Good o'l Friday the 13th….Today we are sad to be leaving Mexico, a little wary about the border crossing and excited for our new adventures in Belize!
We decide to ride back into Bacalar to see if El Pejelagarto is open…we are in luck!
A quick, simple ,fresh early lunch of ceviche, before leaving Mexico.
Mexico…You have been amazing!
We pulled up to the Mexican Immigration window on our bikes and handed over our passports. The officials stamped our passports and were polite, fast and precise….no hassles here. Uggh! The border is loaded with these traffic bumps…yes those damn $6 metal hamburger bun sized, slippery, yellow bumps on the road….they are a bugger on the bikes!…That is definitely one thing that I will not miss!
After awkwardly clearing the bumps Kev and I ride over to the Aduana Transport building located directly across from the Immigration lanes to hand in our paperwork on the bikes. The official transport lady greeted us with a warm smile and explained that she would need to take a photo of our bikes VIN number and remove the sicker on our windscreen. She marched out of her meat locker temperature enclosure wearing her official khaki uniform and impressive 6" red high heels. After straddling the front tire of my bike to capture my VIN she tore the sticker from my broken windscreen and directly marched back into the comforts of her air-conditioned office. "You will automatically receive a refund to your credit card on the paperwork by Monday", she explained. And that was it! Now for the Belizian border.
Getting bikes cleared and stamped out of Mexico, in order to receive our bond refund.
Love the official heels!
A quick look back and….Adios Mexico!
Riding into neutral zone and towards Belize.
Belize straight ahead!
The road conditions dramatically changed as we entered Belize. The pavement met a white silty hard packed area, strewn with medium sized jagged rocks and pitted with potholes. As Kev was pulling up to the immigration window a porter ran up to the bike and explained in a heavy Belizian Spanglish including arm signals….that we needed to park in the parking lot "Mon" and enter the customs building on foot "Mon", have the bikes spayed for "Mexican bugs Mon!", then we can enter Belize "Mon". He ended his conversation with "Ya beta BELIZE it Mon!"…Ha ha ha this is going to be fun!
Getting the bikes sprayed for bugs Mon!
We park the bikes, lock up our helmets, gather our paperwork that we store in a plastic pouch on each bike and enter the building. The porter assures us that he will keep an eye on the bikes "Mon" and accepts tips "Mon"! One thing we have learnt traveling is that it is just easier to let these guys run through their routine while you go about your business and if they truly make your experience easier you kick them a few bucks! The Belize customs official stamped our passport and gave us a 30 day visa entry. We then proceeded over to the immigration counter to take care of the temporary permit for the bikes. There was no cost involved for us to be able to ride in Belize…but insurance is required! After completing this paperwork the immigration official directed us to agriculture to have the bikes sprayed. We hopped back on the bikes and rode over to the office where the official excited the building and sprayed the bike tires with the toxic chemical. We walked into his office, paid 80 Mexican peso's for the two bikes received our paperwork and headed back over to the customs hut and the entrance into Belize. The customs official checked the paperwork against the bikes and welcomed us into Belize with a huge pearly smile! We then rode the dirt/paved road over to the Insurance building to purchase coverage on the bikes while in Belize. The cool office temperature revived us instantly as we waited for our paperwork to be processed. Insurance costs ran $1 US per day per bike. We took out coverage for 30 days, just incase we decide to stay for the Lobster Festival…pretty darn affordable! We are now sorted and free to go…Welcome to BELIZE!
Looking back on the border crossing buildings entering Belize.
Pulling up to the Belize Insurance Building
Obtaining Belize insurance…then we are free to go!