By the time you read this we will I hope be crossing the Rio Hondo river out of Mexico and into Belize. We’ll gain an hour as we are on Central Time in Quintana Roo (pronounced “roh” in Mexico with a short ‘oh’) while Belize and Guatemala are on Mountain Time.
Monday we completed our chores, getting a tire alignment for GANNET2 at the only shop with a high ceiling above their alignment machine. I noted them in iOverlander for other tall vehicles coming through and paid $17 for the job. Our Agilis tires have 30,000 miles in them with not much wear and I want to keep it that way on these rough roads.
Belize uses miles on the roads and I don’t yet know if they sell gas by the liter or the gallon but I do know that regular gas apparently sells for $7US per gallon. We got 21 gallons yesterday in Chetumal at $4:60 a gallon. I expect we will have to fill up once in Belize a country 180 miles long and 75 miles wide…
We tried to find water for sale but weirdly enough failed. In northern Mexico purified water is for sale everywhere but down here it’s mostly delivered so we do best flagging down a water truck. The corner store near the campground had sold out and the lady selling flour tortillas had sold out too. Bummer. Potholes like these encourage me to get regular wheel alignments and I think they pay off keeping down tire wear.
25 years ago we sailed to Punta Gorda in Belize and have vivid memories of horrendously intricate customs forms and abstruse rules rigidly enforced by an unsmiling bureaucracy. I’ve had similar treatment from customs when landing on formerly British islands in the Caribbean, which Belize resembles. So we are trying to follow the guidelines equally rigidly.
We finished all our fruits and vegetables and cleared the fridge and freezer of meats and eggs. We have one and a half liters of mescal and no beers. Rusty has his import permit:
And got a thermometer up his butt which he did not enjoy at all. He hated even entering the very clean modern vet’s office in Chetumal. They typed out his health certificate and gave him a one year rabies shot as three year shots aren’t accepted in Latin America. Go figure.
We organized our papers including our Mexico tourist cards, Covid vaccination certificates and vehicle import permit which we will hand over along with $40 to leave the country. On crossing the bridge we have to fumigate the van -$5US- and pay $15US to import the van and $55US to import Rusty. Ka-Ching!
The currency in Belize is the dollar which is pegged at two to one to the US dollar so they accept US paper currency (not coins) and give change in colorful notes with the Queen’s head on it. I doubt King Charles is on Belize currency yet but we shall see. So if you see something listed at $10 it costs $5US. Why they couldn’t peg it at one to one I don’t know. And they use miles not kilometers in Belize. And they speak English, the official language.
I am already missing Mexico, the ease of travel, the culture, the varied climate, the scenery, the food, the historic cities and the friendly Mexicans who want you to like their country. But it’s time to go and make this long journey to enjoy other cultures and places harder to visit.
Mexico is our backyard and has the easiest border crossing in the world, even easier than Canada.
I feel privileged to know that when we get back we can have the option of spending warm winters touring this country and spending summers visiting friends across the US.
Nancy, the manager of Yax-Ha resort always there to help when needed. Her husband Juan Carlos is the groundskeeper.
There aren’t any dedicated campgrounds in Belize so we’ll make do with what we can find. Rusty will miss the peace and quiet of walled compounds as will I.
Now the extended journey is real I wonder what we will find around the corner?
