After visiting the southern costal towns, they drove back to Belize City and caught a water taxi to San Pedro on Ambregris Caye for the day (US$ 27.00 roundtrip pp) where they walked around and got some coconut rum and mango juice at the store.  They took it to a beautiful beach and did some video and photography then poached a swimming pool to celebrate Debora's birthday.  The Great Blue Hole and the barrier reef are the big attractions to visit from the island.  Diving the reef can actually be a good deal, if you search you'll find 2 tank dives as low as US$ 55.00, The Great Blue Hole is pricy and the lowest price they found was US$ 200.00.  Because of Hurricane Richard and the rainy days that followed, the visibility would probably not be more than about 40 feet, so Debora decided to wait for a better time to dive the Blue Hole.

TIPICAL HOUSE IN BELIZE

SHORE IN PLACENCIA

PAT TAKING VIDEOS

BIGGER HOMES OVER WATER ON AMBERGRIS CAYE

ONE OF SAN PEDRO´S BEACHES AT AMBERGRIS CAYE, BELIZE

BIRTHDAY AND HALOWEEN CELEBRATION WITH COCONUT RUM AND MANGO JUICE

They got back to Belize CIty and slept in the car in front of the Radisson Hotel, which is conveniently located less than a 10 minute walk from the water taxi terminal and has a security guard making rounds on his scooter frequently.  This spot is highly recommended for dirtbags because it is beachfront and the parking spot has a nice cool breeze providing good sleep.

At 7 a.m. on November 1st  2010 they headed towards the Guatemalan border where they paid their fees with no problems or delays on the Belize side (US$ 18.75 pp exit fee), got the car fumigated on the Guatemala side (Q 18.00), paid their entrance fee (The agent tried to charge double, but the couple was on top of their game and paid the actual Q 10.00 pp) then they got the vehicle import permit (Q 40.00).

After the burocratic part they went off to explore Guatemala and hopefully will report to us soon.


TRICKS

- know all the fees you will have to pay BEFORE hand
- get car´s a/c fixed or installed, it is worth it (leak fixture in Tulum for 1,200.00 pesos)

TROUBLES

- lens cap for the video camera left behind due to rum drinking
- Belize is an expensive country